September 9, 2025 • 30 mins
In this episode, we welcome Dale Sherman, author of The Quentin Tarantino FAQ, who takes us deep into the life and career of one of cinema’s most unconventional directors. Known first for his books on rock legends like Kiss and Alice Cooper, Dale turned his focus to Tarantino, exploring how a high school dropout and video store clerk rose to redefine independent film. From Tarantino’s abandoned first attempt at filmmaking, My Best Friend’s Birthday, to the unexpected breakthrough of Reservoir Dogs, Dale reveals how persistence, vision, and timing shaped the director’s path and changed Hollywood forever. Dale also dives into the evolution of Tarantino’s storytelling—his nonlinear structures, pop culture-laced dialogue, and signature use of music—while addressing the controversies surrounding violence and language in his films. Drawing on extensive research, Dale offers filmmakers and film lovers alike a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how Tarantino developed his craft and navigated criticism without losing his voice. This conversation is not just a biography but a blueprint for understanding how passion and originality can transform the art of filmmaking.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You are listening to the ifh podcast Network. For more
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Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Indie Film Muscle Podcast, Episode number eight
to nineteen Cinema should make You forget You're sitting in
a theater, Roman Polanski.
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Broadcasting from the back alley in Hollywood. It's the Indie
Film Hustle Podcast, where we show you how to survive
and thrive as an indie filmmaker in the jungles of
the film biz.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
And here's your host, Alex Ferrari.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome, Welcome to another episode of the Indie Film Huscle Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I am your humble.
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Host, Alex Ferrari. Today's show is sponsored by Rise of
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today's episode with guest host Dave Bullis.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
All right, everyone, thanks here for joining me. Joining me
today is Dale Sherman.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Dale is an all who has written several books about
rock music, including several books on Kiss and Alex Cooper.
His latest book is The Quentin Tarantino SAQ, which is
out right now.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Dale, how are you doing today?
Speaker 5 (02:12):
I'm doing prettyware of Thanks for asking. A book just
came out, so I'm very excited right now. I'm anxious
to see how it does.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
So, you know, Dale, could you give us a little
bit about your background and how you got started in publishing.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Sure, sure, I've been writing since I was in coverage
where I started working on our kiss panting with a
few Earth the people, and it got to the point
where Dick with fucking the very herbly eighty and there
was the point where the band with suffering from not
having about exposure at the time. They're just taking the
(02:48):
makeup or just about you at that point, and nobody
was really paying a lot of attention to them. So
the fans which are band Priss Magazine reguard how look
websites are today am acent exceptore we're doing it mainly
for about fifty people and puting off at the xerox
(03:08):
somewhere back of Kinkos. Anyway, we were doing that and
I started getting a lot of rather from people natural
born cures. As a matter of fact, With is a
movie that he had told people a spands to a boy,
and he doesn't particularly write that film, but I felt
it was worthy of a history in his career, of
(03:31):
his career to talk about that and ended up being
one of the wronger chapter than the book doing with
or do weird, weird kind of thing that went on
behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So, you know, before we get into, you know, discussing
the book, you know, I just want to ask, you know,
is there any particular reason why you chose to have
Tarantino as a subject for your book.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
Well, as I stated riddle earlier, we're wanting to get
more into doing books about movies and getting a little
way from the music stuff. And so I was trying
to think of someone that everyone knew, but everyone didn't
really know everything about. And a lot of people know
(04:15):
Quentin Tarantino movie at A lot of people are in
a big kind of sense like, oh, Quentin Tarantino, ooh,
there's a lot of people like that. But in his cape,
people know of its films and they may even know
like older with a problem with one of the movies
or something, but they don't really know the background. They
(04:37):
don't really know what history. And I think it's a
very interesting study of a guy who actually came from
relatively a small background. I mean this with a guy
who with the high school dropout, you with a video
door cork, and yet he had the vision to actually
get to the point where he was making deep movie
(04:58):
where now he baked iconic a rot of film that
come out an hour a day that are very much
in his style. So he had that a patident a
foot and type of director. And I find that fascinating
and we don't really hear a horror about that for
that where I thought it would be a good study
board book.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, you know, that's a very good point.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
You know, he did, you know, work as a VIDI
history Clark, and he did managed to you know, you know,
write a couple of screenplays there, which is as you
you said earlier. One of them was, you know, natural
Born Killers. I think this is around time to wrote
true True Romance, and finally he wrote.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Reservoir Dogs, which he ended up directing.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So I mean, you know, just to get into the book,
you know, could you take us through, like you know.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Uh, just about each chapter.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
You know, uh uh and just tell us again because
you was little about it about each one.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Oh sure. I had a copy of Very Fortunate Raditar
I can kind of go through that up here and
the first populo chapters here our name. We're trying to
give readers the good background on hit history before he
started doing movie and the relevant point in his early
(06:14):
life that read to him actually becoming a director or
becoming the person who were which is the first chapter
is the path of the right chick Man would deal
with where we were born. And I do have a
bit of a on segment in that chapter doing with
the idea that people seem to think that because he
(06:35):
was born in Tennessee, he's some kind of hick, or
because he grew up in Los Angeith, he's some kind
of wacko uh sewith guy. And instead I see a
of the elements with somebody who were born of the subody,
like a lot of people my age actuate who may
(06:55):
be born in sixty even kind of grew up from there.
