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Question
This is something I'm very curious about, because so little is known or talked about the director himself. Has anyone here worked with him before? What was he like?
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I worked on ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ and a couple of other shorts for Netflix all shot at the same time 2 years back.
It was my first time working on a Wes production. I have to say it was one of the best organised, chilled and fun productions I’ve ever worked on. The HODs are all very tight and have clearly worked together a long time now. At first Wes is wary of any new people on set, but after a short time I was introduced and welcomed into the fold so to speak.
His inner circle is clearly very tight-knit, as someone else has said a lot of them stay at Wes’ house and all eat and watch movies together in the evening.
He knows exactly what he wants on set, so we rarely if ever did full day of shooting. Everything was pre-planned thanks to the amazing self made animated story boards that he created and even voices the dialogue for. I think most days we would finish 3 or 4 hours early. I’m not sure if this is the case on his full sized features or was a one off for these shorts.
Any other questions I’ll be happy to answer.
That is an awesome and admirable level of preparation. Imagine how much less stressful this industry would be if every director were like this.
What was your job on set?
I was a grip, working with Wes’ longtime friend and Key Grip/Steadicam guy, Sanjay. He was great.
Did you build any cool rigs?
We did a few of their 90 degree track switches yeah, which was the first and only time I’ve ever done it. Very interesting and cool to perform those. Put some big set pieces on tracks as well for the diorama type stuff also. Not to mention the time we laid the track in the floor and it was painted to match the carpet.. Definitely some one of a kind stuff on that shoot.
I have read articles about his productions, He seems really nice, the cast and crew eat dinner together, and His work pace seems to be one of the best, no really long shooting days, easy to work with. He has a stable full of actors who keep coming back ...
Almost worked Moonrise Kingdom but turned it down for higher paying job. Still regret it. Rumors were everyone was in it together. Wes even drove a production van and really tried to rein it in or did whatever he had to do. Union wasn’t happy about his key grip/operator guy if I remember.
Two people I have worked before worked on Moonrise Kingdom; one is one the nicest people in the film business, and the other is the absolute worst, a terrible POS to people below her, but I guess she’s nice to Wes 🤷♀️
Yeah seems like that was that production, just a big shrug. Mostly all the people I know were GE or camera department. I’ll have to ask them and get their stories. It’s just been way too long for me to accurately remember. I just remember working on a commercial and getting harassed by bystanders thinking we were Wes Sandersons shoot and looking for Bill Murray and not believing me.
An old friend of mine was a PA on Bottle Rocket, when Wes was starting out.
Every time Wes’s phone would ring, he would ask someone random nearby to pretend to be his assistant and make the person on the other end of the line wait. Smart move for a newbie filmmaker to seem hard to reach, and important enough to have an assistant!
Great story!
Close friend of mine is his “secret weapon”
Interesting. What is your friend’s role I wonder? I’m intrigued. I’m a director and I have a “secret weapon” as well.
Wes Anderson’s Secret weapon is his key/Dolly Grip/Steadicam Operator Sanjay Sami
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/movies/wes-anderson-asteroid-city-camera-moves.html#:~:text=Sami%20brings%20ingenious%20design%2C%20a,camera%20rigs%20with%20exacting%20precision.
It's pretty uncommon to "Key from behind the dolly".
Anderson films have such precise lighting, and such elaborate camera moves.
I would love to see this Grip crew in action.
I wonder if the Grips are enjoying a short, chill work day as well?
no disrespect to Sanjay but Wes’ true secret weapon is the billionaire financier who funds all Anderson projects, Steven Rales
Plot twist: Rales is that steadicam op’s dad.
Interesting but reading up it seems Indian Paintbrush was founded in 2006, and not until 2012 did they fund Moonrise Kingdom. Wes was fully established by then, so I imagine he would have still have been making films even without them.
Thank you!
My friend worked on Fantastic Mister Fox which was shooting in London. Apparently Wes Anderson didn’t like London, so he stayed in Paris. So he came across as aloof and a bit of a twat.
these stop motion projects are directed day-to-day by people other than Wes, so he has little need to be in the same city, he can supervise remotely
I think there was a bit of a controversy on that front. The stop motion guys said he was rarely on set and they basically directed the movie. Not sure about that claim but either way they all vocally felt hard done by.
that’s usually how they’re made, it would be inefficient to have a big name director on site all day for a stop motion project once it’s in production, unless perhaps there were still several sequences in prep that still need to be reviewed and revised before going into production.
the controversy around it, if there is any, usually comes from the press or internet filmmakers, the actual crew on the film are perfectly accustomed to this process, where the big name director directs various subdirectors, who in turn direct their animators and other crew, to produce dailies for the main director to review.
That wasn't the case here. The DOP was vocal about feeling like he directed many parts and how Anderson was never on set. Their are much better longer pieces on it, but this was the first result on google https://theplaylist.net/beef-watch-wes-anderson-vs-animation-20091012/
That's wild. Isn't London --> Paris a 6 hour drive, or an hour and a half flight? He did that commute even on shoot days?
yes but in stop motion animation one shoot day lasts about seven years, so each round trip from Paris feels very quick, especially in a whimsical paper aeroplane.
this way you also gain several hours across the shoot day between takes, which the director can use to do other movies.
LEAKED Wes Anderson Meltdown On Set