Paul Cronin founded The Sticking Place with Adam Meggido in 2001
He produces and directs all Sticking Place Films productions. Six films have been made since 2001, including studies of Haskell Wexler‘s Medium Cool, historian and curator Amos Vogel, the teachings of Alexander Mackendrick and two films about British director Peter Whitehead. Currently in production is A Time to Stir. Fragments from this piece of visual history about the Columbia University student protests of 1968 were screened at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. For what it’s worth, the Village Voice and LA Weekly reviewer wrote that even in such an incomplete state this “major film about the American Left” was the “most vital movie I ended up seeing” at the festival that year. So you can either (a) imagine how good the finished thing is going to be, or (b) care less what he thinks.* The film, which has been in production for four years, has a projected length of ten hours. Thus far three hundred and fifty interviews have been filmed and more than thirty thousand photographs, almost none of which have been seen before, have been archived. (More and more archive footage is also coming to light, as well as many hours of radio broadcasts.) At this point I can’t say when the film will be finished. But it most certainly will be at some point.
I worked as a researcher and translator on Ray Carney‘s book Cassavetes on Cassavetes (2001) and more recently (rather euphemistically) as an ‘editorial consultant’ on Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age (2006), a collection of generally interesting interviews drawn from the archives of the American Film Institute (flyer here). A second AFI volume, which includes archive transcripts that have been thoroughly edited and augmented (I did a small number of new interviews), is near completion. It’s something of a mixed bag, but there is some strong material here, not least because the focus of AFI seminars has always been on craft. I also edited three books (George Stevens, Roman Polanski and Arthur Penn) for the University Press of Mississippi’s ‘Conversations with Filmmakers’ series. Even though there is much new material in these volumes, including a new Penn interview and quite a few of my translations, their imposed structure precludes genuine depth and in all honesty, unless you particularly like the directors in question they are probably to be avoided. (Why did I do them? They were excellent training exercises.) In 2005 I steered through publication a reprint of Amos Vogel’s 1974 book Film as a Subversive Art. Amos’ masterwork, which had long been out of print, is a key text, and certainly worth serious study. It seems to resonate as strongly now, if not more so, than when it was first published. My lengthy (but regrettably unfinished) interview with Errol Morris, conducted over a period of some years, and which Morris told me is “the best interview anyone has ever done with me,” is here (and also appears in the University Press of Mississippi volume).
I edited Herzog on Herzog (2002), an interview book with Werner Herzog, and On Film-Making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director, a collection of writings by Alexander Mackendrick (2004). I consider the Herzog and Mackendrick volumes to be fairly important, at least as far as film books go, and certainly when compared to the other books I’ve put my name to. If nothing else I find these two very different filmmakers to be exceptionally thought-provoking, and the texts are coherent and, at times, inspiring articulations of their (wildly differing) ideas about the medium. I should hope that people are reading these two texts long into the future. Current projects include a book with Chris Newman about production sound recording, my attempt to honour the craftsmen of the industry, those people who know more about film than anyone I’ve ever met.
I‘m also working on a book about Medium Cool (based on primary research done for the documentary, which has recently been re-edited, and is now twice the length of Wexler’s own film) and a second book about Mackendrick (which I hope will be ready in time for his centenary in 2012) entitled Words on Pictures: The Interviews and Writings of Alexander Mackendrick. There is some extraordinary material here, including a host of never-before-published material, interviews, film treatments, many photographs, and Mackendrick’s journals written about his wartime experiences. In 2011 my co-edited book-length issue of Framework comes out, which is devoted entirely to Peter Whitehead and contains a wide range of new academic articles about the man’s life and work, as well as an array of remarkable archive texts by Whitehead himself, most of which have never been published. (The issue is to be accompanied by a lengthy new interview with Peter for this website.) Lessons with Kiarostami is a book based on my notes made over a period of years at a series of workshops and interview sessions with Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. It’s a project I will be working on over the next couple of years, alongside a volume for Mississippi about Abbas. The two books will nicely compliment each other.
