Behind The Scenes
Two former Detroiters
turn the movie camera
on backstage Hollywood.
SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Mark and
Arthur Borman
Arthur Borman, center,
gives direction to
Lou Ferrigno and
Andy Dick.
t has been five months
an Arthur Bor-
since Mark and
man visited Michigan to show
family and friends a preview
of their first feature film, ..And
God Spoke.
After their motion pic-
ture fared well in a series of film
festivals around the country, they
are releasing it this month for
general viewing in five cities —
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
San Francisco and Toronto.
The comedy, based on the
brothers' experiences as Holly-
wood production assistants, pre-
sents the behind-the-scenes chaos
occurring as a fictional filmmak-
ing team struggles to make a bib-
lical epic.
Developed as a mock docu-
mentary, the production brings
a humorous outlook to the frus-
trations actual filmmakers face
daily as they make creative con-
cessions to stick to budget and
deal with unanticipated obstacles
that interfere with original
timetables.
As examples, the fictional team
of Marvin Handleman and Clive
Walton save money by using only
eight disciples and lament learn-
ing that the actress they hired to
portray Eve is covered with tat-
toos.
From the time the Borman
brothers came up with the story
idea until the day the movie was
screened, 10 months passed.
Mark worked with Richard Rad-
don on production, and Arthur
directed. Unlike their spoof, they
came out ahead on budget and
time with a cast that includes
Soupy Sales as Moses and Lou
Ferrigno as Cain.
"What I like best about this
film is the way it represents all
that's really involved in making
films," said Mark, who studied
business at the University of
South Carolina, became a futures
dealer at the Chicago Board of
Trade and went on to improvisa-
tional humor as part of Chicago's
Second city comedy troupe.
"Being able to set out to make
a film and actually make it work
represents a great accomplish-
ment for me."
Arthur, who studied film at the
University of California at Los
Angeles and directed music
videos and commercials, allowed
the comedic cast to improvise
during some of the
scenes.
"Marvin (played by
Stephen Rappaport)
and Clive (played by
Michael Riley) are
people we've known
and worked for over
the years," Arthur
said of the two main
characters.
"Marvin is the on-
set producer who
hurts the production
more than he helps,
and Clive is that guy
from film school who
has read everything
but hasn't quite
soaked it all up yet.
"We wanted to poke
fun at our past bosses
but at the same time
show how much we learned from
them. Fortunately, our own pro-
duction went much smoother
than theirs. Taking the advice
from the message of the film, we
made sure we were very well pre-
pared."
Both brothers feel confident
that their humorous approach us-
ing biblical themes does not de-
grade either Jewish or Christian
concepts.
"If anything, it is making a
statement about people in gen-
eral not being religious enough
these days and not knowing the
Bible and the Bible stories,"
Arthur said.
"I think that's a shame, and I
think that's why the characters
in the film — the filmmakers and
the crew — end up with egg on
their faces. They show that they
don't know enough about their
own heritage."
To raise money to produce
their film, Mark and Arthur, sin-
gle and in their middle 20s,
looked to their own heritage.
They sought help from family
members in Michigan and Flori-
da, and their efforts paid off in
two ways.
Besides getting the money
they needed, they got material
for their script.
"Our selling points weren't nec-
tions we had when we came here
to raise money."
The brothers, who started
making home videos in their ear-
ly teens using the five other chil-
dren in their family as cast and
crew, decided to do the film in-
dependently because they want-
ed to stay in control.
They formed Brookwood En-
tertainment, named after the
Birmingham street where they
lived as youngsters.
"We didn't want the film to be-
come the studio's film because a
studio can strongly suggest and
sometimes even tell you to add or
take out certain scenes and to
cast certain people," Mark ex-
plained. "With an independent
film, you're your own boss. You
make your own cuts, and you cast
your own cast."
While Mark and Arthur feel
very comfortable working to-
gether, they miss being close to
their large family. Before the pre-
miere, the two last visited Detroit
over a year ago to attend a
younger brother's bar mitzvah.
"For last Passover, we paid $35
to go to a seder because we real-
ly didn't have any family in Los
Angeles," revealed Mark, who
learned about the observance by
reading a newspaper ad.
"About 100 percent of the peo-
ple there weren't from Los An-
geles and were in the same boat
essarily from a risk investment
point of view," Mark said. "It was
more believing in us, believing as we were. We met people, but
that we would be able to make this it wasn't home."
When Mark and Arthur were
project turn out, wanting to see us
be successful and also getting in town for the preview, they en-
some money back along the way. joyed an enthusiastic reaction to
"If they could have a return, their production. If they experi-
that was great; but if they could ence a similar commercial re-
not have a return, it was still an sponse this month, ...And God
Spoke will travel to more cities.
investment in us."
In the meantime, the brothers
Arthur talked about a scene
that shows one of the fictional are writing another comedy they
filmmakers trying to get some hope to film later this year.
"I'd like to be in a position to
money from an uncle.
"We kind of based that char- genuinely help other people who
acter on relatives here in town," need it in the same way I was
Arthur reported. "We based the helped when I needed it," Mark
conversations on the conversa- said. ❑
•ct
0,
.r-
CO
w
CO
2
LU
0
w
Ci)
69