November 4, 2024 • 25 mins
July 3rd, 1985 - a day that a little time travel movie produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Robert Zemeckis called Back to the Future was released to the public. This podcast will dive into the world of BTTF, and discuss the movies, characters, and behind-the-scenes details on one of the greatest trilogies of all time. So buckle in, make sure your flux capacitor is fluxing, and enjoy the 88 mile per hour adventure of the Back to the Future trilogy. Order the "Back from the Future" paperback with expanded material!
In the exciting season 11 premiere of Back to the Future: The Podcast, Brad Gilmore sits down with cinematic legends Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and Paul Bettany to dive into their latest collaboration, Here. The groundbreaking film tells a powerful story about a single location that witnesses generations of change, love, and loss.Join Brad as he explores the making of Here with its visionary director and iconic cast, uncovering insights into the film’s innovative storytelling, real-time special effects, and how it uniquely captures the essence of home. This episode promises a captivating look behind the scenes with the people who brought Here to life. Don’t miss this unforgettable season premiere!
Back to the Future: The Podcast is produced and presented by Gilmore Media, LLC, and is not affiliated with the Back to the Future franchise. This show is meant for entertainment and documentary purposes only, and does not intend to infringe on any copyrights of Universal Pictures, Back to the Future, or any of its characters, clips or music. Brad Gilmore expresses views and statements which represent that of the hosts and the guests of the program alone. The statements made on this program are in no way intended to represent views of any other organization affiliated with the hosts or guests and in no way represent the views of the sponsors.
In the exciting season 11 premiere of Back to the Future: The Podcast, Brad Gilmore sits down with cinematic legends Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and Paul Bettany to dive into their latest collaboration, Here. The groundbreaking film tells a powerful story about a single location that witnesses generations of change, love, and loss.Join Brad as he explores the making of Here with its visionary director and iconic cast, uncovering insights into the film’s innovative storytelling, real-time special effects, and how it uniquely captures the essence of home. This episode promises a captivating look behind the scenes with the people who brought Here to life. Don’t miss this unforgettable season premiere!
Back to the Future: The Podcast is produced and presented by Gilmore Media, LLC, and is not affiliated with the Back to the Future franchise. This show is meant for entertainment and documentary purposes only, and does not intend to infringe on any copyrights of Universal Pictures, Back to the Future, or any of its characters, clips or music. Brad Gilmore expresses views and statements which represent that of the hosts and the guests of the program alone. The statements made on this program are in no way intended to represent views of any other organization affiliated with the hosts or guests and in no way represent the views of the sponsors.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This is Bob Gail, co creator Back to the Future,
and you're listening to Brad Gilmore.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Oh stop, stop, okay, relax, Stock, it's me.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
It's me, It's Mark.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
You can't just set you back to the future.
Speaker 5 (00:16):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I know you did send me back to the future.
But I'm back.
Speaker 6 (00:20):
I'm back from the future.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
A right, Wait a minute, gosh fu are you're telling
me that you built.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
The time machine?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
The way I see it, you're gonna be a time machine?
Speaker 5 (00:39):
Why not doing some style?
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Hello, everybody, welcomes Back to the Future podcast or podcast
will be.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Back in time. Grist Bill t of you of all
the time, back in the future.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
I'm your friend in time. My name is the boat
Brad Gilmore. Welcome to what I'm calling like a special
pre season episode of Back to.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
The Future of the Podcast. Of course, we wrapped up
season ten.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
We're moving on to season eleven, and for a variety
of reasons, eleven has always held a special place in
my heart. The number eleven is very significant to my life.
So I'm looking forward, great forward to season eleven of
Back to the Future of the Podcast. So let's let's
consider this a part of season eleven because it is
(01:30):
very special. Today on the show, I'm I'm gonna be
playing some interviews for you all, which I tend to do. Y'all,
I think figured out that I do a lot of
junkets and for people who don't know. The junket is
a very fascinating aspect of show business in in my opinion,
and the reason I find it to be so fascinating
(01:51):
is because it's, you know, it's like a very specific
skill and muscle that you have to hone, whereas, like
in most everything you know, you might see like let's
say you watch the morning news on your local television
station wherever you're watching around the world, and you see
the guy who is the anchor, and then you see
(02:13):
the sports guy, then you see the weather girl, then
you see the reporter out in the field to the layman.
They're all doing the same job. They're on TV talking
about the news, right. That mean, that makes a lot
of sense.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
That is what the job seems to be.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
But when you get into it, as when you get
into anything, they all have a different purpose. The anchor
keeps the show going. They literally anchor the show. They're
the hosts that keeps the show perpetually moving. The sports
guy's gonna come in. He's got a very specific job.
He's got to give you all the statistics with in
(02:54):
a certain amount of time. The weather person has a
certain job, and different skills apply to the weather person.
There were can off a green screen, they got to
show you things on a map, They got to go
to live footage, they got to explain to you what's
going on, and a lot of the times it's the
anchor job to help guide that. Thinking, well, hey Bob,
tell me about this front coming in this weekend. It
(03:14):
prompts the anchor. The reporter has a completely different job.
The reporter needs to literally report what's going on on
the scene, and again the anchor needs to guide that conversation.
