'Wolfs' Venice Press Conference (Brad Pitt, George Clooney).

[Applause] good afternoon thank you for coming to the press conference of the film wolf which is going to be shown tonight our competition and uh before we start uh I'm going to introduce the guest to our uh starting from the far right the producer of the film Jeremy Kleiner Austin Abrams Amy Ryan Brad Pit and George cloney and the director John wats is a little under weather so he couldn't join us but Jeremy is going to do brilliant instead he does okay he flew all the way here and then he got Co and he's now flowing back so um I which we're all now going to get before before I I I open I opened the question the last time Brad and George were in a film together it was burned after reading and it was actually at the Venice Film Festival if I recall what does what does does a project need to have uh to make make it possible for you to you know to act together to be back well the restraining order was up oh hi uh it's just cash I think money will do it yeah money will break all arguments Burn After Reading I got the extreme pleasure of shooting him in the face and uh and so we thought maybe we'd try it again 15 years later and by the way he hits me in the face in this one I do but you hit me too no oh that's right we did it and then we cut it out yeah I was in my contract okay there's a question here get a microphone uh greetings hi Ste schaer Boston Harold great to see you guys to see you uh George you were quoted saying uh when uh uh John Watts was going to pitch this movie to br that Brad is very particular and he better have his game on right can you both talk about what was it about wolves that made you say I've got to do this and I've got to do this with George or I got to do this with Brad me yeah you go no I mean John came with this idea and uh it sounded really fun I I we kind of figured there's got to be a good reason to put uh to get back in a film together something we feel like we could um build upon what we've done before but but also I got to say just as I get older just working with the people that are really that that that that I just really enjoy spending time with has really become um important to me but John came with this idea about getting us together as these um cleaners who both think they're the best and we like the idea and he wrote this first draft and we read it I said great then George read it he said great and uh here we are now it's never happened where you just get an someone presents you an idea and you get the first draft of a script and that's what you end up shooting usually there's years of develop we we you know as we're both producers we constantly get pitches and not even for us to be in or you know just to produce and the first draft comes in and you're always like oh my God what are we going to do with this and this one came in and right away we thought this is great so we we also John I loved cop car you know and I thought he's I think he's a really interesting director and we wanted to crack at working with him too I thought that was fun and I and and Amy and Austin we really um didn't want to work so much with Austin but Amy I really wanted to work with as I was talking to Amy before the opening scene of the film it feels you know she she put it nicely as almost like a theater piece because there is a lot of acting there is a lot of geography and it feels that this film is is an interesting opportunity to both do some do some um very I wouldn't say impromed but you know acting on on a on um long takes and then at the same time action and I I I thought wondering if that's part of the interest that what you think you you take that yeah um it you know I John Watts is so specific so I I feel like there was there was room within his world to play but um I also thought The Script also when I read it I said oh hell yes this is this is so wonderful it's funny it's it there it's a great Thriller um that it was all there it was all there and then to have this opportunity to work with these two gentlemen who are obviously just just expert and phenomenal gentleman to be with and and Austin who laid flat face down for me for two weeks with no complaints so um and no clothes and no clothes but um it was uh John would also go away he'd go back to his video Village and and edit and then we'd come back into do another take because he knew he wanted one other detail so um reminded me somewhat of like Sydney lumette who had all his shots mapped out um but John had the ability of Technology there to actually splice it together and then go back and get what he needs thank there's a question there hello there George and Brad uh Scott Orland with Cinema magazine um if you think back on the history of Hollywood it's kind of littered with different varied stories of mismatch coupling you know and kind of what makes it work is the friction between the two protagonists so how challenging is it to conceive of a story work on a story where you have unique friction that's not what people have seen before and if you look at each other where are you similar and where are you mismatching I'm much younger much much I know I don't look it but I'm much um you know this is Brad and I've been doing this a long time separately and together and and part of what was fun about this was you know there is a rhythm to talking over top of one another right there really is it's like it's not just blasting you have to be able to hear one thing to be able to answer