Megyn Kelly's "Today Show" debuted to mixed reviews and negative social media chatter; coming soon to an L.A. film festival is a little-seen North Korean film with an incredible back story; Clive Davis reflects on six decades in the music business, making stars and shepherding careers.
Exploring pop music mogul Clive Davis' legendary career
If you haven’t heard of the record producer and executive Clive Davis, you’ll certainly recognize the big names he signed — Janis Joplin, Earth Wind and Fire, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston … the list goes on and on.
His contributions to the music industry are the focus of a new documentary called "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives."
Davis got his start with Columbia Records in the early 1960s as a lawyer. A few years later, he became the label’s president and — because he had a knack for turning unknown artists into pop superstars — he earned a reputation for having a golden ear.
The Frame’s John Horn spoke with Davis recently and they discussed the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, Whitney Houston, and his thoughts on the record industry today.
Interview Highlights:
On the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 and discovering Janis Joplin:
It had to be the most transformative performance for me ever, to this day. It was an epiphany to be sitting there, not knowing that I'd be seeing unknown artists and to feel every fiber of my body vibrating, knowing that this was not only a social revolution, but a cultural one and a musical one.
Here I was sitting, Haight Ashbury — in effect — right around me with robes and flowers in your hair. And I'm sitting there with my khaki pants and my tennis sweater. I mean, I was the one out of [place]. And then, all of a sudden, this compelling, hypnotic, electrifying artist is singing right in front of me. I knew that my life was changing; I knew that I had to trust my instincts; and I knew I was determined to sign the group.
On using profits from mainstream artists as leverage to sign less commercial bands:
I didn't sign Lou Reed, Graham Parker and Iggy Pop for mainstream singles. But I wanted the label to be attractive to rock artists. And we were appealing to the Grateful Dead to join us and the Kinks to join us. There's no doubt that the profits made from Barry Manilow and Kenny G went a long way to indulge my dealing more with cutting-edge artists.
On Whitney Houston and how she is portrayed in the film:
She was compelling, magnetic. She had genius in her natural vocal abilities. She was also engaging and a music freak. She would listen to every record on the radio. She was articulate and had heart. So when you only show the part of her when she might have been under the influence or out of sorts, it's really unfair. So I'm really glad that this film shows the full realm and nature and personality of Whitney without shying away from [her addiction].
On the music business today:
A few years ago, we in the industry were at serious risk. The public had grown used to the idea that [music was] free and should not be paid for, which is a horrific thought to the creative people — the writers, the arrangers, the producers and the record companies and music publishers. It was scary. But as the revolution has come to streaming ... the record companies are once again profitable and there are career opportunities in music. Obviously, there are still concerns. To me, there's a little too much homogenization. There's a little too much dance and a little too much hip-hop. I love both. But we do need the great voices, [like] Luther Vandross, Whitney. And we do need the provocative, [like] the two poet laureates — Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen — from the last 50 or more years. But the industry is healthy and music is healthy and for that I'm very grateful.
After a bumpy first week, the case for 'Megyn Kelly Today'
It was a rough first week for Megyn Kelly, the newest addition to NBC’s "The Today Show." Critics savaged the former Fox News anchor’s entrée into the world of daytime television. Some of Kelly’s guests were just as unimpressed.
Jane Fonda broke the Internet with the withering look she gave Kelly when probed about the plastic surgery she’s had done:
Megyn Kelly did not please Jane Fonda today....
— Yashar Ali (@yashar)
Megyn Kelly did not please Jane Fonda today.... pic.twitter.com/8IofVdsieF
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 27, 2017
"The Today Show" is one of TV’s most lucrative franchises, and NBC reportedly paid Kelly more than $15 million dollar a year to sign on. They’ve also rebranded the show’s third hour as “Megyn Kelly Today.” But should NBC be having second thoughts?
Leon Lazaroff, media industry reporter for The Street, joined Josie Huang. And he said he has hopes for Kelly:
LAZAROFF: Morning talk show is a very different animal than evening political chatter. It's much harder than it looks and the people who do chit-chats with celebrities are paid a lot of money because they do that very well ... Now she probably learned some things and [NBC] probably figured out some stuff to tell her. And it was a rough week, but that doesn't mean they won't give this a few more months for certain.