So they all have different jobs. Even though it feels
the same. I say that to say this, what an
interview is is different depending upon the context and depending
(03:37):
upon the format.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So Marshall mccluan, is this great. Uh?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
You know media and communications expert who add this phrase?
The medium is the message And it says like, depending
on how you're you know, getting your information is how
you perceive the information.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So whether, uh, if you're trying.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
To to get your news from TikTok. Who's ever presenting
that news in TikTok has to do so in a
certain fashion. They have a certain finite amount of seconds.
If you're listening to a podcast, perhaps they can go
deeper into a subject and take their time to lay
it out, or if they're on television, difference, Right, So
these are all different things. The junket is different from
any other interview. Most interviews you do, it's like, Hey,
(04:23):
I'm going to talk to this guy or girl for
fifteen minutes about X X and X.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well a junket and that might be the only one
that they do that day.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
But where a junket is I am talking to somebody
for a very short amount of time. Normally it's five
six minutes at the most, right, And they're going.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
To be doing fifty of these today, right, and they're
gonna hit markets from all over.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
The country, and you're gonna him better than nine minutes
with the band how to ask its questions furthering the
purpose of the interview, which is normally to promote a
project of some kind. And you also have to think
about how am I going to stand out from the
past you are, how am I the guy, how am
(05:17):
I going.
Speaker 7 (05:17):
To sometimes, you know, come to my rest for the
FOSS affiliate or the other Houston.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
So you try to figure out way to the engagements,
very specific thing, and then you're on a zoom call
ninety percent of the time, and you've got somebody in
your chat box giving you time cues and telling you
to wrap, telling you the wrap, turing to wrap. It
can get a little bit hectic and frustrating and exhilarating
(05:46):
and exciting. There's a lot of emotions and junket, but
it's I'm learning. It's a very specific skill set that
you have to master, and it's different from doing a
radio interview or a sit down television interview or a
podcast like we do here.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Why am I telling you this? Well, a couple.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Months ago must have been either late August or early September.
I saw that they were starting to ramp up promotion
and trailers for the new Robert Zamecchis movie here and
being a Back to the Future fan, being a Robert
Zamecchas fan, I was excited for the movie and I
(06:26):
was like, man, I.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Would love to be able to be a.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Part of this junket. So I worked some back channels
talk to some people. Next thing you knew, I got
a confirmation that you're going to be talking not only
to Robert Zamechas, which was the goal. I wanted to
talk to Zameccas. You're also going to talk to Paul Betny,
who people also might know as Vision from the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. And then you're going to talk to Robin
Wright right who you might know is Jenny from Forrest
(06:51):
Gump or from The Princess Bride or House of Cards. Oh,
and you're going to talk to Tom Hanks. And I
was like, oh, okay, sweet, And I went and saw
this movie here, and I have to tell you, I
really really loved this movie. It moved me emotionally. I
(07:12):
found it both heartwarming and heart wrenching. I found it
both joyous and depressing at times.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
And it really play.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
And this might just be that Zamekas and I share
this fascination just with I've thought about this too, and
I've thought about it for a variety of different reasons,
but like from the butterfly effect, Like okay, if my
folks it didn't live here, if my grandparents didn't move
here at this house. Then my parents wouldn't gotten the
jobs that they got, they wouldn't have met I wouldn't
(07:44):
have been born. I would have gone to these schools,
like there's all those things. And so the movie really
touched me, and I thought it was excellent, and I
was at a screening with a couple other members of
the press and we were all very thrilled by it.
I'm a little bit surprised that it's gotten somewhat of
a polarizing reaction because I found it to be fascinating
and I think that the craft of the filmmaking is fascinating,
(08:08):
and I think Zamechas and the whole team and all
the actors did a great job. It's the best use
of daging in any movie, any movie ever. I've never
seen a better instance of deaging than in this movie.
And I've the stories all worked for me, and the
singular camera angle worked for me. So if you have
not seen here, I strongly recommend it. It's my favorite
(08:30):
movie of the year. I mean, that is legit, honest,
you know, and I know I'm a member of the
Critics Choice Association, so I will be voting for that
movie on and nominating it if I have the opportunity to.
It'll be my first year doing so, so I'm not
sure how it all works, but I'm looking forward to
it anyhow.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Anyway, here was great and I.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Want to share with you all the interviews that I
got to do for here and all the people that
I got to speak to right here on a special
edition of Back to the Future of the podcast featuring
the other father of Time, Robert Zamechas, Paul Betany, Robin Wright,
and mister Tom Hanks.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Enjoy these junket interviews.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
And I'm looking forward to season eleven because I have
huge news for you all coming up. I mean, this
has been a banner year for me, by the way, guys,
I mean not only talking to Zamechas, Leslie Zemechez had
a great interview with her. By the way that I
shared here on the show, got to meet Chris Lloyd
and Michael J. Fox in person. This has been a
(09:36):
crazy year in the Back to the Future fortith anniversaries
around the corner.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Some huge news coming out about that. But here we go.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Here are my interviews with Robert Zamecchas, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright,
and Paul Bettany. For the lovely movie Here which hold
on one one more thing. By the way, this is
the first time it's ever happened to me. I gave
a quote about the movie what I thought about it
to the studio, and they used it a commercial. I
was watching the news. Commercial comes up for here and
(10:05):
an unforgettable experience.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
That's what I said, And it said.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Brad Gilmore's ESPN Radio CW three nine, Houston, What is
the what is life crazy? First time that happens? It's
on a Robert Zemeckis movie. Come on, man, things are
things are weird? Life is weird. Here are the interviews
back to the future of the podcast.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Check it out.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Paul, Thank you so much for taking the time today
or this morning. I love this movie. It's been my
absolute favorite film of the year, So congratulations on it,
and thank you again for taking the time.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Thank you so much. It's good to hear.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
There's this particular part in this movie with your character
where he has this line to me encapsulated a lot
what the character was, and it's when he's looking off
in the distance and he says, I've been to places.