it but not and not step all over each other and I think over a period of time we just just had a a the Rhythm worked pretty well right off the bat we just felt like it's easy um and uh you know I I it just felt like from the minute I read the script from the minute we got on the set that sort of banter the way we kind of blast at each other the whole time just felt easy you know it wasn't a um the ones I felt Austin has a like was it like two-page monologue that he did all in one and that's much harder than than what we were doing much besides being the middle of winter New York shooting nights and Austin having to spend most of the time in his underwear I he did the heavy lifting oh really Austin how hard was that monologue and and and the rest uh oh hello um how it was I mean it was it I was it was daunting the whole thing you know I mean it was thing I did my audition with and but I was very thankful to like I mean I was really I was nervous to do it in front of you guys for sure you know um well cuz if you blew it we were going to hit you with a lamp yeah they're very be aggressive um no but they were really really giving to me um in terms of like I don't know they like attention and when I was doing it and we uh very generous in that way uh and so I felt um I don't know I just really appreciated that though uh I'm sorry I wasn't listening what did you say so it was like they made it easier essentially is what I'm trying to say um yeah there's a question right there yeah um Peter Paul hoot inter film Germany I have a question to Mr Clooney uhoh uh uh watching the film I was your character reminded me a bit of the bagman you were playing in Michael Clayton so I was wondering is this a kind of the Badman who goes on his own and does his own business or did you see any relation Michael Clayton I was a nice sweet lawyer I mean this is um no this one I think this is kind of a the plane off of Harvey kitel in uh in P fiction P fiction a little bit the the the wolf the fixer you know and sort of just having two of them and I think that's what he was trying to do with the story I'm pretty sure that's what he was trying to do with it we didn't talk about it but here she's there hi good morning Maria kinoo Spain congratulations on this movie this morning there were two very very young journalist so excited about H this comedy and I was wondering H what's left for the new generation because um I mean the streaming industry has changed completely the the industry so what do you think uh what's left for them will be um this generation this iconic generation like yours well I'll I would say that you know when I was a young actor uh there were 64 television shows uh about 40 of them had acting some of them were news shows and so on Monday mornings you go open up the LA Times and see where your show ranked to see if you still had a job you know if you're only in the top 20 there's 700 shows or some crazy amount there's a lot of work for for actors um it's it's about you know how we find it and how we find people and you know all of that stuff it's a you know streaming is we need it our industry needs this right this is part of what we're doing uh but they also benefit from having films released that's why Brad and I were working so hard to try and get these released and we're figuring it out we haven't got it all figured out yet and it's this is a this is a revolution in our industry but we need a apple and Amazon and they actually need Distributors right they need to have Sony or Warner Brothers who actually have been doing this for a 100 years so we're figuring this out and I what I do think I see is a lot more work for actors we're having to curate it differently and we're going to figure that out and we haven't quite got it yet um and this you know we'll feel this for a period of time Co really complicated things but we're getting there a lot of work but I'm actually very excited for young actors because I feel like there's a lot more opportunity than there has been or there was when I was young at least there uh hello uh this is Janis from Greece on your right uh congratulations for the very fun film uh I mean everyone was so relieved watching it this morning and what I admired in the film is that he has a 70s era Aroma and and um we don't usually see these kind of body movies anymore this kind of BU Cassidy and sandon skid in urban New York and I know that you both like the 70s and you both have shown films that you made about the 70s and I wonder if the director is not here but if you have discussed uh during the making of the film of to put this kind of atmosphere in it thank you well first of all that's the like one of the highest compliments we could receive um because I and I know George feels the same we hold the 70s the films of the 70s and the you know as the greatest and um you know I don't think it's you know it's nothing that we set out to do as far as a flavor or even a genre but it's in our DNA these are the movies we were weaned on this is what made us want to get into the film industry so anytime we can even get we can bump up and get close to those films that we hold in such high regard it's um it's a real thrill for us but I think it's it's again it's something that that would would um if we get there when we get there that that comes out organically uh sorry go St here yeah hi there uh Melanie Goodfellow deadline um just going back to the uh the comments you made about streamers um this film was supposed to