The lawsuit brought by Marvin Gaye's children against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams is nearing an end; how "Dead Man Walking" was transformed from a movie to an opera (pictured); comedian Wayne Federman rounds up his hilarious friends to host a film festival where they chose the lineup; comic book writer Scott Snyder put his anxieties into his version of "Batman."
'Blurred Lines' trial: 2013 hit song made almost $17 million
Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke's 2013 hit song, "Blurred Lines," is at the center of a legal battle that's nearing its conclusion. Members of Marvin Gaye's family claim in a lawsuit that Thicke and Williams infringed on a copyright of their father's 1977 song, "Got to Give It Up."
The copyright issues the jury will have to untangle are confusing, but there's also been plenty of levity in the court proceedings, which have so far included a piano performance by Thicke and the singer's admission that he was high on Vicodin while promoting "Blurred Lines."
Austin Siegemund-Broka is covering the trial for the Hollywood Reporter. The Frame's host John Horn spoke with Siegemund-Broka to get the latest on the trial:
It sounds as if closing arguments could happen very soon. Are there still some witnesses who might be called to testify?
It's highly likely the closing arguments will happen today... It's likely they'll call witnesses including Robin's manager, essentially even Robin himself, who was in court yesterday, although nobody would confirm if he's going to testify again.
On Pharrell Williams' testimony:
Pharrell is saying it's essentially impossible not to be influenced by the '70s Motown sound when creating popular music. It's an incredibly influential period of music and it's inspired dance and pop and everything for the past 30 years. However, his contention — and that of his legal team — is that that's definitely not the same thing as copying the actual songwriting of Marvin Gaye. So he openly admits to feeling that Motown sound, but doesn't think that constitutes infringement.
So much of the finances of the music industry are secret. What have we learned about the dollars in the music business, particularly as they relate to this song?
We have learned some highly unusual information. [It's] very rare figures like the earnings of a song and the earnings of the performers and artists who created it actually come out. But, a couple days ago, in a joint accounting statement agreed upon by both side's attorneys — which essentially means they agree it's correct — financials came out for what the various parties earned for the sale of "Blurred Lines," which was ... almost $17 million.
How does Scott Snyder write best-selling issues of 'Batman'?
In 2011, DC Comics rebooted its entire universe from scratch, and when the company assigned a new writer to "Batman" — their best-selling character — they didn't go with a veteran. Instead, they picked
, a guy in his mid-30s who had a master's degree in fiction writing.
Snyder first gained recognition in the indie comics world. He created "American Vampire," which puts the now-familiar bloodsuckers in the Old West and the Roaring '20s. He was also known for writing dense philosophical monologues that drove some artists crazy, because they couldn't fit them into comic book speech bubbles.
But Snyder believes superheroes should have a lot to say. As he argues: "It's a prosaic medium as much as it is a visual medium, and the fact that this story or something that someone delivers can move you or take you to some place you didn't expect — I think that's one of the great strengths of it."
As it turned out, he was the perfect fit for "Batman." The books that originally made him want to be a writer were Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" and "Year One," a gritty Batman origin story. Plus, Snyder grew up in the big, bad New York City of the 1980s and '90s. He remembers that being a kid in New York was scary:
You weren't allowed to do a lot of things. And all of a sudden there was Batman, walking the streets that you knew with graffiti and prostitution and drugs and gangs and all of this stuff that you were afraid of and that you hadn't seen in a comic book before. It made it viscerally real and it made the world of comics relevant.
So what was it like to suddenly be in charge of Batman's destiny? For one, Snyder said he would have kept calling in sick to work if it weren't for his wife reminding him that he couldn't hide from his assignment. But he also had to grapple with the various incarnations of Batman -- the Caped Crusader has appeared in a multitude of movies, comics, TV shows and video games over the years.
Snyder's method for making Batman new?: "I decided I was going to write this character like I made him up."
So his own personal fears and anxieties became Bruce Wayne's. His Batman isn't edgy and angry; he's more raw and vulnerable. When a comic book writer makes Batman too indestructible, the fans will complain that they turned him into "Bat-God." Fortunately for them, Snyder's Batman is the complete opposite.
I wanted to show why Batman mattered to me and what he meant to me as a child, and what I'd hope he'd be able to say to my children, to be able to say, "I overcame this terribly dark moment in my life where I wanted to die, and instead I used it as fuel to become the pinnacle of human achievement."
"I am the most badass, kung fu-fighting detective, Sherlock Holmes, engineer — everything you could imagine. I also dress like a bat in the nuttiest way and I will swing around the city with these incredible gadgets. If I can do this you can do whatever it is that you're afraid to do."
It's working — Snyder's "Batman" is often the top-selling title for all comics, and he's one of the few writers who can sell more than 100,000 copies of an issue.
But after all the success, Snyder felt like he had strayed too far from his roots, so he's doing indie comics alongside Batman. He just launched "Wytches," an original series for Image Comics.
With a book like "Wytches," it flexes entirely different muscles, but I think if you read it you can see it's by the same person who writes "Batman." It touches on a lot of the same topics, like hiding things that you don't want to admit you feel, and how monsters prey on that."
Certain fears change over time, and now that Snyder is a father he has different fears; as he puts it: "The vulnerability you feel having a child out in the world, and seeing them grow up, and the fear of not just them growing up and moving away, but something happening to them is so paralyzing sometimes." So it's no coincidence that "Wytches" is about a dad trying to protect his kids in a world full of monsters.
Scott Snyder's latest "Batman" series, "Zero Year," is now available as a compilation. He's also the author of "American Vampire," "The Wake" and "Wytches." If you want to hear more fantasy and science fiction stories from Eric Molinsky, he hosts a podcast called Imaginary Worlds.
Wayne Federman's film fest lets comedians geek out on movies
It' always more enjoyable to watch movies you love with friends. That's the idea behind the Wayne Federman International Film Festival hosted by Cinefamily, where comedians present films they love or are inspired by.
Comedian Wayne Federman got the idea to start the festival after watching Patton Oswalt screen one of his favorite films — the comedy "The Foot Fist Way" — at the New Beverly Cinema in 2008.
This year's lineup includes Sacha Baron Cohen presenting the Danish comedy "Klown," Will Forte with his film "MacGruber," and Kumail Nanijani screening the 2005 horror film, "Descent."
Federman and Lauren Lapkus — she'll present the 1988 Tom Hanks film, "Big" — spoke with The Frame's John Horn about how comedians choose the film they want to show, how these films inspire them, and how the festival is for comedy and movie fans alike.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
What is important to you when you are picking comedians to present films? Is it that they're funny or have eclectic taste in movies?
FEDERMAN: Not at all. I have no idea what their taste are in movies. I just see if they're funny and I know them and they want to do it.
Lauren, what was Wayne's pitch to you?
LAPKUS: Pretty much that. It was, "Do you wanna come present a movie that inspires you or that you care about or love and share it with an audience?" And that sounded really fun to me, so I was in.
And you chose the Tom Hanks movie, "Big." Why was this movie so important to you?
LAPKUS: This is one of those movies... I can't really watch a lot of movies over and over again. I just don't really do that. I usually just watch a movie and then consider it done. But this one I have watched a million times in my life. I could watch it over and over again and I really relate to the story. I think it really captures a specific feeling.
FEDERMAN: I have a question for you. Do you remember the first time you saw it?
LAPKUS: Yeah. I don't know if it was the first time. I remember watching it as a kid and it's just interesting how this movie changes with you as you grow up and what you see in it that's inspiring. As a kid, of course, I related to him as a kid and the feeling, What's it like to be a grown up? And I wanted to be a grown up...
FEDERMAN: Do you remember the theater or anything you saw it in?
LAPKUS: No, I didn't see it in a theater. I was too young for that [laughs.]
Is it often the case that a comedian will find him or herself influenced by this movie in some ways that are either obvious or a little bit not so obvious.
FEDERMAN: Oh, that's interesting. I mean, sometimes there's been that. Usually it's movies someone loves. It's just like, I don't know why I love this movie but it just resonates with me on some level. Like for Bill Burr — who picked the 1967 movie, "The Dirty Dozen" — that was all about him and his dad watching movies together on television and how much he loved that experience. And also how he related specifically to what John Cassavetes was doing in that movie, who's kind of an instigator. If you look at what Bill Burr does in his stand-up, he is a little bit of an anti-authoritarian instigator. So I do think that influenced his aesthetic as a comedian— a movie you would never, in a million years, think would influence a comedian.
This year, you've got some pretty recognizable comedies. What happens when a comedian comes in and says, I'd like to present this movie, and you say, What are you talking about?
FEDERMAN: Well, it's happened a couple times. This movie called "Klown" that Sacha Baron Cohen is doing, I've never heard of it.
LAPKUS: Oh yeah, I want to see that.
FEDERMAN: And I consider myself, like, films are my... that's my jam. More than jelly. That is my jam.
LAPKUS: And I think with him in particular, I'd be interested to see a film that he's excited about that I've never heard of. Like he's so cool.
FEDERMAN: By the way, it's NC-17.
LAPKUS: Even better! [laughs]
Outside of the audience having a good time, is there something bigger that you hope happens? That people come out of the theater thinking about a movie in a new way or thinking about a comedian's work in a new way?
LAPKUS: I don't have any expectations about what the audience should experience, but I do think that it's interesting what people pick. I automatically chose "Big" without second thought and I think that it does say a lot about me as a comedian. Once I gave it a little more thought and looked into it a little bit, [I thought], Why do I like this movie so much? Why does it resonate with me so much? I mean, I think I'm very much into pretending to be a kid all the time. I do a bunch of characters. I'm very ridiculous. I don't really live a regular adult lifestyle, which I love. And I think that all kind of plays into that feeling of why that movie means so much to me.
Have you ever thought about it that consciously before you did this?
LAPKUS: Not at all. I do improv and sketch comedy and I do a podcast. I have this kind of character-fueled improv based nightlife-style living that not a lot of my friends outside of that community really relate to. And I never thought about it, until actually maybe this moment, why this movie is so important to me.