In that moment, I felt like I knew who he
was my grandfather, being a World War two veteran himself,
I felt like I knew this character. When you're breaking
down a script and trying to understand who the person is,
(10:59):
do you look for a particular either line or a
scene that could kind of really inform who that character
might be for you?
Speaker 1 (11:06):
No, but sometimes it happens.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
And you're right, that was one of the lines that really.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Stuck with me.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
And and and you know how how small he has
made his life now and his I think that, you know,
having got back from the having been a child of
the Wall Street crash. You know, he then goes to war,
(11:37):
he comes back, and he decides he's going to build
his family, and his life becomes about keeping a roof
over their heads, I think, and I think that it
leads him to sort of self medicate with alcohol and
and and and I do think it's a common story.
(11:59):
I think we all know those people. I know that
man in my life. I know him, and and they're
they're moving and incredibly human, and their flaws a sort
of ball out of just wanting everybody to be okay,
you know. And and yeah, so I'm really touched that
(12:26):
you picked up on that line. Because I think that's
his his sort of sirens song.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Yeah, it was, You're right. We all know those people
at some point in their lives.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And but at the same time, he had solace towards
the end of his or he had a sense of
completion toward the end of his life because he did
do the task. He did put the family through a
roof over their head and got them through life. So
in some senses, although it wasn't maybe the life that
he wanted, he still did the goal. He accomplished the task,
(12:58):
and I thought that that was portrayed you.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
And then he you know, he's looking after his wife,
which is his last the soldier's last mission, I think
in this in this case, you.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Know absolutely Now this movie obviously was so uniquely done,
especially from the way that it was shot from the
singular angle. And doing some research on this, I understood
that they had what I think you effectually called is
the Betany trench due to your height, having to kind
of be able to stay and frame it all the time.
What did you find as an actor were the challenges
(13:30):
and conveniences of being in that single frame shot.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
For me, the.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
As an actor, I think that the challenges were far
outweighed by the freedom that you actually felt by knowing
what the shot is and how the you know what
it's going to look like, you know what the scene's
going to look like because there's no editorial, you know,
there's nothing else to cuts, so it's going to be
one of these takes that we do.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
And that was amazing.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
And I'm negotiating with your who's gonna step into the
close who's holding the story, and who's gonna be stepping
into the camera for the close up, and all of
that stuff was was fantastically fun and freeing. And you know,
things like trenches or standing on on I hardly ever
(14:27):
have to stand on a left because I'm stupidly tall,
but all of that stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Is normal in in movies anyway.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
You know, absolutely well again, this movie I think is
my favorite of the year, and you were excellent in
it as well as the rest of the cast.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
And thank you so much taking the time.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Thank you mate, Thank you, take mister.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Zemechiz a pleasure to speak to you. This movie is
the best.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Film of the year, my favorite movie of the year.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
You kind of paided a beautiful illustration to the phrase
if these walls could talk.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So congratulations, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
The cast from top to bottom is obviously phenomenal, from
every actor who even the ones who portrayed the inventor,
the lazy boy, to the woman who portrayed uh Missus
Franklin in the past, as well as also Tom and
Robin who have such great performances. My question to you
is casting Tom and Robin, who you've worked with so
many times before a great benefit not only knowing what
(15:25):
they bring as actors, but you have a certain amount
of trust in them to help carry out what is
really a complex vision with this film.
Speaker 7 (15:33):
I of course, you know, trust is an important thing
that you have to always have when you're in a
director actor relationship. So yes, having worked before with both
of them many times and understanding their process so is
very helpful. But it's always wonderful to work with an
(15:53):
actor that you have a shorthand with and they know
how I think and I know how they think, and
it's just, uh, it just makes our life easier and
it's and it's great fun because we just enjoy working together.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
I think Tom mentioned something about the shorthand of the
red dot, like when red dot has said, you know
that y'all are on the same page, Is that right?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Right?
Speaker 7 (16:15):
Well, that's a term I use to describe the point
of a scene when I'm talking to the cast and
I say, Okay, the reason we're doing the scene and
here's the red dot and whatever it is is a
point of the scene is to show the audience finally
that there is a gun in the drawer, right, So
you know that's what the red dot is is. We
(16:38):
all have to know what this what the moment that
the scene is driving toward that's going to propel the
story to the next scene.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
The way this movie is shot is obviously very unique,
for the majority of the film being shot from a
singular angle. I asked the actors what were some of
the challenges and conveniences of working that way? But for you,
as a director, what were the bigger challenges and conveniences
of having that single frame to fit the story in.