And a lot of the movie kind of represent the
thinking of movie we saw back in the seventy that
kind of freewilling anything can go feeling of such film.
And then the chapter tenpt to go on to some
of the jobs he had, like you used to work
(07:16):
at a point theater when you would eat before eighteen actually,
which is kind of a little element. Ended up going
to Joe for a few days for traffic frying, and
of course the stuff about her first real job in
video production being working for doctor v Gren's fitness video
(07:38):
where basically its sole job. We're picking up dark vc
oh at the start, the kind of thing you got
to do when you get started, and then from there,
really the next chapter built with the subject that some
people may know about another first attempt to try to
make a movie, which was my best friend's birthday. I
(08:03):
would want to start saying my best friend's wedding and
step for not birthday. And in looking at it, it's
fascinating to look at it because I guess maybe I
see a moment of bank I teen friend do back
at that time in the eighty two where we'll I
(08:24):
get a camera, I got a script with do a show.
Is it's going to work? Great? And he started putting
this movie together and the script, which I actually enjoy.
I read the script. The script it is actually funny stuff,
and I think it's a very sweet script. It's a
very sweet idea for a movie. And you look at
(08:45):
that script and you think this real will work, This
could actually be something, and then you see it equipped
which are are on YouTube and other praises of what
he actually filmed. And he agreed with that. He said
a few times in different interviews over the years that
video for that film footage he actually did. It's not
(09:05):
anything like the script and it just doesn't work anything
like what you envisioned in your head about her. And
I thought that was fascinating. So I'd find a good
chapter in the book talking about how that I tried
to put the movie together with the script, worth about
where he tried to do that and Howard just kind
of fell apart. And from there it's essentially going through
(09:31):
talking about being in Hollywood and trying to get started.
The first few chapters really deal with the same kind
of thing most people who go into Hollywood end up
having to do, which I'm here, I need somebody to
see that I can do this work, and struggling to
get somebody to see that work. And that's pretty much
(09:52):
the first four or five chapters of the book. You're
just doing with.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
How we'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
He just write, get everybody else, and how it we're
struggling to get somebody to see hit writing and struggling
to get somebody to pick it up. And then the
ball started rolling with the seale of what became true
romance and which could actually be part of a different
script which also discussed in the book called The Open Road.
That was also where Tarantino got his script for Natural
(10:34):
Born Chibwords the original script for that. So the one
script he did call The Open Road, which a lot
of people don't really know about or know anything about,
and it's very hard to find details on with actually
the genesis of two scripts. He wrote one for True Romance,
which was done by one director and a court natural
born crew work would work done by R. Roberstown. And
(10:56):
then because he was getting paid for those, he was
able to do Reservoir Dogs and Reach forod Dog with
a situation where he was going to end up having
to do this movie there was car maybe fifty thousand
dollars and hoping he could get away with it, do
it in black and white with himself if one of
the character, than if brand that the other character. Basically
(11:17):
the whole thing he had gone through with My bet
friend Birthday and it turned it just snowboard into the
thing where he had Carb, Kike and all these other
well known actors appearing in hit film that heat directing,
and he really a first time director, had a serious
thin because already had with the experience of that previous
(11:39):
my best friend Birthday situation and how that ended up
becoming this phenomenon, and then going into the other film,
which I think most people know from there, and then
you get into the pulp fiction situation he began to
Jackie Brown, which is the film that he did that
was much different from normal, and then Kill Bill You
(12:02):
Got the and just go on from that. And so
each chapter deal with the making, theve and creation of
each of the movie, along with the two directed by
other people, as well as different chapters that deal with
the context of what kind of movie angle do we
(12:24):
see a lot of from him in movie like the
whole thing with the beat? We see a lot of
book with bet in most of it movies, And so
we talk about that or I talk about that, and like,
what are some of the movie that he saw the
impressed images upon him that he would take into its
(12:46):
own movie, what kind of movie that he had done?
They have read two other films in his style. There's
also material about some of the yips. You can buy
some of the merchandise that had come out over the
years in relation to hit movie, some weird stuff like
(13:07):
trading cards or the Bad and world wrote from fiction
actually being something you can buy and chapter doing with
the TV appearance He's done a few of those. I
also discussed it run on Broadway and went until Dark,
(13:27):
which rand for a few weeks, and how the perception
of that being a bad thing for him actually wasn't
quite what it was in reality. People remember it that way,
but he actually did. They get some good review during
that time, and just all that kind of stuff, the
dealing with concept about how his music, how he used
(13:51):
music in his film he got I meant, I think
one of my favorite chapters where it's actually writing about praise,
you can go to see where he filmed, which is
one of the radio chapters in the book. So if
(14:11):
you wanted to know where you film certain things, and
there are some iconic type of site that you can
still see where you film a lot of them are
around around the thing he had like the jack rabbit swim.
Praise in pulp fiction actually doesn't exist. There's nothing like it.
There is a building that you can't even get to
(14:35):
where they filmed that. So you can't even go down
and say here where they shot jack rabbits from. You
can kind of say, well, here the area and you
can kind of stand outside it, but you probably can't
even see the building from there. But there's the other
preak where you can go and say, hey, you know,
this is where he shot the this where he shot that,
and you could even prant a card trip and just
(14:55):
kind of go through all these different places to see
these areas and things. And we're talking a little bit
about his contribution to films and things and how he
got the new Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles kept that
running and going Harry helped out the Aramo draft House
(15:17):
with film festivals, that kind of thing. So that's where
the book is about. It's essentially to cover all the
different hourmnth of the man career that people tend to
gross over just so they can say, oh, I saw
pulp fiction or I saw Django Unchain, Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah.
