Tuesday, April 30, 1996
Latest venture looks at competition of TV ratings gameBy Dina Gachman
Daily Bruin Staff
When he came to Los Angeles 14 years ago to pursue a career in television, comedian Robert Wuhl had a revelation.
"The idea just came to me," says Wuhl of his new film "Open Season." "I thought it would be funny to see what would happen if the ratings suddenly started showing that public broadcasting was on top. And the fact that there's always this big corporate guy who worries about the numbers rather than going with his gut. It just struck me funny."
After many years, and endless drafts and revisions, Wuhl completed the screenplay based on his idea. "Open Season" is a romantic fable with social consciousness. The film, which opens this Friday, tells the story of Stuart Sain, played by Wuhl. Stuart Sain is a man who goes through the motions of his meaningless job as a representative for the Fielding Ratings Company, and by chance winds up working for public television. After the switch, chaos ensues as the big networks find themselves competing with public broadcasting for the highest ratings. Sain finds himself fighting for both his integrity, and his wife Cary (Maggie Han).
"Open Season" also marks Wuhl's directorial debut. With roles in films such as "Bull Durham," "Batman," "Good Morning Vietnam," and "Cobb," Wuhl, who began acting in a dinner-theater during college, has worked with some of the industry's most prominent personalities. Wuhl won Emmy Awards in 1991 and 1992 for his contributions to writing the Academy Awards, and he wrote the 1987 Grammy Awards hosted by Billy Crystal. Despite all of this success, the actor always had the directing bug and was just waiting for the right story.
Wuhl says that he was attracted to directing because of the possibility it gave him to work in a group.
"I always wanted to direct," says Wuhl. "When I was young, my idols were people like Howard Hawks, Frank Capra, (Preston) Sturges. The same influences I have now. I've always liked how things are made how things come together. I like to collaborate, and when you direct you get to collaborate with everybody."
"Open Season" gave Wuhl the opportunity to collaborate with a wide variety of cinematic talent. Veteran Hollywood star Rod Taylor plays the ruthless, fanatically Christian network head Billy Patrick, Marvin Hamlisch composed the movie's score, and there are cameos by Bob Costas, Tom Selleck and Larry King.
Rather than becoming intimidated by such celebrities, Wuhl found his first time directing to be a welcome challenge and says that he had few problems during the 32-day shoot. "You learn, obviously, from everything you do," comments Wuhl. "There was nothing, except for some technical things, that troubled me. It was more about dealing with things like what do you do when the art department hates the camera department. You're dealing with personalities of people working together, so you have to make that one cohesive unit."
Achieving this cohesion was part of the challenge of directing for Wuhl. His belief in the material, and in its message, helped Wuhl to enjoy the "organic process" of creating a film. "Open Season" is a comedy, but it takes a serious look at the heartless, money-hungry side of the entertainment industry. As an actor, Wuhl has witnessed this ruthless side, but he believes that it is caused by the need to sell a product, rather than by individuals.
"I think basically most people are pretty good," he says, "but it's about taste, too. It's a question of taste. The bigger the budget is, the more you have to water down the product. I understand that that's the way it is, but it's a little sad. It's the old artist versus commerce thing."
If all goes well, "Open Season" will enlighten viewers about the inaccuracy, and insignificance, of television ratings and of art in general. Wuhl's film criticizes society's need to mass produce creativity and simultaneously elicits laughter from the audience. Wuhl hopes that this mixture will help convey the moral of his film and entertain people in the process.
"The film is really about the difference between being good and winning," says Wuhl. "It's about this obsession with winning. Everybody wants to be number one but what's wrong with being number two or number three? If the work is good, isn't that enough? My picture's not gonna be number one at the box office, but I'm proud of it. I did good work, it's got a point of view and that's great."
FILM: "Open Season," directed by Robert Wuhl. Opens Friday.
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Robert Wuhl makes his directorial debut with "Open Season."