Speaker 7 (17:05):
Well, the the biggest challenge was not in actually doing it,
but the biggest challenge was in making all the decisions
ahead of time, because we knew that everything had to
be had to had to work perfectly within that one view,
and so just deciding on the lens, for example, took
(17:27):
months to make a decision on what the right lens
size would be, and then the right height of the camera,
and exactly what in the room, for example, when the
when we're in the room, what exactly was going to
what part of the room was going to accommodate all scenes.
So those were the big decisions, Those were the big challenges.
(17:49):
Having worked all those out ahead of time, it made
the actual shooting go quite smoothly.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And I imagine like the blocking has to be so
precise in this movie just because as it is in any movie,
but in this one particularly because you're going through different
time periods and different things are showing up in the
same place. So I'm assuming there's a lot of wherewithal
on thought had to go into the blocking of the scene.
Speaker 7 (18:12):
Yes, And what we did is we did a lot
of We did a lot of loose rehearsal. We went
and we we we constructed a rudimentary set, and we
put a video camera in there, and and way before
we started shooting, the actors and I would wander through
this little environment and work out these scenes and get
(18:34):
to a place where we all felt that okay, this
is a this is good where this person is going
to be here and this character is gonna be there,
and and so we worked it out, and we did
a lot of what I'll call a black box feed
or rehearsing, and then once we were shooting, we would
refine it from that. So we were we had a
pretty good idea what we're going to do before we
stepped on the set.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
This is my last question for you, and again, thank
you so much for your time. This film really resonated
with me because my grandparents home was really the core
of our family. Every big event happened there, Every major
life moment happened in that house. And when it was
torn down sadly and sold, I actually had to go
steal the house numbers from up top.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I'll just to have as a keepsake.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Was actually keep on my desk here with me right now,
the twelve twelve. And that's kind of the memory for
me of the film. Do you have any particular keepsake
from a special childhood home or place that you keep
that help remind you of the memory had.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
I don't have parts of my house, No, I don't
have those, but my house actually is still standing. The
one I grew up in. But I certainly have mementos
and things like that. But yes, and it's interesting every
once in a while to go on Google Maps and
(19:51):
just see how the house is doing what you know,
what it looks like, and see if it's still standing.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Oh beautiful.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Well, the movie is beautiful and it was such a great,
great time talking to you. Thank you so much, sir,
Thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Thank you have a good one.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Thank you, Tom Robin, Thank you so much for taking
the time. Congratulations on this movie. It is truly my
favorite film of the year. So congratulations to the two
of you.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Well, let's let's start here though, because obviously you've worked together,
and obviously you've worked together with Robert Zamechas on the
film before. Does that familiarity that you have developed some
sort of shorthand on set that truly makes the process collaborative?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, this is your third time.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
Right for four fourth, I think you did what sixth
I have.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Lost count.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
You just trying to like get together every seven years
and say what do you got?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, what do you got?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
But it is I mean, I I people say what
I think. I think the first conversation you have with
Bob is a shorthand conversation.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Absolutely thirty years ago.
Speaker 6 (20:56):
Yeah, it hasn't changed at all, and it is even
the we haven't hung out with each other personally for
these years in between each film. It literally feels like
going home for the holidays. Really, Oh, there's that family.
It's so easy. Yes, we speak in code. We get
we were making the same movie.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Let's just talk about that for a second. Ago.
Speaker 6 (21:17):
That's a huge difference is when you have four different
visions and nobody's in sync. We all were making the
same movie.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
We we have Here's one of the things that we
would say. We'd get together and try to all right
approach of something like that, and we'd all get so
close that one of us could say red dot and
red dot means we all understand what we're doing. What
we're doing in this scene, all right. And that goes
back to, you know, the one of the first that
when Bob would we all got to understand we're making
(21:47):
the same We know.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
What dot is.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
We seen has a red dot.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
We got to know what that.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
So now we could just say, hey, Bob, red dot,
red dot, Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
We got it.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
That red dot you know, look obviously also wait that
this movie is shot is so unique from the singular
frame and from kind of the through the window.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Perspective, if you will.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
What are the challenges though, inconveniences as an actor that
you have knowing what the frame is essentially for the entirety.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Of the movie?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Wow, Well one is we don't we would go as
many takes as possible seventeen thirty six forty two. But
what's fabulous about that is you start at the beginning,
and you go all the way to the end, and
then you weigh how that is, and then you yet
to just go back and do it again. And once
you've got it, that's it. You don't have to go
(22:36):
back and.
Speaker 6 (22:37):
Wait, do you have no coverage. It's not like, oh,
we'll come back after lunch and get the mediums in
the extreme closeup. You have to nail it in one take.
So we would find, oh, was that take too long?
Got to pick up the pace? Where do we pick
it up? Should we move closer to the lens, bring
ourselves into our own close up to make more impact
(22:58):
of this beat where there are no words of dialogue.
So it was it was interesting to work that way
and we were like, we're so spoiled, we don't want
to go back to the conventional way of shooting.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
It was liberating because, in a weird way, we made
the movie in real time, if that makes sense, right.
We made the movie in ninety second increments or two
minute increment two minute increments. We didn't like go back
and have to start playing around with how long the
scene really is. It lasted as long as we did it,
and sometimes, you know, forty seven tanks is a long time,
(23:31):
you know, and in order to get to where he was.