(15:39):
It was a short run type situation. He was on
Broadway for what's supposed to be just a few weeks
and when they did tryout with the typical for Broadway show,
when they tried it out in day Boughton, I think
Bartonet we were at work. I may be misremembering, uh,
(16:00):
but it's up right in the book. Anyway, when they
did try out, it went over so well that it
actually they extended the length of time they were going
to be on Broadway in New York. And so they
got to Broadway, and here's this guy who's a director
(16:22):
that there are people tend to pitch pars about being
an actor, even though that's how he started. He did
try he really did want to be an actor for
instead of a writer, instead of a director. Then when
he had this chance to be on Broadway and pray
the role of the villain and wait until dark, which
(16:42):
is one that if you see the barn Allen Ark
and pray the same part in the film, and so
he's on broadwayen does it. Then a lot of people
just got on his case because here Quentin Tarantino are
taking a role that should have a theory of actor
court onquore doing it. And so if anybody had a
(17:03):
problem with it, they tend to dump on Tarantino. Right
in looking at the review, a lot of people tend
to say, well, you know, he dubbed the job, or
he's not that bad, that he done pretty good job,
or the role, and you tually where they got to
critique the show, if they're being honest about it, that
(17:25):
the Prey is kind of old fashioned and kind of
cruchete now and it doesn't really work anymore. And so
people tended the reviewer tended to say, well, the praise
not really like modern to watch anymore, and so it's
just so sir, and people tripped down and said, oh, well, Tarantino,
(17:47):
we're terrible in this, and right, well, the reviews weren't
quite like that. Some of them were, but not all
of them.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Yeah, you know, it's funny you mentioned that, because you know,
when I read reviews Django and Chain, that's one of
the things they harped on as well, was they said, oh,
you know Terrence you know, was cast in this, you
know by him obviously, and then you know they would
always say, you know, it kind of takes you out
of the movie, and they kind of sort of harped
on that for the review.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Is it actually talking about the movie.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Or yeah, when it came to you, right, Jangle and
Chain and actually with Summer with Oar film and you're
dealing with the language issue. And I think that's a
big part of what people tend to talk about nowadays,
want to come to tarantine or beside the virun and
with the viyrant thing, the sidetrack Berth stuck with the
yrn thing where you talked about gutting something and you
(18:39):
just get tired answering questions about the byron out the back.
And it's the same thing, I think with the language
situation with Jengo and chain her Corep. We're talking about
situation where youth the inward and hit the scripts. And
when you read some of the the interview with those
(19:01):
who actually were working in the film, that's where they're right,
Sam Jackson and elder Ki Kim, who the world, this
is how people talk, This is what people said, and
so the attitude were this type of material speaks to
how the people would have actually talked. When you get
(19:23):
to something like the other big one work throw back
to actually Jackie Brown with Sam Jackson again we had
one particular rhind of dialogue and then you and the
Quick both cluess with one particular rind of dialog where
he sent the in word about five time and they
were in one sentence. And that got the hackles that
(19:46):
certain people because here the white guy who's writing the
script that held this word in it that's very offensive
to another raf the court.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
We'll be right back after a word from our spon
answer and now back to the show.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And so they're that question about the word. But I
think the ament of the element that comes across by
the people who had actually worked on the farm, the
people who are actually dealing with it, is staying, well,
this is how we feel the character would talk, but
(20:29):
I don't think it's going to be something he's ever
going to really be able to quite put away. And
as I stay in the book, in one chapter, I
actually dare with crash it where you've had argument with
other people, and one of the argument the courts of
with Bigley, who had used the word himself. But also
(20:51):
you've in a way that he's probably or this is
their offensive word and it shouldn't be you. And here
this guy who just act like it no big deal.
And so there's been about crashing between the two big directors,
Bike Lee and Quentin Tarantino over that. But it's a
tough subject to talk about because it's a topic that
(21:16):
you start discussing it, it just rides people into getting
very defensive about it. I'm very upset over it. So
it's hard to deal with, and I don't think he's
ever going to be able to quite escape from that.
On the other hand, I think he of the attitude
it quite well. If everybody's going to ride me anyway,
(21:40):
my americ would just you and not worry about it.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Yeah, you know, that's a very good point you brought up,
and you know it is. You know, I remember some
of the you know, the the interviews you've steene to
me about when Jago came out.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
You know, he got interviewed about the violence, you know, Spike.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Then you give him criticized interviews in the N word,
you know, and you're and you're right. I don't think
he ever will, you know, you know, escape And even
with this upcoming movie, The Hateful Eighth. I I mean
I I I've heard from people who've you know, either
read the script or what or what have you, that
you know there is some there is similar tones and
(22:21):
things like that already in the in The Hateful Eight.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
So uh, Deil, I wanted to ask you, you know,
how did you research this book.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Well with something like that that could back with all
my book bat We enjoyed the aspect of really digging
into Arthur. Interviews of the articles over the years would
take the bit of work, but I find that I
actually tend to give me a better round rounder review
(22:58):
or the history of somebody. And what I mean by
that is that it's easy to interview somebody remembering from
twenty years ago a thing that happened, and they get
their story and they need to print it. But if
you go back to when that actually occur twenty years ago,
(23:18):
you know, I get other people interpretations of that incident,
but you also get perhaps their own different interpretation of
that incident. So you can end up with a situation
where somebody is talking about something that just happened and
say something that they hated about it, and then you
(23:38):
get to ten years later and to talk about something
amusing about it. And then you get to something twenty
years later and they're talking about something world out of
actually a good thing because this, and doesn't this happen
because of it? So I think research on the revel
of just digging into what's out there, digging into interview,
(23:59):
digging into article, of digging into thing quite looking for
bits and piece if even in other people biography and
thing quite really helped shape a rounder view of somebody.
