TCM Classic Film Festival Launches Second Home Edition Thursday

Speaker 1: 00:00 On Thursday, TCM classic film festival kicks off its second home edition of the pandemic KPBS film critic, Beth ACA Mondo previews, the festival with Charles Tibet, senior vice president in charge of programming at Turner classic movies and a programmer for the festival. He is also a UC San Diego alumni. Speaker 2: 00:20 Charlie, this is going to be the second online virtual version of the TCM classic film festival. And you've managed to offer more choices this year than last year. So what was this year like being the second one? Speaker 3: 00:36 There were a couple of big differences. Now this year we had HBO max as an additional venue. So we were able to do kind of a one venue being TCM linear, the other one being HBO max, and having them both with different films to use in each was really great and interesting and allowed us to do, do a little bit more. The other thing is we had more time. Last year, we were scrambling. We canceled our, our live festival just maybe like a month, a month, a month and a half before it was planned. And so we really had to come up with a schedule using only things that we had already produced and cobbling together, previous interviews and that sort of stuff, and trying to put it all together and we're really happy with it. But this year, really, it was more planned out, certainly. And I think, you know, that shows in a lot of the production in a lot of the programming you see, Speaker 2: 01:27 Well now you've created the online equivalent of having to make choices that we used to have by having multiple cinemas to choose from. So now we have HBO and TCM to choose between. Now. One of the things I am most excited about is there is going to be a zoom session with Ben Burtt and Craig Barron, who do the most wonderful presentations at the physical festival. So let people know a little bit about what to expect from this and what these guys are all about. Speaker 3: 01:59 Yeah. That's a great example of something that is always so popular when we do it live, they come in, they set up a film, they talk about the special effects, what went into creating it and they make it so entertaining. But you learn a lot while you, um, you know, w while you sit there and watch them and listen to them. And, um, while it's so great live, that's one of the things that we could really translate into this environment. We could film them, we could produce with them. They could actually even do some things that they couldn't do live. Um, so, um, so they, they're super passionate about, about the film chain lightening and the special effects that went into it. And it's, uh, you know, it's a pretty cool Humphrey Bogart, uh, you know, airline movie. And so, um, they really wanted to do it and we, we were all for it. So it worked out, it's a really entertaining piece about the making of chain lightening and the special effects. And, but it's just fun. And it's the kind of thing. I hope that a lot of people can, can discover because it's so great live, but that's know a very limited number of people here. We can make it available to millions of people, which is great. Speaker 2: 03:04 And there are also some more serious discussions about film. So you have one of your hosts doing some interviews regarding the LA rebellion, and this is a focus on black filmmakers coming out of film school for the first time and creating films like killer of sheep. Speaker 3: 03:24 No, I mean, TCM really tries to celebrate, I mean, diversity, but not necessarily just diversity in terms of gender race, also diversity in terms of types of films, film history, right? And this was an important film movement. And I think that there are a lot of people that don't know about it, and this is a movement that came out of UCLA independent African-American filmmakers from the late sixties into the, into the eighties. And, and it's, it's a really good example of something where we're hoping to maybe educate some people that aren't familiar with it and provide a little more context around them and a discussion between Jacqueline Stewart, one of our hosts and Charles Burnett himself and Billy Woodberry who made blessed little hearts and one of the key films from, from that, that movement, putting them all together and, and, and providing that context around, around the screenings. I think I hope people discover something they maybe hadn't seen before. Speaker 2: 04:17 You also have tributes to filmmakers and artists, actors. And what was the thinking behind having this and incorporating this into the programming? Speaker 3: 04:27 Well, as you know, the life festival, we do tributes as well. It can this year because of HBO, max in the access to a different collection of films that we have for TCM linear, um, similar to the film festival, the life festival, you know, we can get, we could get more contemporary movies, we could get more contemporary, you know, actors, we wanted a wide range of people representing different genres of film, different types of actors. And so, uh, Martin short, who was hilarious and Allie McGraw, who's done some really amazing iconic roles and Danny Glover. Who's just one of the great, great actors. And we did extended interviews with each of them. And in addition to that, we have a category called the masters. And this is, these are filmmakers. These are directors, um, six of the greatest directors, um, living. And we are, uh, this is different than the tributes and that it's not about their careers. It's about this one specific film. And it's about them going really in depth into this particular film, how it was made, why it was made, uh, what are some of the stories during the production, and that will serve as an intro. So, so there's, it's sort of two different ways of working with the great talent that, that was, were willing to work with us. Speaker 2: 05:41 And I know you love film yourself. So are there any films or programs that are scheduled for that weekend that are something you are particularly fond of or looking forward to? Speaker 3: 05:51 Sure. Well, there's one there's I love Ernst Lubitsch and there's a silent film, so this is Paris, which just fun. And Ben Modelle did a score for it, and we're premiering it on it. And it's one of the very few, I think there are three that are playing both on the linear schedule and on, on HBO max. And I'm really excited to be able to, to, to, um, premiere that and show that I'm really excited about on HBO max. There are a couple of films. I think that maybe don't get as a lot of attention in this. They've got just so many movies on HBO. There's so many movies on the TCM hub. And so here, we're able to sort of focus in on some individual titles like the mortal storm, you know, which is so great. And I hope people can sort of see it, or the black Legion, you know, another Bogart film, which is just, you know, really hard hitting and interesting and important. Speaker 3: 06:38 And again, each of those has its own context around it. So a special introduction pieces that are about, you know, either the actors or the theme, the black legions, part of a mini collection of, of immigration movies about immigrants and immigration, along with a piece that was produced to, you know, to sort of talk about that subject. So watch the supplemental material, you know, I think there are a lot of pieces that really help contextualize these movies. So don't just dive into the movie. There are pieces that accompany that a lot of these that are really interesting, Bruce Springsteen talking about the searchers or a piece about Howard Hawks and how he approaches screwball comedy, those types of things I think really are engaging. And I think will lead people to appreciate maybe these movies in a deeper way than they typically would just sort of clicking on it and starting the film. Speaker 4: 07:31 Well, I want to thank you very much for talking about the TCM classic film festival. Speaker 3: 07:35 Thank you, Beth. It's really great to see you again. Speaker 1: 07:37 That was Beth Armando speaking with TCMs Charles to bash the TCM classic film festival runs this Thursday through Sunday on the TCM channel and HBO max.