What but that it was a luxury.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
I'm sure it was.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
And again, like you said, the way that it's just
outlined in the film, and from beginning to end, it's
such a beautiful movie. This movie was also very special
to me because my grandparents' home was kind of the
center of our family for so many decades, so much
so that when we had to sell it eventually and
the home was torn down, I had to steal the
numbers on the house numbers and I actually said, right
(23:59):
here to me for forever that these numbers have been
sitting next to me as a reminder of that. Do
you all have any physical keepsakes that you've gotten from
a child at home or a special place that encapsulates
the memories in a similar way.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Scars. I have some scars that might cover No I
moved around man if I don't, I don't.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Yeah, yeah, I got some scars too.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
That telephone numbers in my right five two, two, two
three four.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
That no way was that your landline?
Speaker 4 (24:28):
That was the landline at the house I lived in
oak Thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Well, hey, but what's the what's the house number? What
was the house numb that you lived in?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Twelve twelve twelve twelve, twelve twelve.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's a great number.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
The good one go to a Bonnie Brave. But again,
I know amount of time, Tom Robin, thank you so
much taking the time in congratulations on the best.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Movie of the year.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Twelve twelve
Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This is Bob Gail, co creator Back to the Future,
and you're listening to Brad Gilmore.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Oh stop, stop, okay, relax, Stock, it's me.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
It's me, It's Mark.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
You can't just set you back to the future.
Speaker 5 (00:16):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I know you did send me back to the future.
But I'm back.
Speaker 6 (00:20):
I'm back from the future.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
A right, Wait a minute, gosh fu are you're telling
me that you built.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
The time machine?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
The way I see it, you're gonna be a time machine?
Speaker 5 (00:39):
Why not doing some style?
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Hello, everybody, welcomes Back to the Future podcast or podcast
will be.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Back in time. Grist Bill t of you of all
the time, back in the future.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
I'm your friend in time. My name is the boat
Brad Gilmore. Welcome to what I'm calling like a special
pre season episode of Back to.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
The Future of the Podcast. Of course, we wrapped up
season ten.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
We're moving on to season eleven, and for a variety
of reasons, eleven has always held a special place in
my heart. The number eleven is very significant to my life.
So I'm looking forward, great forward to season eleven of
Back to the Future of the Podcast. So let's let's
consider this a part of season eleven because it is
(01:30):
very special. Today on the show, I'm I'm gonna be
playing some interviews for you all, which I tend to do. Y'all,
I think figured out that I do a lot of
junkets and for people who don't know. The junket is
a very fascinating aspect of show business in in my opinion,
and the reason I find it to be so fascinating
(01:51):
is because it's, you know, it's like a very specific
skill and muscle that you have to hone, whereas, like
in most everything you know, you might see like let's
say you watch the morning news on your local television
station wherever you're watching around the world, and you see
the guy who is the anchor, and then you see
(02:13):
the sports guy, then you see the weather girl, then
you see the reporter out in the field to the layman.
They're all doing the same job. They're on TV talking
about the news, right. That mean, that makes a lot
of sense.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
That is what the job seems to be.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
But when you get into it, as when you get
into anything, they all have a different purpose. The anchor
keeps the show going. They literally anchor the show. They're
the hosts that keeps the show perpetually moving. The sports
guy's gonna come in. He's got a very specific job.
He's got to give you all the statistics with in
(02:54):
a certain amount of time. The weather person has a
certain job, and different skills apply to the weather person.
There were can off a green screen, they got to
show you things on a map, They got to go
to live footage, they got to explain to you what's
going on, and a lot of the times it's the
anchor job to help guide that. Thinking, well, hey Bob,
tell me about this front coming in this weekend. It
(03:14):
prompts the anchor. The reporter has a completely different job.
The reporter needs to literally report what's going on on
the scene, and again the anchor needs to guide that conversation.
So they all have different jobs. Even though it feels
the same. I say that to say this, what an
interview is is different depending upon the context and depending
(03:37):
upon the format.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So Marshall mccluan, is this great. Uh?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
You know media and communications expert who add this phrase?
The medium is the message And it says like, depending
on how you're you know, getting your information is how
you perceive the information.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So whether, uh, if you're trying.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
To to get your news from TikTok. Who's ever presenting
that news in TikTok has to do so in a
certain fashion. They have a certain finite amount of seconds.
If you're listening to a podcast, perhaps they can go
deeper into a subject and take their time to lay
it out, or if they're on television, difference, Right, So
these are all different things. The junket is different from
any other interview. Most interviews you do, it's like, Hey,
(04:23):
I'm going to talk to this guy or girl for
fifteen minutes about X X and X.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well a junket and that might be the only one
that they do that day.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
But where a junket is I am talking to somebody
for a very short amount of time. Normally it's five
six minutes at the most, right, And they're going.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
To be doing fifty of these today, right, and they're
gonna hit markets from all over.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
The country, and you're gonna him better than nine minutes
with the band how to ask its questions furthering the
purpose of the interview, which is normally to promote a
project of some kind. And you also have to think
about how am I going to stand out from the
past you are, how am I the guy, how am
(05:17):
I going.