Then if you just if you just I say, interview somebody,
and that that basically all comes down to your just
(24:20):
a road of research. I'm doing a new book now
on a old sitcom from the seventiethh, Mash, and in
that case are brought up the research digging through articles
of the seventy, digging through books by the people who
are particular pants, digging through episode, digging through scripts thing
(24:45):
quite the an's old part of the job.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yeah, you know, I once for the journalism, you know,
is a lot of like that.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
We just have to dig through the old articles and
you know sort of you know, dig through a lot
and ask a lot of questions and as good you're
able to actually, you know, interview some people and talk
to them because you know, it's some of the people
I know, uh, you know, like Roger Ravery, I don't
know what he's up to, you know, all those guys
who used to work with Tarantino at the video store,
(25:17):
and so, uh, you know, for your next book and
for your next projects.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
You know, what do you know when the book about
Mash will be out.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
M and that that's going to be Mash And then
I'm already fined for a book up to that doing
with another iconic director that when we're done a hand
for a movie for Parentina. Actually I haven't signed quite
signed that deal yet, so that's all I can basically
say there. But Mash, it'd be dealing with the books
(25:48):
with the movie, with the series, there are people don't
realize the match with something that actually had viteen book
novel written over the years, so people just don't even
know about that aspect anymore. And then of course you
had the movie that were fairly famouth and you had
the series that were definitely famous, and how the that
(26:11):
meant all kind of chained like Math chained the rat
things and terrovision and the seventies, The movie chained the
mac Back movies in the seventies at well, even though
it came out in sixty nine, sixty nine seventy. I
mean it argued arguably considered it the perfet movie with
(26:36):
their forward and as a matter of fact, and that
the do be kind of thing to be known for
something unique that became something that standard and movie nowadays,
and so actee, that's why I ended up wanting to
write that book because I here is another famous show
(26:58):
another another fem thing that had I momented most people
don't even real right are there? And That's where I'm
going with it.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Yeah, it's very cool.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
So you know, Dale, you know, we've been talking about
half an hour now, you know, is there anything we
haven't discussed you know about about you know, the book
that or anything else that you wanted to talk about?
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Anything else I want to talk about?
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Yeah, like any anything that you may have wanted to
talk about that we didn't get a chance.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
To with the Tarantina book. The book itself, I'm very
happy with it. Took a lot of work to do.
It was kind of a tough crime on writing one,
more than in a couple of my other book. But
I think it gets a lot of affect to the
mand career that people aren't you thinking about. I think
(27:54):
it gets a good biographical history of him, and three
be so far have been pretty good for it. I
think the bands appears will find one or two things
they didn't know about, or some aspects of it that
they enjoy reading. I'm sure that the thro a little
bit of humor in there as well, or we try
(28:15):
to throw a little bit of that in there. I
think that I'm very happy with the results. I think
bands will be paid.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah awesome. And you know also Dale, I will link
to that in the show notes.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
So anybody out there, you know, if you want to
click on the link, I will. It'll take you ato
the Amazon page. We can buy Dale's new book, The
Quentin Tarrito f a Q Everything excuse me, everything left
to know about the original Reservoir Dog Dale.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Where we will find you out online.
Speaker 5 (28:49):
Well, I do a round of my stuff through Facebook.
Better course I do have a brog out there you
can get to buy it it Dale Sherman, writer at
large and it broad that I have. We're deal with
some of the things they're coming out each week. Try
to get people thanks based with my base to rap
(29:09):
my book, but also some new more information. Way to
check it out. You can find out some new things
where I got some of the things we're going on
with kiss, what're going on with my wrap book before this,
which with actually a book about end of the world
movie called Armageddon film Ethic Year, and also the new
book as well. So just check that out. And I'm
(29:31):
out there doing some interviews and things. In course you
just mentioned you can pick up the book through Amazon
and separate out of praising. Quite that and I hope
people enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
Awesome, Dale, thanks so much for coming on and you
know I wish you the best luck with the book.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Take care, buddy.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I want to thank Dave so much for doing such
a great job on this episode. If you want to
get links to anything we spoke about in this episode,
head over to the show notes at anything dot com
Forward slash eight nineteen. If you have it already, please
head over to Filmmaking podcast dot com. Subscribe and leave
a good review for the show. It really helps us
out a lot.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Thank you again so much for listening to guys.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
As always, keep that hustle going, keep that dream alive,
Stay safe out there, and I'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Thanks for listening to the Indie Film Hustle podcast at
Indie Film Hustle dot com. That's I N D I
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Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Indie Film Muscle Podcast, Episode number eight
to nineteen Cinema should make You forget You're sitting in
a theater, Roman Polanski.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Broadcasting from the back alley in Hollywood. It's the Indie
Film Hustle Podcast, where we show you how to survive
and thrive as an indie filmmaker in the jungles of
the film biz.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
And here's your host, Alex Ferrari.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome, Welcome to another episode of the Indie Film Huscle Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I am your humble.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Host, Alex Ferrari. Today's show is sponsored by Rise of
the Film Entrepreneur How to turn your independent film into
a profitable business. It's harder today than ever before for
independent filmmakers to make money with their films from predatory
film distributors ripping them off to huckster film aggregators who
prey upon them. The odds are stacked against the indie filmmaker.