get a wide release right it's now limited um and maybe even Jeremy wants to chime in I don't know but how do you feel about that would you like to have seen it do a global relase yeah we would we would have liked that we we wanted it that's why Brad and I you know gave some uh some of our salary back to do that by the way there's a really good reporter Nicole Sperling uh for the New York Times she wrote a interesting article about it um and whatever her Source was for our salary it's millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported um and I I only saying that because I think it's bad for our industry if that's what people think is the standard Bearer for salaries I think that's a terrible it'll make it impossible to to to make films yes we wanted it to be released uh we've had some bumps along the way that happens uh you know I when I did boys in the boat we did it for MGM and then it ended up uh you know being for for Amazon and we didn't get a foreign release at all uh which was a prize it's there there are elements of this that we are figuring out and we're you know and you guys are all in this too you know we're we're all in this industry and we're trying to find our way postco and everything else and so there's some bumps along the way it's a it's it is a bummer of course it's a bummer but on the other hand a lot of people are going to see the film and and we are getting a release in the you know a few I think a few hundred theaters so we're getting a release but yeah it would have been nicer to have a a wider release that's what I'd like to follow up with the question question to Jeremy jery you Jeremy you have like four films in the in the festival as a producer and and and it's Brad's you know for company yeah Brad's company and and how important is theatrical for from your perspective um well I think to Echo the first thing I want to say is um you know i' I've had the pleasure of working with Brad for over 20 years um and um I think the ethos of the company that he has engendered is one of um believing in the shelf life of films and believing that you know you you go into them um believing that you're going to make something worthwhile um something that's going to last and sometimes it will be seen in one way and sometimes it will be seen in another way um of course we love theatrical um we make films often for theatrical only sometimes we do a combination sometimes we've made films for streamers I think the common threat and I think this is true of uh not just plan B but um you know George Clooney and Grant hov's Smokehouse and and you know John and Diane our other partners is you know we went into this making something that we thought was worth our time and got to work with Incredible actors had the pleasure of working with Austin on an on an independent film years ago also with Amy Ryan years ago um and uh you know theatrical is obviously a key component um but as George said you know I think uh figuring out the exact operational way that these movies Reach people today is um it's a it's a complicated uh uh equation and I think um but from our side we you know we we're really proud of the film and uh really believe in what we did I think we'll always be romantic about the theatrical experience at the same time I I I I love this the the existence of the streamers because we get to see more story we get to see more Talent um it gets more eyes so it's it is a it's a delicate balance right now and I I I I it'll it'll write itself yeah oh hello um uh I come from Mexico where I live in Germany and this is my question for both of you uh Brad and and George and in this period of your life we are almost the same generation and we this is the Harvest from our lives and I'm wondering which one of those uh uh activities from you as an actor or producer which one is maybe more important for you producing or acting or to makeing a balance eh which one is the one when you get really satisfied and when you really have fun doing what you're doing producer or acting I I I really think it's um it's the same sport in the sense that uh we we're after good story and it's the love of story and wanting to tell a story whether it's in front of the camera or behind a camera or or from across town it's about um getting finding new stories stories that speak to our time stories that may be uh Universal and speak to people down the road so the aim is the same um of course if we're on the set every day and George could speak to in directing as well which even is is the biggest challenge of all um there I want to I want to I want to work with people I really respect so yeah I just I think we you know he's right they're all the kind of different paints right and we get to play with all of them and we're very lucky to be you know he's 74 years old and and he's very lucky at this age to still be working quite honestly um but we're we're lucky to be to have a job and to have a career and you know part of the reason we produce and I you know I write pieces as well is because you want to be able to continue working in this uh in in this industry that we love so all of them are fun i' I hadn't acted very much uh in recent years and so I've been kind of moving back to that a little bit and it's fun you know I'm I I I'm 63 years old and I get to still do what I love and enjoy it and have fun and that's a you know I grew up cutting Tobacco on a tobacco farm for $33 cents an hour and uh so this is all just icing on the cake for me and