Bob Jones cinema survey class was lucky enough to have Jason Reitman, the director of Thank You For Smoking and Juno come speak about his latest film Up In The Air earlier today. What started out as a typical event to promote his movie turned into a tell-all presentation preaching valuable life lessons in becoming a successful filmmaker. Jason is the son of famous director, Ivan Reitman who directed a whole string of comedies such as Ghostbusters and Kindergarten Cop. Jason was 11 days old when on the set for Animal House and jokingly considered that event as a pivotal moment in his life. He began making short films in high school but didn’t realize that’s what he wanted to do as a career until later on in life. Initially he was a pre-med student in college but soon realized what his true calling was. He is a storyteller and that’s exactly what he does best.
To him, the 90’s era of filmmaking strangely paralleled the 70’s, which revitalized indie films. He considers Stanley Kubrick, Kevin Smith, and Wes Anderson as some of his main influences. It was his interest in indie filmmaking that allowed him to explore different, unconventional types of comedy. Like many others, he was a product of Sundance and praises the convenience of film festivals. “Festivals were a way to find obscurity where you are judged on your own merit” he said. Books though are the prime influence for his films. They give him the language to say how be feels. He has no future plans of writing an original screenplay and will continue to stay focused on adapting novels. Reitman rationalizes this by saying how every one of Stanley Kubrick’s films were adaptation’s, so obviously it is not that rare of a filmmaking tactic.
The first step and hint of advice Reitman gave on becoming a filmmaker is: make short films. In order to make a short, you have to emulate a director you really like and that’s exactly what he did. On his first short Operation, he said how obvious it was that he wanted to be Quintin Tarantino “so damn badly.”
He expressed the hardships of being a screenwriter by telling stories of how scripts get buried under money and talented writers go unknown. Mel Gibson initially owned the rights to what would become his first feature film, Thank You For Smoking. The class laughed when he described what it would’ve been like having Gibson write, direct, and star in the Braveheart version. Before TYFS was completed, he was even offered the chance at directing Dude, Where’s My Car?…twice.
Reitman constantly brought up the fact that he was the son of a famous director but made it clear to everyone that he didn’t ride on the coattails of his father’s fame. Working apart from his father was a continuing theme throughout his presentation. After hearing about his early life and events that lead up to him breaking into the film industry, he went on to discuss Juno. Reitman drew comparisons of his life to the film even though it is a romantic teen comedy written by a former stripper. At the time he had just had his first child and the characters really spoke to him. “Becoming a dad his frightening” he said, “The third act is a response to me becoming a dad”.
In a period of frustration Reitman discovered Up In The Air. George Clooney stars as a jet setter that is hired by companies primarily to fire people. Similar to Reitman, Clooney used this film as a self-examination for himself. Up In The Air questions the love of being alone. Reitman used shooting this film as an opportunity to work out his own problems. Even though he tweets, IM’s, and texts constantly he still is troubled by the breakdown of communication. One form of technology he can’t live without though is his kindle, where he does the majority of his reading.
The beauty of the characters he creates is due to his fascination with honesty. “My barometer of honesty is good,” he said, “don’t try and be funny or dramatic”. He asked rhetorical questions like “would someone say that in real life? Does that seem honest?” His job as a director is to capture reality. Everything he does is about showing honest depictions of people’s lives. The changes in his life greatly affected the script. The story evolved as he did. In 2002, a person losing their job could be interpreted as funny but now it’s a reality. The current state of our economy completely changed how he approached the film. Reitman tries as hard as possible to make his films relevant to society.
One of the common mistakes of filmmaking he said is trying to label yourself early on. You have to find your own voice as quickly as possible. You have to write and figure out who you are. Making mistakes was even part of his strategy to getting into the industry. He cites Rebel Without a Crew as the best book on filmmaking, and the funny thing is there is nowhere in the text where it tells you how to make a movie. “It’s the Nike of filmmaking, it has a Just do it attitude,” he jokingly stated.
The second important lesson he shared was to work with the people you love and not go by resume. “Choose a person you love because when shit goes bad, and it will you want to be standing next to someone you like,” he said. You are constantly with your crew for months so its important you can tolerate them. For example, Diablo Cody, the screenwriter for Juno is like his sister and he spends more time with his editor than he does his own wife.
His lessons in becoming a filmmaker turned into a discussion with the class on music and its role in his films. He picked the music for Juno simply by asking Ellen page what type of music her character would listen to. Her response of “The Moldy Peaches” was all it took to have that band be the basis of the soundtrack. Reitman expressed his views on turning his films into a collaborative effort. “At the end of the day, I’m the director, I’m the boss and if we argue I will shut you out” he said. Music is just as important as any character to him and is a monumental element to the way he crafts his films. “It changes the way you think about a movie,” he said. He asked the class if Garden State would have the same effect on people if the soundtrack weren’t present.
Besides conveying the need to be an honest, truthful writer there were an assortment of fun facts that he presented throughout his time speaking. Michael Cera was supposed to be cancer boy in Thank You For Smoking but couldn’t get a Canadian visa in time and everything you’ve heard about George Clooney is true, except for the gay rumors. Although he admits its kind of lame, he would love to work with Matt Damon and thinks he’s great. It was amusing to listen to him talk about his days as a track runner in high school. Although he said he wasn’t very good, it was the best way he could describe what it takes to become a filmmaker. It is expected to be nervous in the beginning but once you take off you just have to go forward and not look back. He also had an awkward experience playing George Clooney in basketball. He isn’t an athlete and accepts that but he is a talented screenwriter and director. Shakespeare put it best when he wrote, “to thine own self be true” and Jason Reitman couldn’t express it any more detail on how important it was to be an honest writer and create true characters.