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The distribution model of making money with your film is broken,
and there needs to be a change. The future of
independent filmmaking is the entrepreneurial filmmaker or the film entrepreneur.
In Rise of the Film Entrepreneur, I break down how
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you how to turn your indie film into a profitable business.
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With case studies examining successes and failures. This book shows
you the step by step method to turn your passion
into a profitable career. If you're making a feature film, series,
or any other kind of video content, the Film Entrepreneur
method will set you up for success. The book is
available in paperback, ebook, and of course audiobook. If you
(01:42):
want to order it, just head over to www dot
filmbiz book dot com. That's film bizbook dot com. Enjoy
today's episode with guest host Dave Bullis.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
All right, everyone, thanks here for joining me. Joining me
today is Dale Sherman.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Dale is an all who has written several books about
rock music, including several books on Kiss and Alex Cooper.
His latest book is The Quentin Tarantino SAQ, which is
out right now.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Dale, how are you doing today?
Speaker 5 (02:12):
I'm doing prettyware of Thanks for asking. A book just
came out, so I'm very excited right now. I'm anxious
to see how it does.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
So, you know, Dale, could you give us a little
bit about your background and how you got started in publishing.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Sure, sure, I've been writing since I was in coverage
where I started working on our kiss panting with a
few Earth the people, and it got to the point
where Dick with fucking the very herbly eighty and there
was the point where the band with suffering from not
having about exposure at the time. They're just taking the
(02:48):
makeup or just about you at that point, and nobody
was really paying a lot of attention to them. So
the fans which are band Priss Magazine reguard how look
websites are today am acent exceptore we're doing it mainly
for about fifty people and puting off at the xerox
(03:08):
somewhere back of Kinkos. Anyway, we were doing that and
I started getting a lot of rather from people natural
born cures. As a matter of fact, With is a
movie that he had told people a spands to a boy,
and he doesn't particularly write that film, but I felt
it was worthy of a history in his career, of
(03:31):
his career to talk about that and ended up being
one of the wronger chapter than the book doing with
or do weird, weird kind of thing that went on
behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So, you know, before we get into, you know, discussing
the book, you know, I just want to ask, you know,
is there any particular reason why you chose to have
Tarantino as a subject for your book.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
Well, as I stated riddle earlier, we're wanting to get
more into doing books about movies and getting a little
way from the music stuff. And so I was trying
to think of someone that everyone knew, but everyone didn't
really know everything about. And a lot of people know
(04:15):
Quentin Tarantino movie at A lot of people are in
a big kind of sense like, oh, Quentin Tarantino, ooh,
there's a lot of people like that. But in his cape,
people know of its films and they may even know
like older with a problem with one of the movies
or something, but they don't really know the background. They
(04:37):
don't really know what history. And I think it's a
very interesting study of a guy who actually came from
relatively a small background. I mean this with a guy
who with the high school dropout, you with a video
door cork, and yet he had the vision to actually
get to the point where he was making deep movie
(04:58):
where now he baked iconic a rot of film that
come out an hour a day that are very much
in his style. So he had that a patident a
foot and type of director. And I find that fascinating
and we don't really hear a horror about that for
that where I thought it would be a good study
board book.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah, you know, that's a very good point.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
You know, he did, you know, work as a VIDI
history Clark, and he did managed to you know, you know,
write a couple of screenplays there, which is as you
you said earlier. One of them was, you know, natural
Born Killers. I think this is around time to wrote
true True Romance, and finally he wrote.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Reservoir Dogs, which he ended up directing.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So I mean, you know, just to get into the book,
you know, could you take us through, like you know.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Uh, just about each chapter.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
You know, uh uh and just tell us again because
you was little about it about each one.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Oh sure. I had a copy of Very Fortunate Raditar
I can kind of go through that up here and
the first populo chapters here our name. We're trying to
give readers the good background on hit history before he
started doing movie and the relevant point in his early
(06:14):
life that read to him actually becoming a director or
becoming the person who were which is the first chapter
is the path of the right chick Man would deal
with where we were born. And I do have a
bit of a on segment in that chapter doing with
the idea that people seem to think that because he
(06:35):
was born in Tennessee, he's some kind of hick, or
because he grew up in Los Angeith, he's some kind
of wacko uh sewith guy. And instead I see a
of the elements with somebody who were born of the subody,
like a lot of people my age actuate who may
(06:55):
be born in sixty even kind of grew up from there.
And a lot of the movie kind of represent the
thinking of movie we saw back in the seventy that
kind of freewilling anything can go feeling of such film.