it's fun that there Hi um my name is t Ribero I'm from Brazil and I'm going to ask um George the question that I'm sure is in everybody's mind about that I look so good up close I know well um this is a room full of journalists and we um I think I really want to know what you think was the impact of the oped you wrote for the New York Times um asking President Biden to step down which he eventually did you know I I I I've actually never had that answer that question so I I suppose I'll I'll do it here um uh the person who should be applauded is the president who did the most selfless thing that anybody's done since George Washington and that's true and so anybody all the machinations that got us there that's all none of that's going to be remembered and it shouldn't be what should be remembered is the selfless act uh of uh of someone who you know it's very hard to let go of power you know we know that we've seen it you know all around the world uh and for someone to say I think there's a Better Way Forward uh that's all the credit goes to him and that's really the truth and all the rest of it will be long gone and forgotten and so I'm I'm just uh I'm just very proud of where we are in the state of the world right now which um I think many people are surprised by and I think we're all very excited for the future and so that's you know that I think that's all I'll say on that I think that's the smartest way okay and there hi G railing from Sweden hi sort of continue on that then there are let's go back to the film yeah I'm talking about films films because there quite a few films here in Venice this year that talk about the rise of fascism the danger of fascism there are films about musolini about others Etc how do you feel the importance of filmmakers to approach those subjects in a in times like this someone else take that one you want me to take that take it yes no of course I mean this this is the power of film they we this is storytelling we find ways to to speak to our time and and what we are facing and and um where we want to be so I mean and this is this is why we're here so it'll always the these these stories will will um always Prevail so I I don't know what to say beyond that well I would also say that films are not uh news right they they're they're it takes a couple of years to get something together you know All the President's Men came out two years after you know Watergate um so we're we get there's a little bit of history that you can reflect on in films that you can't my father's a newsman and you know he that's all all of that is accounts for the exact moment at happens and then it kind of becomes old uh films get to reflect and look back and say well let's see let's have some perspective on this um and so uh I you know slower sometimes is a better way of being able to to find out where we all land and I've seen this we've seen this in a lot you know that's you talk about 70s films you know watch Network again and it's hard to imagine that uh everything Patty cheski wrote about in 1975 came true so you know it's a it's a little easier to look back with films I think you one more and it's there and then we have to go hi Le Trio from Belgian the Morgan um you've talked about the streaming aspect you know about the release um but I was wondering specifically what does it say about movie stardom uh you know star power the fact that a film with Brad Pit and George cloon doesn't get a theatrical release these days or hardly I mean yeah what do you make of that I just clearly we're declining we're in Decline see Austin's here he's the the young one now he's the he's carrying all the weight and Al how do you feel trying to help uh no don't defer this to me no we're throw it at you I don't want I answer that question um no I'm not going to I don't know you know the the reality is when When Brad and I were young actors um there was still a form of a studio system right where you know I ER broke for me brothers and I got a five picture deal at Warner Brothers and you sort of get protected along the way you know I did Batman and Robin in the middle of all that but you know somewhere along the way you you're protected in a way and and uh and there's there was some Machinery behind it that I think I don't see so much of for younger actors that might be a good thing you know the sort of the democratization of of our industry is not a it's not a bad way to go and you know again I actually think that uh you know infinitely more people are seen them because of these streamers and I think that's a good thing you know and to follow up on on on his question I wonder is some of the attraction of this particular script was also a little meta Dimension to it because you're you know it's also a play about yourself and as as the movie stars and the way you know each other yes it is you know what I mean it is sort of yeah I guess yes you know yes it is it's um uh we when we it was funny when we read the script he didn't tell us which part remember that's oh that's right he didn't tell us which part he just sent it sent us a script and we called we talked to each other on the phone and we were both figured out which one we were going to do we was like I'm going play that part I'll play that one so it was funny we didn't really uh so so this it just from the minute we got it we thought it would be fun and and a fun part to do I'm sorry they call me for we run out of time thank you so much and thank you for thank you all it's okay e