Other writing projects include an interview book with writer and director David Mamet (a fan of the Mackendrick book), a book based on work done for A Time to Stir (to include an edited transcript, a selection of photographs, key primary documents, and an essay about the making of the film), a series of long-form interviews with various figures from the world of film (including teacher Colin Young and critic Michel Ciment), and also the inevitable: a new edition of Herzog on Herzog (two juicy new chapters, which take in the most recent films and the Rogue Film School, a much expanded bibliographic essay, a smattering of appendices, and Harmony’s foreword which finally arrived, six years after I asked him for it, all sitting on my desk here) which hopefully will be ready in 2011. If that weren’t enough, the idea for a third Mackendrick book is taking shape in my mind, a collection of his work (treatment, script, storyboards, designs, photographs etc.) for a film that was never made. There is also constant fine-tuning of Mackendrick on Film (a never-ending search for more recordings of Mackendrick in archives around the world, new interviews with people who studied and worked with him, as well as endless reading of books and texts that might yield useful material for the three-day seminar) and an essay about Mackendrick’s time at the film department of the California Institute of the Arts, as well as work on foreign editions of Sandy’s book and preparations for his 100th birthday.
It’s all something like a lifetime’s work, and far too much to deal with at the moment. When I read what I’ve written above I realise just how much I dislike having to sell myself, not least on this website which I spend far too much time polishing (it’s a garden: constant planting, tending and getting rid of dead wood). Pretty much everything I’ve done over the years as a film person is detailed on these pages, but at the same time they do bring out my wretched narcissistic streak. (This website is, however, becoming a key repository of information about Vogel, Whitehead, Medium Cool, Mackendrick and Columbia 1968. It’s full of material not easily accessible elsewhere, and more documentation and photographs are being added continuously.) Anyway, there’s still very much a learning curve, which is important, and the travelling gets me out and engaging some extraordinary people, which is certainly a positive thing. Memories of drinking beer in Munich with Werner, driving through southern Italy with Abbas, chatting with Amos in Washington Square Park, discovering long-lost manuscripts and photographs with Peter in his archive near London, and supping at Dave’s Pesach table in Los Angeles will be with me for long while. But there remains a constant battle to seek some kind of balance, and as much as I find all this a productive use of my energies, I’ve found it’s best to stay somewhat detached, psychologically speaking.
So anyway: don’t listen to anyone when they insist you can’t do something a certain way, and listen to them only half the time when they say you have to do it their way. Be fearful of nothing (remind yourself of the Cassavetes quote on the homepage), don’t take criticism of your work personally or compare yourself to anyone, and don’t doubt your abilities (plenty of other people are going to do that for you). Be invaluable to those around you. Keep your friends close, and enemies closer. Remember what Werner Herzog said about money: it’s cowardly and stupid. It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing: chase what you want otherwise it’ll just go away. Nothing worth anything comes easy. Don’t spread yourself too thin. “Live to the point of tears.” Let he who has never sinned… Beware of experts. Know your tools. Self-importance is bad (play low-status). Autodidactism is good, and never-ending (read – and then write – and then read some more). Our most valuable commodity is time. “Only the exhaustive is truly interesting.” Always consider the long-term: hard work will pay off. Don’t fold when you can check. Earn the respect of those you respect. (Is there more than one kind of intelligence?) “Never stop fighting until the fight is done.” Be professional when you need to. If not now, when? Learn it all on the job. Expose yourself to everything. The tortoise sometimes wins the race. Do it right or not at all. ”Schlafen kannst Du, wenn Du tot bist.” Be informed before you open your mouth (and don’t mumble). Decide which side you’re on: do it for them or do it for yourself (there is no middle ground). Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. ‘Independence’ is a state of mind. Stop complaining (enjoy the abyss). Get more exercise. Know your limitations (and when to disengage). Ride a bike. Read a book. Don’t use ‘myself’ when ‘me’ will do just fine. And don’t quit those piano lessons.
If you need a fool’s counsel, I am here: paul.cronin@thestickingplace.com.