And then the chapter tenpt to go on to some
of the jobs he had, like you used to work
(07:16):
at a point theater when you would eat before eighteen actually,
which is kind of a little element. Ended up going
to Joe for a few days for traffic frying, and
of course the stuff about her first real job in
video production being working for doctor v Gren's fitness video
(07:38):
where basically its sole job. We're picking up dark vc
oh at the start, the kind of thing you got
to do when you get started, and then from there,
really the next chapter built with the subject that some
people may know about another first attempt to try to
make a movie, which was my best friend's birthday. I
(08:03):
would want to start saying my best friend's wedding and
step for not birthday. And in looking at it, it's
fascinating to look at it because I guess maybe I
see a moment of bank I teen friend do back
at that time in the eighty two where we'll I
(08:24):
get a camera, I got a script with do a show.
Is it's going to work? Great? And he started putting
this movie together and the script, which I actually enjoy.
I read the script. The script it is actually funny stuff,
and I think it's a very sweet script. It's a
very sweet idea for a movie. And you look at
(08:45):
that script and you think this real will work, This
could actually be something, and then you see it equipped
which are are on YouTube and other praises of what
he actually filmed. And he agreed with that. He said
a few times in different interviews over the years that
video for that film footage he actually did. It's not
(09:05):
anything like the script and it just doesn't work anything
like what you envisioned in your head about her. And
I thought that was fascinating. So I'd find a good
chapter in the book talking about how that I tried
to put the movie together with the script, worth about
where he tried to do that and Howard just kind
of fell apart. And from there it's essentially going through
(09:31):
talking about being in Hollywood and trying to get started.
The first few chapters really deal with the same kind
of thing most people who go into Hollywood end up
having to do, which I'm here, I need somebody to
see that I can do this work, and struggling to
get somebody to see that work. And that's pretty much
(09:52):
the first four or five chapters of the book. You're
just doing with.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
How we'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
He just write, get everybody else, and how it we're
struggling to get somebody to see hit writing and struggling
to get somebody to pick it up. And then the
ball started rolling with the seale of what became true
romance and which could actually be part of a different
script which also discussed in the book called The Open Road.
That was also where Tarantino got his script for Natural
(10:34):
Born Chibwords the original script for that. So the one
script he did call The Open Road, which a lot
of people don't really know about or know anything about,
and it's very hard to find details on with actually
the genesis of two scripts. He wrote one for True Romance,
which was done by one director and a court natural
born crew work would work done by R. Roberstown. And
(10:56):
then because he was getting paid for those, he was
able to do Reservoir Dogs and Reach forod Dog with
a situation where he was going to end up having
to do this movie there was car maybe fifty thousand
dollars and hoping he could get away with it, do
it in black and white with himself if one of
the character, than if brand that the other character. Basically
(11:17):
the whole thing he had gone through with My bet
friend Birthday and it turned it just snowboard into the
thing where he had Carb, Kike and all these other
well known actors appearing in hit film that heat directing,
and he really a first time director, had a serious
thin because already had with the experience of that previous
(11:39):
my best friend Birthday situation and how that ended up
becoming this phenomenon, and then going into the other film,
which I think most people know from there, and then
you get into the pulp fiction situation he began to
Jackie Brown, which is the film that he did that
was much different from normal, and then Kill Bill You
(12:02):
Got the and just go on from that. And so
each chapter deal with the making, theve and creation of
each of the movie, along with the two directed by
other people, as well as different chapters that deal with
the context of what kind of movie angle do we
(12:24):
see a lot of from him in movie like the
whole thing with the beat? We see a lot of
book with bet in most of it movies, And so
we talk about that or I talk about that, and like,
what are some of the movie that he saw the
impressed images upon him that he would take into its
(12:46):
own movie, what kind of movie that he had done?
They have read two other films in his style. There's
also material about some of the yips. You can buy
some of the merchandise that had come out over the
years in relation to hit movie, some weird stuff like
(13:07):
trading cards or the Bad and world wrote from fiction
actually being something you can buy and chapter doing with
the TV appearance He's done a few of those. I
also discussed it run on Broadway and went until Dark,
(13:27):
which rand for a few weeks, and how the perception
of that being a bad thing for him actually wasn't
quite what it was in reality. People remember it that way,
but he actually did. They get some good review during
that time, and just all that kind of stuff, the
dealing with concept about how his music, how he used
(13:51):
music in his film he got I meant, I think
one of my favorite chapters where it's actually writing about praise,
you can go to see where he filmed, which is
one of the radio chapters in the book. So if
(14:11):
you wanted to know where you film certain things, and
there are some iconic type of site that you can
still see where you film a lot of them are
around around the thing he had like the jack rabbit swim.
Praise in pulp fiction actually doesn't exist. There's nothing like it.
There is a building that you can't even get to
(14:35):
where they filmed that. So you can't even go down
and say here where they shot jack rabbits from. You
can kind of say, well, here the area and you
can kind of stand outside it, but you probably can't
even see the building from there. But there's the other
preak where you can go and say, hey, you know,
this is where he shot the this where he shot that,
and you could even prant a card trip and just
(14:55):
kind of go through all these different places to see
these areas and things. And we're talking a little bit
about his contribution to films and things and how he
got the new Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles kept that
running and going Harry helped out the Aramo draft House
(15:17):
with film festivals, that kind of thing. So that's where
the book is about. It's essentially to cover all the
different hourmnth of the man career that people tend to
gross over just so they can say, oh, I saw
pulp fiction or I saw Django Unchain, Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah.
(15:39):
It was a short run type situation. He was on
Broadway for what's supposed to be just a few weeks
and when they did tryout with the typical for Broadway show,
when they tried it out in day Boughton, I think
Bartonet we were at work. I may be misremembering, uh,
(16:00):
but it's up right in the book. Anyway, when they
did try out, it went over so well that it
actually they extended the length of time they were going
to be on Broadway in New York. And so they
got to Broadway, and here's this guy who's a director
(16:22):
that there are people tend to pitch pars about being
an actor, even though that's how he started. He did
try he really did want to be an actor for
instead of a writer, instead of a director. Then when
he had this chance to be on Broadway and pray
the role of the villain and wait until dark, which
(16:42):
is one that if you see the barn Allen Ark
and pray the same part in the film, and so
he's on broadwayen does it. Then a lot of people
just got on his case because here Quentin Tarantino are
taking a role that should have a theory of actor
court onquore doing it. And so if anybody had a
(17:03):
problem with it, they tend to dump on Tarantino. Right
in looking at the review, a lot of people tend
to say, well, you know, he dubbed the job, or
he's not that bad, that he done pretty good job,
or the role, and you tually where they got to
critique the show, if they're being honest about it, that
(17:25):
the Prey is kind of old fashioned and kind of
cruchete now and it doesn't really work anymore. And so
people tended the reviewer tended to say, well, the praise
not really like modern to watch anymore, and so it's
just so sir, and people tripped down and said, oh, well, Tarantino,
(17:47):
we're terrible in this, and right, well, the reviews weren't
quite like that. Some of them were, but not all
of them.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Yeah, you know, it's funny you mentioned that, because you know,
when I read reviews Django and Chain, that's one of
the things they harped on as well, was they said, oh,
you know Terrence you know, was cast in this, you
know by him obviously, and then you know they would
always say, you know, it kind of takes you out
of the movie, and they kind of sort of harped
on that for the review.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Is it actually talking about the movie.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Or yeah, when it came to you, right, Jangle and
Chain and actually with Summer with Oar film and you're
dealing with the language issue. And I think that's a
big part of what people tend to talk about nowadays,
want to come to tarantine or beside the virun and
with the viyrant thing, the sidetrack Berth stuck with the
yrn thing where you talked about gutting something and you
(18:39):
just get tired answering questions about the byron out the back.
And it's the same thing, I think with the language
situation with Jengo and chain her Corep. We're talking about
situation where youth the inward and hit the scripts. And
when you read some of the the interview with those
(19:01):
who actually were working in the film, that's where they're right,
Sam Jackson and elder Ki Kim, who the world, this
is how people talk, This is what people said, and
so the attitude were this type of material speaks to
how the people would have actually talked. When you get
(19:23):
to something like the other big one work throw back
to actually Jackie Brown with Sam Jackson again we had
one particular rhind of dialogue and then you and the
Quick both cluess with one particular rind of dialog where
he sent the in word about five time and they
were in one sentence. And that got the hackles that
(19:46):
certain people because here the white guy who's writing the
script that held this word in it that's very offensive
to another raf the court.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
We'll be right back after a word from our spon
answer and now back to the show.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
And so they're that question about the word. But I
think the ament of the element that comes across by
the people who had actually worked on the farm, the
people who are actually dealing with it, is staying, well,
this is how we feel the character would talk, but
(20:29):
I don't think it's going to be something he's ever
going to really be able to quite put away. And
as I stay in the book, in one chapter, I
actually dare with crash it where you've had argument with
other people, and one of the argument the courts of
with Bigley, who had used the word himself. But also
(20:51):
you've in a way that he's probably or this is
their offensive word and it shouldn't be you. And here
this guy who just act like it no big deal.
And so there's been about crashing between the two big directors,
Bike Lee and Quentin Tarantino over that. But it's a
tough subject to talk about because it's a topic that
(21:16):
you start discussing it, it just rides people into getting
very defensive about it. I'm very upset over it. So
it's hard to deal with, and I don't think he's
ever going to be able to quite escape from that.
On the other hand, I think he of the attitude
it quite well. If everybody's going to ride me anyway,
(21:40):
my americ would just you and not worry about it.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Yeah, you know, that's a very good point you brought up,
and you know it is. You know, I remember some
of the you know, the the interviews you've steene to
me about when Jago came out.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
You know, he got interviewed about the violence, you know, Spike.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Then you give him criticized interviews in the N word,
you know, and you're and you're right. I don't think
he ever will, you know, you know, escape And even
with this upcoming movie, The Hateful Eighth. I I mean
I I I've heard from people who've you know, either
read the script or what or what have you, that
you know there is some there is similar tones and
(22:21):
things like that already in the in The Hateful Eight.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
So uh, Deil, I wanted to ask you, you know,
how did you research this book.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Well with something like that that could back with all
my book bat We enjoyed the aspect of really digging
into Arthur. Interviews of the articles over the years would
take the bit of work, but I find that I
actually tend to give me a better round rounder review
(22:58):
or the history of somebody. And what I mean by
that is that it's easy to interview somebody remembering from
twenty years ago a thing that happened, and they get
their story and they need to print it. But if
you go back to when that actually occur twenty years ago,
(23:18):
you know, I get other people interpretations of that incident,
but you also get perhaps their own different interpretation of
that incident. So you can end up with a situation
where somebody is talking about something that just happened and
say something that they hated about it, and then you
(23:38):
get to ten years later and to talk about something
amusing about it. And then you get to something twenty
years later and they're talking about something world out of
actually a good thing because this, and doesn't this happen
because of it? So I think research on the revel
of just digging into what's out there, digging into interview,
(23:59):
digging into article, of digging into thing quite looking for
bits and piece if even in other people biography and
thing quite really helped shape a rounder view of somebody.
