The Greenwich International Film Festival and Warner Bros. Pictures hosted a special screening of the “Entourage” movie on May 26.
The special event was held at Bow Tie Cinemas in Greenwich and of course TheKnockturnal was on the scene. Director and writer Doug Ellin was in attendance. He also participated in a post-screening Q&A. Entourage, the much-anticipated big-screen version of the award-winning hit HBO series, reunites the hit show’s original cast, led by Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven. Movie star Vincent Chase (Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara) and Johnny (Dillon), are back … and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Piven). Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood. The film hits theaters on June 3.
Read our exclusive interview with Doug Ellin below:
Was it hard deciding how much of the film would show Vincent’s movie without making two movies into one?
Doug: Yeah, we wanted to give just the right amount that would tease it. We actually talked about making it into a real movie … People are excited by it and it looks good. And we didn’t want to overstate it, but we wanted it to feel like he actually directed a real movie.
So how did you decide on who would make a cameo appearance? There are a lot of stars in the movie.
Doug: All sorts of different ways. Everything from people I’m friends with that I like, to people I dream of getting, you know, Liam Neeson, Pharrell, and all sorts of different people. They work in different ways and I have everything from calling Mike Tyson up an hour before and going like “Are you in L.A? If you are just come to the set.” And he comes and things like that.
So from the director’s standpoint, what was the difference between transitioning from directing a TV show to a full-length movie?
Doug: The directing wasn’t a transition, the writing was. And I directed two movies before and Entourage was basically a half hour movie every week and we shot a big scope show. We shot at Cannes Film Festival, a U2 concert, to Yankee Stadium, so that wasn’t a big deal. It was getting a script that could sustain on its own for an hour and a half as opposed to 30 minutes.
Was it difficult filming multiple story arcs for the big screen while still keeping the film focused on Vincent’s movie?
Doug: Yeah, it was definitely hard to have everybody and especially the actors are all my friends so when they weren’t happy that they didn’t have enough to do I had to keep working until we got it. So I think everybody’s got good stuff and we will see what everyone thinks.
Will there be a sequel?
Doug: If people go, yeah. If people go, you know what? We love doing it and if people love seeing it we will definitely do another one.
Wendy Stapleton co-founded the The Greenwich International Film Festival.
So what inspired this film festival? Why did you decide to do it?
Wendy: Well, I think we saw an opportunity to marry the worlds of film, finance, and philanthropy that exist in Greenwich. And there was a real desire to have a film festival in this community and especially given the fact that independent films, particularly; it’s becoming particularly difficult for them to get made. And Greenwich is known as a financial capital of the world and we thought it would make a lot of sense to bring those worlds together and at the same time we brought in a charity partner, the US fund for UNICEF. So, we are able to do good while entertaining and bringing in the financing that is here.
So what are you most looking forward to in this festival?
Wendy: I am looking forward to everything. The panels are exciting. I am excited about the Opening Night film, which is excellent. All Things Must Pass, the rise and fall of Tower Record with Colin Hanks directing. I am excited about the panels – the Women in Production is going to be excellent. The social impact; we have a Children’s Acting Workshop which is great for the kids. So there is something for everybody. And the films are great. I have seen them and you should come out and see them.
The Greenwich International Film Festival (GIFF) is a non-profit organization that will celebrate film and the visual arts in Greenwich, CT, June 4 through 7, 2015. For more information, visit http://www.greenwichfilm.org/.
-Liam Orly
Photo Credit: Liam Orly
