Producer Abigail Disney discusses the independant film Playground

For my readers that recall my interviews at the Tribeca Film Festival, you will note that I had to cut my interview with producer Abigail Disney short. We were discussing Pray The Devil Back To Hell and Playground, but most of our time was spent on Pray The Devil Back To Hell (which documented the incredible success of the women of Liberia in creating peace in that nation).

As I mentioned, I have a follow-up interview with Abigail that delves into the independant film Playground. This interview was conducted via email, but is as interesting as when we spoke in person.


Michael Vass : When last we had the chance to speak the Tribeca Film Festival was still underway and one of the films you had at the festival was Playground. We didn’t have a chance to speak more about the film at the time. I’m sure many of my readers would like to know what the documentary is about, and how it did at the festival?

Abigail Disney : Playground is about the dark and lesser known world of child sex trafficking in America, which is the number one tourist destination in the world for travelers looking for sex with children. The film found very appreciative audiences at Tribeca, which was gratifying, since it’s a difficult topic.


Michael Vass : The subject of children forced to have sex and being sold as property is a difficult one for many to explore. But your film delves into the fact that this is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Have you gotten any feedback for politicians anywhere?

Abigail Disney : Both activists and politicians have shown lots of interest in the film, and we are hoping to have an impact on policy by illuminating the human impact of some of our more counter productive policies around children and sexuality.


Michael Vass : I know you and the director of the film had a great deal of difficulty, and potential threats on your life, making this film. What was that experience like?

Abigail Disney : Well, I can’t say as I’ve had threats on my life directly, but I know that Libby Spears, the director has. She is an incredibly tenacious and dedicated woman, who is so passionately devoted to raising awareness of these kids that she was willing to face up to those threats to get the film done. She was going to get this film done no matter what the consequences for her personally. She is an incredibly brave human being.


Michael Vass : Of the women you were able to speak with about this subject, what did they have to say?

Abigail Disney : If you listen to the women in this film, the women who grew up in the world, you just want to curl up and cry. Or stand up and shout. I mean, the idea that prostitution is a “victimless crime” has got to be gotten rid of once and for all, regardless of the age of the prostitute. When you consider the percentage of women in the field who were sexually abused as kids, it is difficult to imagine that that experience did not have everything to do with their situations as adults.


Michael Vass : Are there any organizations that are working on this issue, any Governments that are actively trying to end this?

Abigail Disney : The government of Costa Rica has made admirable progress in confronting not only the sex-tourism trade, but also the corruption that so often goes with it. Cambodia is notably at the opposite end of the spectrum, and the numbers of girls getting sucked into the sex trade there and the ferocity of the people protecting that business are overwhelming. NGO’s and the UN are working hard to confront the sex trade, and particularly the trade in children, but frankly I believe we won’t make substantive progress until we significantly change our attitudes about gender and sexuality.


Michael Vass : Your film highlights that this is not just a problem in other parts of the world, but also here in America. Since the film was shown at Tribeca have you seen more attention on this issue here?

Abigail Disney : There has been definite movement among politicians interested in making strides on this front. Really, the film makes us look deeply stupid as a country on this issue!


Michael Vass : Are the conditions that the women and children go through as bad as what is in the film, or are those the best conditions and the others so severe you could not get them on film or past censors?

Abigail Disney : Libby concentrated on particular human stories, and so the film is not really a survey of conditions around the country. The conditions do vary depending on local laws and customs, and can get incredibly hideous in the hands of some people. The photos you see of small children in the sex trade give you a taste of how hellish their lives must be.


Michael Vass : For those that want to be more involved in this issue, or any of the issues you champion, where can they go for more information? What events do you have planned?

Abigail Disney : I would send people to two places. Playground has a website that has lots of information at www.playgroundproject.com and there is a section on resources to learn about how to help. Also the Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a remarkable organization that does great advocacy on these issues and they are a great NGO to support.


Michael Vass : Considering that you tend to produce movies on some of the more interesting and less discussed issues of our day, what is the next project you are working on?

Abigail Disney : Well, thanks for asking! Gini Reticker, who made Pray the Devil Back to Hell with me, and I are developing a series on Women, War & Peace for WNET/Wide Angle, the premier international affairs documentary series on American Public Television. We are incredibly excited about the opportunity. Not only have women always been WAY more affected by war than our culture has ever cared to admit, but their role in wars has changed in last 50 years in ways we would do well to attend to. They are not only more overtly and sadistically being targeted, particularly in the proliferation of ethnic and civil wars around the globe, but they are also stepping up more and more as activists, politicians, international figures of peace and even as soldiers and generals. Their participation in all aspects of war has subtly changed this eternal fact of human history, perhaps irrevocably.


