Special Episode: John Bailey, ASC on Groundhog Day, Ordinary People, and his past tenure as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

With the passing of director and cinematographer John Bailey, ASC,
we are re-releasing our 2021 interview with him. He discusses his
work on the film, Groundhog Day, and briefly touched on his other
work. The screenplay is the most important part of a film, John
believes. It can be a leap of faith to work with a first time
director, when they don't have a body of work, so a good script is
always a solid starting point. As the DP of Ordinary People, John
noticed the craftsmanship of that particular screenplay, which was
carefully written and structured for several years by screenwriter
Alvin Sargent and first-time director Robert Redford. He knew right
away it would become a meaningful and important film. Both Sargent
and Redford won Academy Awards for their work as screenwriter and
director, respectively, and Ordinary People won the Best Picture
Oscar. Groundhog Day grabbed John immediately as an interesting and
offbeat idea for a film, but no one guessed that it would actually
become part of the film canon and popular culture. To this day,
John is surprised when people tell him how much they like that film
and how much it has touched people. The movie famously had its own
chaos, since star Bill Murray and director Harold Ramis had a very
combative relationship on set. John spent two years as the
president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His
passion was in furthering the Academy Film Archive, the Margaret
Herrick Library, and other AMPAS charitable projects. He became
frustrated with the industry's focus on the Academy's role in the
Oscars and how much punditry went into how to fix the awards
process. John was a veteran cinematographer who has left us with a
huge amount of notable films, including “The Big Chill,” “As Good
as it Gets,” “In the Line of Fire” and “The Accidental Tourist.” He
will be missed. Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com
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