“The Chair” is a documentary series premiering on STARZ in the fall, a behind the scenes look at the film industry from Chris Moore (“Project Greenlight”). This time, They picked two first time directors to each make the same script, and both films will be released in theaters and on STARZ before the show premieres in September.
Zachary Quinto is a part of the show for his producorial experience on films like Margin Call and All Is Lost, mentoring the two filmmakers in their first productions. Quinto participated in a Television Critics Association panel for “The Chair” this week and he stuck around to speak with a smaller group of reporters after. Since he spoke about the upcoming NBC return of “Heroes,” we’ll present the interview now as news and a preview of “The Chair.”
CraveOnline: Do you find that since Margin Call the industry responds to you as much as a producer as they see you as an actor?
Zachary Quinto: Yeah, I feel very grateful for the opportunity that Margin Call afforded me and company to make more movies. If that movie didn’t work, I doubt we would have been able to make All Is Lost or Breakup at a Wedding or Banshee Chapter or Most Violent Year or “The Chair.” I think all of us are really overwhelmed by the success of Margin Call and certainly grateful for the opportunities that it afforded us subsequently.
One of the things I love about the show is the thing that people take for granted they could do as filmmakers, like getting script pages done by the time the other departments need them.
Yeah, right.
Is that something that’s useful to educate, not only aspiring filmmakers, but just the public of that?
Yeah, I think so. I mean I think that people go to a movie. They know what they expect. They know what they want to see, but they have no idea what goes into creating that, and what we’re trying to do with this show is give them a glimpse into the process and give them a glimpse into how different the process can be depending on who is overseeing it and who is in charge and responsible for making all the decisions.
Is airing the movies ahead of time kind of a spoiler because if we see during the production they’re working on something that got cut, well, we know that got cut?
I don’t think it’s a spoiler. No, no. Actually, I think it’s an advantage for the audience because watching the movies, the audience then gets to choose when they want to watch it. They don’t have to watch it before they watch the show. They can watch the show and then watch the movies halfway through.
I think it actually gives the audience a good foundation of understanding what these guys were making. What Shane and Anna were trying to create and then you get to kind of go and see the mechanics of them creating it. Then you can watch the movie again and see if you think they did a good job. I think it just gives the audience more of an opportunity to decide what they want their relationship to the movies versus to the series to be.
I make the connection to “Project Greenlight” because of Chris Moore and it is illuminating this behind the scenes story of filmmakers. But one thing that didn’t really exist on “Project Greenlight” was VOD releasing. Does that movement in that smaller avenue make a show like this more possible and make this experiment possible?
Look,I think it’s a double-edged sword because there is VOD platform releasing now, but it’s also saturated and inundated with a lot of stuff to choose from. I thine there’s this ADD mentality in our culture right now. People don’t necessarily now how to sustain their attention, how to look for the things that are going to cut through all of the other white noise, as I said before. So I think you have to know how to use it. Margin Call was a really prime example. Before Margin Call, the idea of a day and date theatrical/ VOD release, anything VOD was sort of deemed less than or inferior to movies that were released theatrically.
I think we were really surprised and really excited by how we were part of proving that wrong. And that this movie went on to succeed, not only critically, and with audiences, but also financially in a way that it probably wouldn’t have if it was only a theatrical release. I do think it’s been a positive step forward, but I think as a producer and as filmmakers, you have to know how to find your audience.
And we’re really grateful to be able to give Anna [Martemucci] and Shane [Dawson] an opportunity to do that. That our involvement and my sort of on-camera presence, hopefully will do a little bit more and get people a little bit more interested than they might otherwise be.
How were you guys scouting these first time directors? Do you have a methodology?
It’s really a gut check in a lot of ways. I mean, my company is truly an independent company, so we don’t have any affiliations with studios. We don’t have any first look deals or overhead deals. Every project we put together is put together on an individual basis. We raise money per project to make our movies and we don’t have a development fund.
Q: How many applicants were there for these two slots on “The Chair?”