He also discussed the adjustments Kelly will have to make on the job:
LAZAROFF: She has always had a terrific way — whether you liked her politics or not — of bantering and challenging her guests. And as anyone who's had any experience with Hollywood celebrities knows, they have enormous numbers of handlers who are very sensitive about any kind of questions that runs counter to the positive, upbeat, money-making message they want to give. That was certainly the case with Jane Fonda. And Kelly will have to make adjustments on the fly because celebrities are not going to want to go down certain roads in the same way office holders are required to.
A North Korean film with an incredible backstory is coming to LA
A film made in North Korea in the 1980s will soon make its North American premiere in Los Angeles.
"Salt" will screen at the Third Annual Asian World Film Festival on Nov. 1. The movie was made by filmmaker Sheen Song-ok and starred his ex-wife, the actress Choi Eun-Hee. The two made it while they were purportedly being held captive in North Korea.
As the story goes, in 1978 while in Hong Kong, the two South Koreans were kidnapped by agents working on behalf of North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il. Kim was a huge movie fan and, reportedly, his hopes were that these two artists, who once had shining careers in South Korea, could elevate the filmmaking in his country.
Shin ended up making a variety of films in North Korean says Georges Chamchoum, director of the Asian World Film Festival:
"He made action [films]. And he made a Godzilla-type movie "Pulgasari," which is also one of the most famous North Korean movies."
Chamchoum says that "Salt" is none of those. It is "sort of drama-propaganda. Any North Korean movie, no matter what — it's always tainted with propaganda. And it's a beautiful story – very touching."
Sheen Sang-ok died in 2006 and, according to Chamchoum, the rights to "Salt" belong to his family. Festival officials reached out to his son, Jeongkyun Sheen, who is in South Korea and provided a 35mm print of the movie. For the festival he provided these memories, shared in a press release:
“Honestly, I don’t have a lot of childhood memories of my father. The only thing I pretty much remember is my dad dragging his exhausted body home and flipping through film-related books. After escaping from North Korea, my father lived with me in America. He lived as though he was in hiding and wasn’t able to make movies.”
Of the making of "Salt," Sheen's son had a particular story: “There is a scene in 'Salt,' where the lead actress [Choi Eun-hee] and countless other extras carry salt over the mountains. This scene required a severe wind to blow. But while shooting, the wind machines couldn’t create that effect. So, director Sheen Sang-ok shared his frustrations with Kim Jung-il. The next day, Kim Jung-Il sent a helicopter to fly by, causing the wind to blow and successfully creating the real-life effect. My father said he was very surprised to see how things that cannot be done in a capitalist world [regarding production costs] can be easily accomplished by one command of Kim Jung-il.
Shin and Choi remained in North Korea, making films until 1986 when they sought political asylum at the U.S. embassy while on a trip to Vienna.
The story of the abduction is told in a 2016 documentary, "The Lovers and the Despot," from British filmmakers Ross Adam and Robert Cannan. When The Frame spoke with Adam and Cannan, they noted that some people in South Korea questioned the truthfulness of the kidnapping story.
Ross Adam: A lot of people think the story is too farfetched to be true. They also are very aware that Sheen was down-and-out and had lost his ability to make movies at the time that he went missing. This seems very convenient. Everyone knows that here's a guy who just wanted to make films. Suddenly he disappears, he turns up in North Korea and he's given everything by a dictator. He can make any film he wants.
Sheen had maintained that he was made to do five years of hard labor when he was first in North Korea. Adam said: "Some people would question, Is that really true? But when we look at when the films appear to be made, or when they started appearing in Eastern European film festivals, there is a five-year gap, which is pretty hard to explain."
Filmmaker Robert Cannan added: "Also on [Sheen's] side is the fact that the Korean CIA vetted his story for a while."
Chamchoum, director of the upcoming festival, says he saw "The Lovers and the Despot" and admits that Sheen's alleged kidnapping "raises a lot of questions. "But, you know what? Each person takes a side. And my side is, I truly believe he was kidnapped."
"Salt" will screen at the Asian World Film Festival on Nov. 1. You can get tickets here.