BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Best Picture
INTERVIEW WITH: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
FILM: "The King's Speech"
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Q. Question to Gareth. I wondered, you've often credited the film council in your acceptance speeches. What is the effect, do you think, of this victory? What will it be on the British film industry and for independent filmmakers in particular?
A. I think the first thing it does, it leaves a healthy dowry for the BFI to inherit. So the U.K. will always have to have a position within its industry in filmmaking, and although the guys may have changed recently, we hope the British government will continue to support British filmmakers.
A. I think I'll add to that and say that our film wouldn't have been made [inaudible], they occupied a place within the finance plan that nobody wanted to inhabit. And without them, we wouldn't be here. So we really hope that because of THE KING'S SPEECH, that everyone continues to support arts and culture and through the BFI broaden the film base.
A. Sorry. One last thing to add is that without government subsidy around the world, films like THE KING'S SPEECH wouldn't get made, and they're risky films to finance. Everyone's been, the investors had been [inaudible] go so well.
Q. So with such a close race this year, how were you feeling before your name was announced?
A. I think we were incredibly nervous all the way through. Obviously when Tom Hooper won the directing award, that increased our nerves because it was looking more likely.
A. The strange irony of it all, we probably, amongst other things, the public speaking, and the irony is that the pressure was on in the most public speaking event in the world, so...
Q. You made it to the finish line, congratulations. I'm curious, I mean, this whole awards season is such a long marathon, and I mean early on when some of the earlier awards didn't go your way, I'm just curious, did you guys lose any hope or did you know you had something special here?
A. I think we always, from the point where we invested in the project from its inception, from the point in the script we had faith in the story and David Seidler's telling of it, and these campaigns run and they peak and they trough, but we never lost any faith in the film that we have.
A. We're constantly stunned every Friday or Thursday or Wednesday when they released THE KING'S SPEECH, we didn't think it was necessarily it wasn't something they necessarily connected to. Because they did, we were all buoyed by the fact that the audiences were watching the films.
Q. Do you have anything to say about Harvey and his support of the film and the way he manages it?
A. Yeah. I mean, there's no doubt we wouldn't have been here without Harvey Weinstein. He did an absolutely amazing release of his film. The timing of the release was perfect, working with the campaign, and we owe him a huge amount. The film has worked incredibly well in America. It's worked all around the world, but this awards season has been driven hugely by Harvey Weinstein, we know that.
Q. You have been around the world, as you say, with very personal stories and awards and people telling you what this meant to them. The Academy Award seems to be the most important award of all. Can each of you tell me in the most personal way how it affects you to win the Academy Award?
A. I'll start with that. It's the most amazing honor that we could ever imagine. I mean, there's been incredible things that have happened throughout this film. The support and the response that we've had from the stammering and stuttering community, being able to tell David Seidler's story is incredible as well. But to be honored in this way by our heroes, as much as anything through the Academy Awards, that has not sunk in yet, probably will be by April.
A. The buildup of this award is I think like none of the others, and obviously it's the final award of the season, and there's just something about it that left us absolutely speechless, in a sense, and to have won this award, I don't think there's anywhere else we can go. That's clearly the most extraordinary moment in our lives.
A. For me the really amazing thing was receiving the award from Steven Spielberg. I almost forgot I won an Oscar. I was more shaking his hand, and if I can, picking this fellow up. The biggest thing, the award, apart from the success of the film in terms of box office is, as Iain said, just the letters and the comments and the support and love that we've had, not just from stammerers, but anybody with difficulties in their lives that can embrace a film like ours and (inaudible) friendship, but there always remains hope back, and that gives us hope for our future projects.
Q. One question. I've been following you guys for the past 15 months on this movie, but I've never asked you, A, are you monarchists? I know you're Australian, you're Republican, but are you monarchists? And people have claimed that the Queen has seen the film. Has she? You're the producers.
A. We don't know. I mean, we have heard the same reports that other people have heard in terms of she enjoyed it and found it entertaining, but actually, we don't know.
Q. Are you monarchists?
A. I come from a Scottish mother and an English father, so I think the dynamic of the film pretty much sums up my parenting.
A. Obviously I'm Australian, but I think there's something in this movie about sense of duty and the sort of duty that comes with the crown and people who, whether they're monarchists or, you know, whatever their sort of view of the monarchy is, has responded I think very deeply to this quite old fashioned notion of duty which really the world has partly forgotten. And it's a sense of responsibility, a sense of dignity, and Colin Firth has it as a person and King George VI had it, and he overcame his fears out of a sense of duty. And, you know, that's something that comes with the history of the monarchy, which I think we all feel very proud of and connected to.
A. If we're talking personally, then, yes, I am a monarchist. I believe the role that the royal family plays in the U.K., in dark times we always need leaders and sometimes they're elected and sometimes they find that leadership through heritage. What we've done is put a spotlight on the family that has served our country well for many, many years and maybe people draw inspiration from that, but I think at the end of the day we're all just very, very proud of making the film and it's the stuff of boyhood dreams.
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