Speaker 7 (05:17):
To sometimes, you know, come to my rest for the
FOSS affiliate or the other Houston.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
So you try to figure out way to the engagements,
very specific thing, and then you're on a zoom call
ninety percent of the time, and you've got somebody in
your chat box giving you time cues and telling you
to wrap, telling you the wrap, turing to wrap. It
can get a little bit hectic and frustrating and exhilarating
(05:46):
and exciting. There's a lot of emotions and junket, but
it's I'm learning. It's a very specific skill set that
you have to master, and it's different from doing a
radio interview or a sit down television interview or a
podcast like we do here.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Why am I telling you this? Well, a couple.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Months ago must have been either late August or early September.
I saw that they were starting to ramp up promotion
and trailers for the new Robert Zamecchis movie here and
being a Back to the Future fan, being a Robert
Zamecchas fan, I was excited for the movie and I
(06:26):
was like, man, I.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Would love to be able to be a.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Part of this junket. So I worked some back channels
talk to some people. Next thing you knew, I got
a confirmation that you're going to be talking not only
to Robert Zamechas, which was the goal. I wanted to
talk to Zameccas. You're also going to talk to Paul Betny,
who people also might know as Vision from the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. And then you're going to talk to Robin
Wright right who you might know is Jenny from Forrest
(06:51):
Gump or from The Princess Bride or House of Cards. Oh,
and you're going to talk to Tom Hanks. And I
was like, oh, okay, sweet, And I went and saw
this movie here, and I have to tell you, I
really really loved this movie. It moved me emotionally. I
(07:12):
found it both heartwarming and heart wrenching. I found it
both joyous and depressing at times.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
And it really play.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
And this might just be that Zamekas and I share
this fascination just with I've thought about this too, and
I've thought about it for a variety of different reasons,
but like from the butterfly effect, Like okay, if my
folks it didn't live here, if my grandparents didn't move
here at this house. Then my parents wouldn't gotten the
jobs that they got, they wouldn't have met I wouldn't
(07:44):
have been born. I would have gone to these schools,
like there's all those things. And so the movie really
touched me, and I thought it was excellent, and I
was at a screening with a couple other members of
the press and we were all very thrilled by it.
I'm a little bit surprised that it's gotten somewhat of
a polarizing reaction because I found it to be fascinating
and I think that the craft of the filmmaking is fascinating,
(08:08):
and I think Zamechas and the whole team and all
the actors did a great job. It's the best use
of daging in any movie, any movie ever. I've never
seen a better instance of deaging than in this movie.
And I've the stories all worked for me, and the
singular camera angle worked for me. So if you have
not seen here, I strongly recommend it. It's my favorite
(08:30):
movie of the year. I mean, that is legit, honest,
you know, and I know I'm a member of the
Critics Choice Association, so I will be voting for that
movie on and nominating it if I have the opportunity to.
It'll be my first year doing so, so I'm not
sure how it all works, but I'm looking forward to
it anyhow.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Anyway, here was great and I.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Want to share with you all the interviews that I
got to do for here and all the people that
I got to speak to right here on a special
edition of Back to the Future of the podcast featuring
the other father of Time, Robert Zamechas, Paul Betany, Robin Wright,
and mister Tom Hanks.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Enjoy these junket interviews.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
And I'm looking forward to season eleven because I have
huge news for you all coming up. I mean, this
has been a banner year for me, by the way, guys,
I mean not only talking to Zamechas, Leslie Zemechez had
a great interview with her. By the way that I
shared here on the show, got to meet Chris Lloyd
and Michael J. Fox in person. This has been a
(09:36):
crazy year in the Back to the Future fortith anniversaries
around the corner.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Some huge news coming out about that. But here we go.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Here are my interviews with Robert Zamecchas, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright,
and Paul Bettany. For the lovely movie Here which hold
on one one more thing. By the way, this is
the first time it's ever happened to me. I gave
a quote about the movie what I thought about it
to the studio, and they used it a commercial. I
was watching the news. Commercial comes up for here and
(10:05):
an unforgettable experience.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
That's what I said, And it said.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Brad Gilmore's ESPN Radio CW three nine, Houston, What is
the what is life crazy? First time that happens? It's
on a Robert Zemeckis movie. Come on, man, things are
things are weird? Life is weird. Here are the interviews
back to the future of the podcast.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Check it out.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Paul, Thank you so much for taking the time today
or this morning. I love this movie. It's been my
absolute favorite film of the year, So congratulations on it,
and thank you again for taking the time.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Thank you so much. It's good to hear.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
There's this particular part in this movie with your character
where he has this line to me encapsulated a lot
what the character was, and it's when he's looking off
in the distance and he says, I've been to places.
In that moment, I felt like I knew who he
was my grandfather, being a World War two veteran himself,
I felt like I knew this character. When you're breaking
down a script and trying to understand who the person is,
(10:59):
do you look for a particular either line or a
scene that could kind of really inform who that character
might be for you?
Speaker 1 (11:06):
No, but sometimes it happens.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
And you're right, that was one of the lines that really.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Stuck with me.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
And and and you know how how small he has
made his life now and his I think that, you know,
having got back from the having been a child of
the Wall Street crash. You know, he then goes to war,
(11:37):
he comes back, and he decides he's going to build
his family, and his life becomes about keeping a roof
over their heads, I think, and I think that it
leads him to sort of self medicate with alcohol and
and and and I do think it's a common story.