Zachary Quinto: Actually, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Chris. Although, we had a history with Anna. We knew Anna through her husband, Victor. And she wrote and was one of the actresses in Breakup at a Wedding and we felt like this experience would be a really great opportunity for her. Chris was introduced to Shane through Josh Shader.
I don’t really know what the application process was or if it was more of an organic decision among the producers of the show to say, “Well, these are two interesting candidates to start with. And let’s get a platform here that from there, we can reach out to a wider range of applicants’ which will happen, I think, in future seasons.
You’re in the first two episodes via Skype a lot. Are you going to be in person more?
Well, the interesting thing was I intended to be in Pittsburgh and on the ground for both of these productions the whole time and be on set on a regular basis. And fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I got cast in another movie that I had to go do, right as they were starting.
I wasn’t as available as I wanted or intended to be. But I tried to make myself as available overseas as I could. And I was certainly being kept abreast of all the developments and all the evolutions of production. I was a remote resource for this one. I think in future seasons, I’ll have different capacities, and we’ll see where it goes, if we’re lucky enough to continue on with the show.
They were filming the panel so that may be the season finale, or the penultimate episode. Is there still time to do something during post?
Oh, yeah. I’ve done a lot of stuff since I’ve been back. I just wasn’t on the ground during production. But I’ve been at the screenings. I’ve been at the meetings we’ve had about the films. I’m definitely involved in the series on camera, not just on Skype.
Have NBC or Tim Kring’s camp reached out to you at all about the new “Heroes?”
I’ve been in touch with Tim over the years, and he told me that they were doing it, and certainly left the door open for me to be involved. The trouble is really my availability. I don’t know that it would really even be possible and it’s a challenge for me because that experience and that role and that opportunity really changed my life completely and sent me on a path that I might not otherwise have been on.
But at the same time, I’m very interested in forward momentum. I’m very interested in diversity. I’m very interested in expanding people’s expectations of me and defying people’s expectations of me. And I don’t know that going back to such a definitively iconic character would necessarily do that.
It’s a larger question that I haven’t necessarily had to answer yet because no one’s actually given me an offer or given me any sort of circumstances. But I don’t know. We’ll see. I wish them well. I’m really glad to know that they’re doing it. I know the fans are really excited and I know that whether or not I’m involved, they’ll certainly be excited to watch it.
How about “American Horror Story: Freak Show?”
I’m not involved in “American Horror Story: Freak Show.” And I’m pretty sure that my schedule is my future commitments would prevent me from getting involved at this point because I know they’re well into shooting the season.
You are going to return as an iconic character.
That’s one you can count on, yes. I will be back as Spock.
What would you like to see for Spock going forward? Would you like to see a more Trekkie movie?
Well, Bob [Orci] is sort of a purist about the Trek universe. I’ve spoken to him a number of times about his ideas, and I think they’re really exciting. And, I’m really excited that we get to be a part of his feature directorial debut. It will be a different world without J.J. on set every day, but it’s a family and Bob is an essential part of that family. We’re all really excited to see where it goes. I think it’s in the preliminary stages now of the script kind of being finished and polished and worked on and tightened. And I imagine the phone will be ringing sometime in the next three months to talk about when we’ll go back to production.
Do you expect it to feel like the end of a trilogy or just a continuing story because these characters will never really end?
Well, you know, the five year mission, I think will be a part of this next film in some way or another. I think you’re right. We’re coming up on the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic sci-fi series in the history of the entertainment industry, so I think it’s inherently an ongoing story. But I do think we’ll feel some sense of evolution in these characters that’s been building through the first two films.
Would you ever be interested in sort of taking on more creative roles in that franchise like Leonard Nimoy did later on?
Like when he directed? Look, I want to direct. I’m already producing, and producing at increasingly on a high profile level. I haven’t yet directed. That’s something I aspire to, but I doubt that I would feel confident enough to start in that realm. But yeah, look, I feel like we all signed on for three movies, so we’re coming up to the conclusion of that commitment. It will be very interesting to see how our relationships to the franchise evolve beyond that point.