Michael Vass : For those not able to see this film in smaller localities or who missed its initial run, when do you expect the DVD to be released, and how might they purchase it?

Abigail Disney : We are planning a limited release this fall and will be updating our website, www.playgroundproject.com, with details.

I want to thank Abigail Disney for our first and this follow-up interview, and apologize for running over time at the Tribeca Film Festival in the first place.

I also recommend to all my readers both films that Abigail has produced. I found them to be powerful and engaging films. They are well worth the time at a theater, and/or as a DVD purchase for your home.

Plus I am looking forward to Women, War & Peace which will be on American Public Television and WNET. Given the quality of the independant films mentioned above, I have no doubt this television program will be equally of high quality and importance.

Director Dennis Dortch interviewed by Michael Vass - pt 2

This is the continuation of my taped interview with acclaimed director and writer Dennis Dortch. You can see the first part of the interview at Sundance director Dennis Dortch interviewed by Michael Vass.

To see the review of the award winning film by Dennis Dortch, go to DVD Review: A Good Day To Be Black & Sexy


Michael Vass : The truth is truth.

Dennis Dortch : It may not be the truth for everybody but its certainly something that exists in the world. Its apart of behavior. I have not thought about him in years. You asked me that question and he is probably the guy that turned on the switch on for me to make it ok for me to do what I do, and think what I think, and do it the way I want to do it, you know?

Michael Vass : Would you include him in say the heroes or people who were inspirational in your life that have helped create the directorial vision that you have now?

Dennis Dortch : I would if I could remember his name. I should add George Lopper. He was my creative writing teacher in my senior year and I almost flunked out that year. I had all good grades but, you know, I had a girlfriend who kind of took my attention away.

Those two people I would definitely include them as my heroes and inspiration. I almost forgot about Nikki Giovanni. I had just discovered Nikki Giovanni for the first time. I was in an AP Class in high school, and literally there was two black people in this entire thing. We had a half black school but in this class there was only two if us. So your looked at as being special or whatever and I was reading books that I had never been exposed. I was reading Nikki Giovanni and he [George Lopper] was like ok if that’s what you want to read that’s cool. Giovanni was saying some pretty strong anti-white stuff and he was cool with it. He’s white and the whole class was white, but he was like if this is something your interested in then I’m going to let you go with it. So defiantly I think those three people would probably be a heavy influence on me to be myself.

Michael Vass : I can understand completely. I’ve had a couple of teachers like that myself. I think they are really important. Besides just going to school, having a teacher somewhere along the line that gives you that opportunity to expand on besides what is there is really critical. That’s what I’ve always felt.

Going back to the movie, and looking at the order of the film. Was there a purpose in the way you put the order of all the vignettes together?

Dennis Dortch : I had a slightly different order of my first cut and the writing it was a little different too. My goal really was to make it feel like a mix tape. So sometimes you know when your mixing songs together you go by the feeling and the beat. If I do something different in the vignette that I put together then it’s the feeling and the beat, the rhythms, how they flow, how you feel about them.

I would lay them out and watch and see how they made me feel, you know. The only thing majorly I changed in my final edit was American Boyfriend - the last one. It used to be second to last and I had Tonight part 2 to be last. And what it did was have a real sleepy feel to it so it was like…

Michael Vass : Too slow.

Dennis Dortch : Yes literally, and it was like a real somber ending. I had a test screening. Really I thought it was my premier but it turned into a test screening after I thought that it didn’t quite work with the audience. I didn’t embody the concept. It just felt like kind of a somber ending. So I ended up changing the ending. That was the only thing that I sort of you know changed.

Michael Vass : Well I liked the way it ended because that was a real big positive and it starts with a big jolt. As I said before at least for me it was a big jolt. Because it’s so different what we are getting there and then it ends with the American Boyfriend and that was pretty much the best of the vignettes. The one I like the best. It’s very positive to me. Very up lifting. Very... break through. I don’t know how to explain it exactly but it was very positive, I liked it a lot. So I agree with your order.

I was just wondering if there was that. I noticed that your going in many different directions through out the entire film. Were you trying to emphasize one type of over all theme through out the entire movie or was it one theme. Besides the idea of being black, being sexy, relationships can be more multi-dimensional than what’s been exposed already. Besides that theme was there anything else you were tying to get through?

Dennis Dortch : No that was really basically the cohesive thought I was going for. The goal was really to make each one feel different. And then do something different. I was literally trying to make a mixed tape on film. That was my real goal.

Michael Vass : Ok well it worked it’s a different approach because you really just don’t see films that really do that. At least if there were they are probably really very old because I have not seen anything like that in quite some time, quite some time. Nothing even close.

You also picked a great cast, I mean you really had a great cast. Chonte Harris - I really liked her a lot, I think she did very well. Alphonso Johnson as I said he’s one of the reasons I loved the American Boyfriend section. The section with Julian, I forget his actual name…

Dennis Dortch : Jerome Hawkins

Michael Vass : Yes. That story line drove me nuts. Tonight part 1 and 2 and its very... I guess harsh is the word. Cause your kind of dealing with child sex. In a way. Did you have trouble filming that? Was that a difficult one to write?

Dennis Dortch : It was probably not difficult in the sense of any angst but it was difficult to try to get it honest. You know, it actually changed several times. But the outcome is the same to a degree. And I talked to the actors before hand about their own experiences. Even the talking to the girl her first time, was with an older dude and she was under aged, they all identified with it. I just played on it, I mean I have a different ending …

Michael Vass : I saw that…

Dennis Dortch : And there is the extra that I just cut out thought it was kind of a cop out to me.

Michael Vass : You think so?..

Dennis Dortch : I’ve heard from people like these older black gentleman that like the alternative ending…

Michael Vass : That would be me… I’m old and I like the alternative ending.

Dennis Dortch : They told me ‘like oh another older black man, I didn’t want to see another negative of a black man this and that.’ And my wife echoed ‘it reminds me of [her] first time.’ Or some have said its sounds like what happened to my first boyfriend. It depends on your perception.

You know it’s quite funny how the same film effects people depending on what their experiences are, what their agenda is. How some people are like "oh god I wish you weren’t going to do this" and then others were like, "this reminds me, this is so real." I think this was my goal.

I had an actor who is semi known, who I was sort of pursuing for playing the role and he didn’t want to play it. He said I just can’t play this role because he does not even get his comeuppance; he does not even go to jail. Nothing happens.

How many times do you see a guy go to jail for statutory rape? It does not may any sense. It’s not going to stop anybody from doing it either by playing it realistically. The only time you’re going to have the conversation about it, it’s got to be somewhat controversial true and honest. And I’m not trying to save the world or say its ok. I have a daughter myself who I don’t want that to happen to. But I have to be honest with myself, with what my goals were, and portray things honestly. I could not take away from the uncomfortableness of it. You know?

Continued in Part 3...

Bette Gordon of Handsome Harry interviewed At Tribeca Film Festival

Another of the great films at the Tribeca Film Festival this year was the film by Bette Gordon, Handsome Harry. This is an intriguing drama by an independent filmmaker is known for her introspection and exploration of sexuality.

I had the chance to speak with Bette, and got to speak with Jamey Sheridan as well as Mariann Mayberry (who I did not even recognize at first!). While my conversations with Sheridan and Nayberry were off camera (and I might add quite pleasant), I did interview Gordon on video. And I found the interview to be filled with unique insights into the mind of an artist that has been captivating audiences for 35 years now.

(and I apologize for the background noise. It was quite busy at the Direct TV Tribeca Press Center. Next year I'll try to get a quieter room)







The film stars Jamey Sheridan, Steve Buscemi, John Savage, Campbell Scott, Aidan Quinn, Karen Young and Mariann Mayberry. Truely a tour-de-force of actors.

If you enjoyed the interview then I am sure you will enjoy Handsome Harry. I did.

More from the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival

As I continue to edit and prepare the interviews that I had at the Tribeca Film Festival, I wanted to give my readers a heads up on what are some of the top movies at the festival. There are several that I noticed everyone speaking about, and holding quite a bit of buzz. I'm happy to say that the movies I have seen and had interviews on are in this group.

Looking at the realm of comedies the big winners from what I have heard seem to be 2 British films.

In The Loop



And My Last 5 Girlfriends (which I can't seem to find a movie trailer for - sorry, it's late).

In far more serious film there is the international documentary Yodok Stories




And of course the Iranian film About Elli (again no trailer)

Also in the documentaries category there is the film American Casino - directed by Leslie Cockburn and produced by Andrew Cockburn. I will have the interview up as soon as possible. I will also be posting a review of the powerful and timely film. As a side note I must say that my conversation before, during, and after the interview with Andrew was informative and pleasantly intriguing.

Other films drawing a buzz include Handsome Harry


(I really enjoyed speaking with Jamey Sheridan, Bette Gordon, and Mariann Mayberry. I will have that interview posted as well.)

Playground, Shadow Billionaire, and Pray the Devil Back to Hell (which I have the interview with Abigail Disney, and the review of the movie to post) round out the movies I heard the most about while I was at the Tribeca Film Festival.

This is not to say all the films at the Festival are not fantastic. The work by the various actors, directors, and producers all stand miles ahead of 90% of the commercial major studio releases so far this year, and likely of the last several years including this one. And I believe that this years festival included at least one movie that any fan might enjoy. But these were the ones that I heard mentioned the most.

Well it's time to get back to the editing and writing the reviews. More on this soon.