(11:59):
I think we all know those people. I know that
man in my life. I know him, and and they're
they're moving and incredibly human, and their flaws a sort
of ball out of just wanting everybody to be okay,
you know. And and yeah, so I'm really touched that
(12:26):
you picked up on that line. Because I think that's
his his sort of sirens song.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Yeah, it was, You're right. We all know those people
at some point in their lives.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And but at the same time, he had solace towards
the end of his or he had a sense of
completion toward the end of his life because he did
do the task. He did put the family through a
roof over their head and got them through life. So
in some senses, although it wasn't maybe the life that
he wanted, he still did the goal. He accomplished the task,
(12:58):
and I thought that that was portrayed you.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
And then he you know, he's looking after his wife,
which is his last the soldier's last mission, I think
in this in this case, you.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Know absolutely Now this movie obviously was so uniquely done,
especially from the way that it was shot from the
singular angle. And doing some research on this, I understood
that they had what I think you effectually called is
the Betany trench due to your height, having to kind
of be able to stay and frame it all the time.
What did you find as an actor were the challenges
(13:30):
and conveniences of being in that single frame shot.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
For me, the.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
As an actor, I think that the challenges were far
outweighed by the freedom that you actually felt by knowing
what the shot is and how the you know what
it's going to look like, you know what the scene's
going to look like because there's no editorial, you know,
there's nothing else to cuts, so it's going to be
one of these takes that we do.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
And that was amazing.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
And I'm negotiating with your who's gonna step into the
close who's holding the story, and who's gonna be stepping
into the camera for the close up, and all of
that stuff was was fantastically fun and freeing. And you know,
things like trenches or standing on on I hardly ever
(14:27):
have to stand on a left because I'm stupidly tall,
but all of that stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Is normal in in movies anyway.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
You know, absolutely well again, this movie I think is
my favorite of the year, and you were excellent in
it as well as the rest of the cast.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
And thank you so much taking the time.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Thank you mate, Thank you, take mister.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Zemechiz a pleasure to speak to you. This movie is
the best.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Film of the year, my favorite movie of the year.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
You kind of paided a beautiful illustration to the phrase
if these walls could talk.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So congratulations, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
The cast from top to bottom is obviously phenomenal, from
every actor who even the ones who portrayed the inventor,
the lazy boy, to the woman who portrayed uh Missus
Franklin in the past, as well as also Tom and
Robin who have such great performances. My question to you
is casting Tom and Robin, who you've worked with so
many times before a great benefit not only knowing what
(15:25):
they bring as actors, but you have a certain amount
of trust in them to help carry out what is
really a complex vision with this film.
Speaker 7 (15:33):
I of course, you know, trust is an important thing
that you have to always have when you're in a
director actor relationship. So yes, having worked before with both
of them many times and understanding their process so is
very helpful. But it's always wonderful to work with an
(15:53):
actor that you have a shorthand with and they know
how I think and I know how they think, and
it's just, uh, it just makes our life easier and
it's and it's great fun because we just enjoy working together.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
I think Tom mentioned something about the shorthand of the
red dot, like when red dot has said, you know
that y'all are on the same page, Is that right?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Right?
Speaker 7 (16:15):
Well, that's a term I use to describe the point
of a scene when I'm talking to the cast and
I say, Okay, the reason we're doing the scene and
here's the red dot and whatever it is is a
point of the scene is to show the audience finally
that there is a gun in the drawer, right, So
you know that's what the red dot is is. We
(16:38):
all have to know what this what the moment that
the scene is driving toward that's going to propel the
story to the next scene.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
The way this movie is shot is obviously very unique,
for the majority of the film being shot from a
singular angle. I asked the actors what were some of
the challenges and conveniences of working that way? But for you,
as a director, what were the bigger challenges and conveniences
of having that single frame to fit the story in.
Speaker 7 (17:05):
Well, the the biggest challenge was not in actually doing it,
but the biggest challenge was in making all the decisions
ahead of time, because we knew that everything had to
be had to had to work perfectly within that one view,
and so just deciding on the lens, for example, took
(17:27):
months to make a decision on what the right lens
size would be, and then the right height of the camera,
and exactly what in the room, for example, when the
when we're in the room, what exactly was going to
what part of the room was going to accommodate all scenes.
So those were the big decisions, Those were the big challenges.
(17:49):
Having worked all those out ahead of time, it made
the actual shooting go quite smoothly.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And I imagine like the blocking has to be so
precise in this movie just because as it is in any movie,
but in this one particularly because you're going through different
time periods and different things are showing up in the
same place. So I'm assuming there's a lot of wherewithal
on thought had to go into the blocking of the scene.
