Alex Winter, probably best known as Bill S. Preston, Esq. in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, has an extensive CV as both an actor and a director, ranging from directing music videos for the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Helmet to co-writing, co-directing and starring in the surreal 1993 film Freaked. With his Napster documentary, Downloaded, recently completed and word of a third Bill and Ted film circulating the space-time continuum, I was thoroughly looking forward to talking with him at London Film and Comic Con.
BJ: Hello, Alex Winter! How’s it going?
AW: Not too bad, still conscious! There’s still some brain left in my head, but I can’t guarantee how much longer that will last.
BJ: Did you only recently arrive in London then?
AW: I got here yesterday.
BJ: Blimey, you must be bloody knackered!
AW: Yeah, yeah. Here, do a bit, go home.
BJ: That jet-lag’s going to be fun... But then again, you are used to travelling through time!
AW: Yeah, yeah. [He chuckles] Well, I am used to travelling anyway, so it’s all easy.
BJ: Now this is probably a question you’ve been bombarded with since you arrived here, but, there’s been word about a third Bill and Ted film...
AW: Yeah, there’s a script and we’re playing around with it. It’s not definitive at this stage, but... That’s all I can say.
BJ: So you haven’t got producers, directors etc. signed up for it yet?
AW: Nothing I can talk about, nothing official. We’ll go official with it as soon as we can, but we can’t really say anything more than that. It may happen, it may not happen, we won’t know for sure, but we did have to do a script.
BJ: Did you and Reeves have a lot of input with the script?
AW: Oh yes, me and Reeves did, yeah.
BJ: Ah fantastic! I think with yourselves being so intrinsically part of the characters...
AW: Yeah, and with us and the script! It’s kind of all woven together.
BJ: Can you reveal anything about the script?
AW: I can’t because it’s not going. Once it’s going, I can say it’s going, but we’re not going yet. I mean, that’s not even a hint, that’s just the truth. We’re trying, it’s early, but it’s still moving.
BJ: Ok, well hopefully there’ll be official news somewhen soon!
And you’ve also been working on a documentary about Napster; Downloaded. What can you tell us about that?
AW: I’ve been working on that all year, just finished it about a week ago, and it’ll come out theatrically and on VH1 next year.
BJ: Ah fantastic.
AW: Yeah, so it’ll be a VH1 VOD Doc release, and then it’ll be out in theatres.
BJ: Have you got plans to hit any film festivals with it?
AW: Yeah, we’re just starting to put that together now. Definitely want to do some festivals here in England, because I love both the London Film Festival and Raindance.
BJ: Both are fantastic; I loved Raindance last year.
AW: Yeah, I love that festival. It’s a question of timing, so... But I’m aiming to do at least one of those, so that’d be good.
BJ: That’d be brilliant!
AW: Yeah it’d be great. Fingers crossed!
BJ: I’d love to see it at somewhere like Raindance; they certainly have a wide range of fascinating documentaries.
AW: I had a movie there eleven years ago, and they’ve done great things with that festival. They do good seminars and stuff for up and coming film-makers, helping new people get involved in the industry, I like that.
BJ: I don’t know if they ran this eleven years ago, but they’ve got this thing now where the festival’s winning film-maker creates the trailer for the following year’s Raindance - which I thought was rather cool!
I think with an industry that’s so hard to break into, it’s fantastic that festivals such as Raindance are supportive of rising talent, be it through the screenings, seminars, or newsletters.
AW: They’re incredibly good at nurturing new film-makers. Even in the states, they send out regular bits and they’re good with all that stuff. I’m on their newsletter, I like reading what they have to say.
BJ: There’s always something interesting, things like 25 Tips for Aspiring Writers or 5 Things Film-Makers can Learn from Andy Murray.
AW: Exactly, I love all that stuff. So yeah, we’ll be doing the festival run, and then we’ll go out digitally as well; iTunes, VOD, that kind of stuff - that’ll all be next year.
BJ: Well, I’m certainly looking forward to it, and best of luck!
AW: Thank you, yeah it’ll be good fun.
BJ: Thank you for your time, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
AW: Thank you, you too. Take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment