When the conversation made its way to the challenges facing creatives, Oscar winner Kaufman got candid about the state of affairs and seemed exasperated in the process.
Synecdoche, New York; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Adaptation; Being John Malkovich; Anomalisa. “In no way am I trying to dissuade people from doing it. I think people should do it. I want to figure out how those people can be supported and movies can be made so we don’t get sort of this cookie cutter version of reality that we’re presented by people who are trying to make fortunes.”
Kaufman attempted to sidestep the question by saying, “I don’t have much luck getting things made, so I don’t know how to answer that question. It doesn’t really seem to be a marketplace that is welcoming to me, and I do think that saying that it’s risk-averse is the understatement of the year, but it is.”
He tried to get a feature made and went so far as to attach eight movie stars because that’s what he was told to do “in order to get any budget for it.” He added: “I couldn’t get it made, and it was very frustrating for me.” Though he didn’t mention the title of the project during the conversation, Kaufman was referring to the meta movie musicalthat at one time had Keener, Jack Black, Nicolas Cage, Steve Carell, Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Kline, Paul Reubens and Jacki Weaver on board.