Speaker 7 (18:12):
Yes, And what we did is we did a lot
of We did a lot of loose rehearsal. We went
and we we we constructed a rudimentary set, and we
put a video camera in there, and and way before
we started shooting, the actors and I would wander through
this little environment and work out these scenes and get
(18:34):
to a place where we all felt that okay, this
is a this is good where this person is going
to be here and this character is gonna be there,
and and so we worked it out, and we did
a lot of what I'll call a black box feed
or rehearsing, and then once we were shooting, we would
refine it from that. So we were we had a
pretty good idea what we're going to do before we
stepped on the set.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
This is my last question for you, and again, thank
you so much for your time. This film really resonated
with me because my grandparents home was really the core
of our family. Every big event happened there, Every major
life moment happened in that house. And when it was
torn down sadly and sold, I actually had to go
steal the house numbers from up top.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I'll just to have as a keepsake.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Was actually keep on my desk here with me right now,
the twelve twelve. And that's kind of the memory for
me of the film. Do you have any particular keepsake
from a special childhood home or place that you keep
that help remind you of the memory had.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
I don't have parts of my house, No, I don't
have those, but my house actually is still standing. The
one I grew up in. But I certainly have mementos
and things like that. But yes, and it's interesting every
once in a while to go on Google Maps and
(19:51):
just see how the house is doing what you know,
what it looks like, and see if it's still standing.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Oh beautiful.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Well, the movie is beautiful and it was such a great,
great time talking to you. Thank you so much, sir,
Thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Thank you have a good one.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Thank you, Tom Robin, Thank you so much for taking
the time. Congratulations on this movie. It is truly my
favorite film of the year. So congratulations to the two
of you.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Well, let's let's start here though, because obviously you've worked together,
and obviously you've worked together with Robert Zamechas on the
film before. Does that familiarity that you have developed some
sort of shorthand on set that truly makes the process collaborative?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, this is your third time.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
Right for four fourth, I think you did what sixth
I have.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Lost count.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
You just trying to like get together every seven years
and say what do you got?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, what do you got?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
But it is I mean, I I people say what
I think. I think the first conversation you have with
Bob is a shorthand conversation.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Absolutely thirty years ago.
Speaker 6 (20:56):
Yeah, it hasn't changed at all, and it is even
the we haven't hung out with each other personally for
these years in between each film. It literally feels like
going home for the holidays. Really, Oh, there's that family.
It's so easy. Yes, we speak in code. We get
we were making the same movie.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Let's just talk about that for a second. Ago.
Speaker 6 (21:17):
That's a huge difference is when you have four different
visions and nobody's in sync. We all were making the
same movie.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
We we have Here's one of the things that we
would say. We'd get together and try to all right
approach of something like that, and we'd all get so
close that one of us could say red dot and
red dot means we all understand what we're doing. What
we're doing in this scene, all right. And that goes
back to, you know, the one of the first that
when Bob would we all got to understand we're making
(21:47):
the same We know.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
What dot is.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
We seen has a red dot.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
We got to know what that.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
So now we could just say, hey, Bob, red dot,
red dot, Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
We got it.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
That red dot you know, look obviously also wait that
this movie is shot is so unique from the singular
frame and from kind of the through the window.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Perspective, if you will.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
What are the challenges though, inconveniences as an actor that
you have knowing what the frame is essentially for the entirety.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Of the movie?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Wow, Well one is we don't we would go as
many takes as possible seventeen thirty six forty two. But
what's fabulous about that is you start at the beginning,
and you go all the way to the end, and
then you weigh how that is, and then you yet
to just go back and do it again. And once
you've got it, that's it. You don't have to go
(22:36):
back and.
Speaker 6 (22:37):
Wait, do you have no coverage. It's not like, oh,
we'll come back after lunch and get the mediums in
the extreme closeup. You have to nail it in one take.
So we would find, oh, was that take too long?
Got to pick up the pace? Where do we pick
it up? Should we move closer to the lens, bring
ourselves into our own close up to make more impact
(22:58):
of this beat where there are no words of dialogue.
So it was it was interesting to work that way
and we were like, we're so spoiled, we don't want
to go back to the conventional way of shooting.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
It was liberating because, in a weird way, we made
the movie in real time, if that makes sense, right.
We made the movie in ninety second increments or two
minute increment two minute increments. We didn't like go back
and have to start playing around with how long the
scene really is. It lasted as long as we did it,
and sometimes, you know, forty seven tanks is a long time,
(23:31):
you know, and in order to get to where he was.
What but that it was a luxury.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
I'm sure it was.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
And again, like you said, the way that it's just
outlined in the film, and from beginning to end, it's
such a beautiful movie. This movie was also very special
to me because my grandparents' home was kind of the
center of our family for so many decades, so much
so that when we had to sell it eventually and
the home was torn down, I had to steal the
numbers on the house numbers and I actually said, right
(23:59):
here to me for forever that these numbers have been
sitting next to me as a reminder of that. Do
you all have any physical keepsakes that you've gotten from
a child at home or a special place that encapsulates
the memories in a similar way.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Scars. I have some scars that might cover No I
moved around man if I don't, I don't.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Yeah, yeah, I got some scars too.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
That telephone numbers in my right five two, two, two
three four.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
That no way was that your landline?
Speaker 4 (24:28):
That was the landline at the house I lived in
oak Thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Well, hey, but what's the what's the house number? What
was the house numb that you lived in?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Twelve twelve twelve twelve, twelve twelve.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's a great number.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
The good one go to a Bonnie Brave. But again,
I know amount of time, Tom Robin, thank you so
much taking the time in congratulations on the best.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Movie of the year.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Twelve twelve
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