Wayne — in terms of what the audience will take away — if you succeed on a night, what works? What happens?
FEDERMAN: I don't know. I think the comedy fans really get to see someone they admire geek out on something. So they're like, Oh, I'm geeking out on this person and they're geeking out. So they feel sort of part of that continuation. Like I said earlier, I am a film buff from way back and it's my favorite form of entertainment, like, sitting in that theater, lights go down. Let's see what happens!
LAPKUS: And I think it's so fun for the movie — even though it doesn't have a brain or a heart — but I imagine that the movie's excited to [be laughed] at again in a big crowd. You don't think that's gonna happen with some of these movies. You'll never get to see them again. And I'm excited to see an audience watch "Big" with me.
The Wayne Federman International Film Festival runs March 5-8 at Cinefamily in L.A.’s Fairfax District.
Composer Jake Heggie on the long life of 'Dead Man Walking'
Writing an opera is no small feat, and it's even more challenging when the true story that you're adapting has already been turned into an Academy Award-winning film. But that didn't seem to rattle first-time composer Jake Heggie.
Based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, "Dead Man Walking" tells the story of the nun who counseled Louisiana death row convict Joseph DeRocher. As his execution neared, the morality of the death penalty began to divide the community.
The 1995 film garnered four Academy Award nominations and a best actress Oscar for Susan Sarandon, who played Sister Prejean.
The collaboration between composer Heggie and playwright Terrence McNally premiered to critical acclaim in San Francisco in 2000. Since then, it's been performed all over the world, but its LA premiere — with a new orchestration — is at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica this weekend.
Heggie joined us at The Frame to speak with host John Horn about his unlikely beginnings as an opera composer, developing "Dead Man Walking" with playwright/librettist Terrence McNally, and the timeless nature of the story itself.
Interview Highlights:
Was this opera originally a commission? What are its origins?
That is an opera all in itself [laughs]. It was the mid-'90s and I was actually on staff at the San Francisco Opera as the PR and Marketing writer. I had injured my hand a few years before and was on hiatus from being a pianist and performer, so I had started writing art songs for some of the great singers there.
And the [company's] general director at the time, Lotfi Mansouri, noticed that this person on his PR staff was writing songs for all these singers, and he talked to me one day about writing an opera for the company. He said, "I really think you're a theater composer, and I want to send you to New York to meet with Terrence McNally."
And your answer is, "Yes! When do I leave?"
[laughs] At first I was sitting there with my mouth open and thinking, Who are you talking to? You must be mistaken! But he was very serious, so I went to New York, and Terrence and I got along great. It took us about a year to find it, but one day, just out of the blue, Terrence had this idea: "Dead Man Walking." He said that he was just walking down the street and it hit him.
Every hair on my neck stood up and I immediately recognized that it was a brilliant idea. I knew there was great music there, and it felt contemporary and timeless at the same time. It was really thrilling.
I want to ask about a couple of scenes in particular. One is at the end of the opera, and it's a conversation that two guards have that's basically a theological debate about redemption and forgiveness.
That's a moment that often goes by unnoticed, so I'm glad you brought that up. It happens at the same time as our convicted inmate, Joseph, is having a conversation with his mother on the night he's going to die. It's a very emotional exchange between mother and son — he's trying to finally tell her that he actually did this [crime] and how sorry he is to have ruined her life. And she does not want to hear that in that moment. So there's a heated exchange between those two, and meanwhile the guards are standing off to the side, having this discussion.
We wanted to make sure that the audience realizes that this process affects everybody. It affects everybody at every step along the way, and these guards are trying to justify what they're about to do and be involved with, while this mother and son are struggling with the last night that they'll see each other. That was a very important moment, I felt, because it brought it back to a level that hadn't been discussed earlier in the opera.
Your opera begins with the rape and murder of the two victims; it's not a traditional way for any opera to start. How important was it for you to start with the crime itself? And that stage direction, Danger, menace, but much beauty, too, is that also reflected in the music that you're putting together for this opera?
I hope so [laughs]. That's all from Terrence McNally's libretto and his structure. He thought it was very important for us to see what Joe does, and start from a place of outrage. We know that we shouldn't be killing innocent people who are wrongly convicted in prison, but what do we do with someone who is truly guilty of something heinous?
What's the right thing to do? Do we repeat their behavior, or do we have other alternatives? And so we start where this isn't a mystery; we see him do it, and it's horrible, and it's brutal, and we want to see him get [what he deserves]. We're all outraged by his actions.
What is it like to visit this opera 15 years after its premiere? Do you think it's any less or more topical than it was at that point?
I think it will be topical as long as there are people on the planet, which is the amazing thing about this story. People have always struggled with crime and punishment — are we for vengeance, or are we for forgiveness and redemption?
Seeing it 15 years later is really inspiring, knowing that my first opera still has this power. It's been all over the world now — this is its 42nd production internationally — and no matter where it's done, it seems to have great power, because overall it tells a big, human drama.