First time director scores big

By Eric Donovan
Collegian Staff
October 3, 2007

Michael Clayton premiered Sept. 26 in Philadelphia via a special screening at the Ritz at the Bourse. But, unlike most other advanced screenings that occur in Philly, Tony Gilroy, director of the film, was present at the screening and was available afterwards for a short, yet information-filled, question and answer session.

Gilroy, who has no previous directing credits to date, has been a writer in the business for years. He has been nominated for several awards for his writing and was voted as number 23 on Entertainment Weekly’s “100 Stars We Love Right Now List” for his directorial efforts on Michael Clayton.

Some of his earlier works include the Olympic skating classic The Cutting Edge and recent box-office smashes including the adaptation of the “Jason Bourne” series starring Matt Damon, for which he was the only writer to stay on for all three installments.

However, it was his own writing that led to his directorial debut.

“This [Michael Clayton] was not a script I wanted to turn over to anyone else,” said Gilroy about his motives in making his first motion picture.

Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack, is the story of a high-powered attorney, whose primary job can be described by one word: Fixer. Clayton’s job is to make cases turn in favor of his client’s best interests. He is extremely successful at this, until he is the one that needs to be fixed.

“I was in love with the idea that this character knew he was in too late,” said Gilroy, referring to the sticky situation his character becomes involved in.

What ensues throughout the film is reminiscent of a Bourne film, if Bourne were an attorney. However, this smart legal drama has enough suspense and plot development to keep audiences waiting for the next step.

“It was striking how unexplored this back area [of law in New York City] was. The idea of a fixer was an idea I’d been playing around with for years,” Gilroy told the audience.

As for his experience for the first time behind the camera, the director seemed unscathed by the process, yet all the more appreciative of the work of all the crewmembers.

“You want to embrace [filmmaking] in a fundamental way…I was unprepared…it is a journey where you go through all these villages [of production],” said Gilroy.

Even though the experience was quite overwhelming, Gilroy still expressed a love for filmmaking, saying it is great “to be obsessed about one thing for a long period of time,” something many young filmmakers can take to heart.

As for what’s next for the director, he is in the pre-production phase as a writer on State of Play, starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Although he has made no directorial commitments as of yet, he vows to get behind the camera very soon.

donovane1@lasalle.edu