Then if you just if you just I say, interview somebody,
and that that basically all comes down to your just
(24:20):
a road of research. I'm doing a new book now
on a old sitcom from the seventiethh, Mash, and in
that case are brought up the research digging through articles
of the seventy, digging through books by the people who
are particular pants, digging through episode, digging through scripts thing
(24:45):
quite the an's old part of the job.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yeah, you know, I once for the journalism, you know,
is a lot of like that.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
We just have to dig through the old articles and
you know sort of you know, dig through a lot
and ask a lot of questions and as good you're
able to actually, you know, interview some people and talk
to them because you know, it's some of the people
I know, uh, you know, like Roger Ravery, I don't
know what he's up to, you know, all those guys
who used to work with Tarantino at the video store,
(25:17):
and so, uh, you know, for your next book and
for your next projects.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
You know, what do you know when the book about
Mash will be out.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
M and that that's going to be Mash And then
I'm already fined for a book up to that doing
with another iconic director that when we're done a hand
for a movie for Parentina. Actually I haven't signed quite
signed that deal yet, so that's all I can basically
say there. But Mash, it'd be dealing with the books
(25:48):
with the movie, with the series, there are people don't
realize the match with something that actually had viteen book
novel written over the years, so people just don't even
know about that aspect anymore. And then of course you
had the movie that were fairly famouth and you had
the series that were definitely famous, and how the that
(26:11):
meant all kind of chained like Math chained the rat
things and terrovision and the seventies, The movie chained the
mac Back movies in the seventies at well, even though
it came out in sixty nine, sixty nine seventy. I
mean it argued arguably considered it the perfet movie with
(26:36):
their forward and as a matter of fact, and that
the do be kind of thing to be known for
something unique that became something that standard and movie nowadays,
and so actee, that's why I ended up wanting to
write that book because I here is another famous show
(26:58):
another another fem thing that had I momented most people
don't even real right are there? And That's where I'm
going with it.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Yeah, it's very cool.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
So you know, Dale, you know, we've been talking about
half an hour now, you know, is there anything we
haven't discussed you know about about you know, the book
that or anything else that you wanted to talk about?
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Anything else I want to talk about?
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Yeah, like any anything that you may have wanted to
talk about that we didn't get a chance.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
To with the Tarantina book. The book itself, I'm very
happy with it. Took a lot of work to do.
It was kind of a tough crime on writing one,
more than in a couple of my other book. But
I think it gets a lot of affect to the
mand career that people aren't you thinking about. I think
(27:54):
it gets a good biographical history of him, and three
be so far have been pretty good for it. I
think the bands appears will find one or two things
they didn't know about, or some aspects of it that
they enjoy reading. I'm sure that the thro a little
bit of humor in there as well, or we try
(28:15):
to throw a little bit of that in there. I
think that I'm very happy with the results. I think
bands will be paid.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah awesome. And you know also Dale, I will link
to that in the show notes.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
So anybody out there, you know, if you want to
click on the link, I will. It'll take you ato
the Amazon page. We can buy Dale's new book, The
Quentin Tarrito f a Q Everything excuse me, everything left
to know about the original Reservoir Dog Dale.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Where we will find you out online.
Speaker 5 (28:49):
Well, I do a round of my stuff through Facebook.
Better course I do have a brog out there you
can get to buy it it Dale Sherman, writer at
large and it broad that I have. We're deal with
some of the things they're coming out each week. Try
to get people thanks based with my base to rap
(29:09):
my book, but also some new more information. Way to
check it out. You can find out some new things
where I got some of the things we're going on
with kiss, what're going on with my wrap book before this,
which with actually a book about end of the world
movie called Armageddon film Ethic Year, and also the new
book as well. So just check that out. And I'm
(29:31):
out there doing some interviews and things. In course you
just mentioned you can pick up the book through Amazon
and separate out of praising. Quite that and I hope
people enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
Awesome, Dale, thanks so much for coming on and you
know I wish you the best luck with the book.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Take care, buddy.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I want to thank Dave so much for doing such
a great job on this episode. If you want to
get links to anything we spoke about in this episode,
head over to the show notes at anything dot com
Forward slash eight nineteen. If you have it already, please
head over to Filmmaking podcast dot com. Subscribe and leave
a good review for the show. It really helps us
out a lot.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Thank you again so much for listening to guys.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
As always, keep that hustle going, keep that dream alive,
Stay safe out there, and I'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Thanks for listening to the Indie Film Hustle podcast at
Indie Film Hustle dot com. That's I N D I
E F I L M h U S T L
E dot com.
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Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.