BPS 191: Swingers, Scream & Rudy - The Art of Producing with Cary Woods

Today on the show we have legendary film producer Cary
Woods. 

Cary Woods is a film producer best known for producing worldwide
blockbusters such as Scream and Godzilla, the beloved independent
films Kids, Cop Land, and Gummo, and modern classics like Rudy and
Swingers.

Woods is also responsible for producing the breakthrough features
of such notable directors as James Mangold, Doug Liman, M. Night
Shyamalan, Alexander Payne, Harmony Korine, and Larry Clark, as
well as the screenwriting debuts of Jon Favreau, Kevin Williamson,
and Scott Rosenberg.

Woods' filmography features a lineup of A-List actors, including:
Robert Downey, Jr., Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Marisa
Tomei, Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel, Mike Myers, Laura Dern,
Heather Graham, Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Drew Barrymore, Matthew
Broderick, Courteney Cox, Timothy Hutton, Andy Garcia, Neve
Campbell, Sean Astin, Michael Rapaport, Jean Reno, and Steve
Buscemi.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Woods graduated from the USC Gould
School of Law before beginning his career at the William Morris
Agency (now WME). As an agent, Woods represented - and in many
cases introduced audiences to - the likes of Gus Van Sant, Uma
Thurman, Jennifer Connelly, Milla Jovovich, Charlie Sheen, Matt
Dillon, Todd Solondz, and most prominently, Gregory Peck.

At WMA, Woods also represented many of the industry's most
successful stand-up comedians including Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice
Clay, Gilbert Gottfried, Sandra Bernhard, Tommy Davidson, and
Jackie Mason.

After developing the Indie favorites Heathers and Drugstore Cowboy
as an agent, Woods accepted a position at Sony Pictures
Entertainment (the parent company of Columbia Pictures and TriStar
Pictures) as a Vice President - Office of the Chairman, reporting
directly to Peter Guber. Woods later segued to a production deal at
Sony, resulting in the release of a succession of iconic films,
including So I Married An Axe Murderer, Rudy, Only You, and
Threesome.

After starting his own production company - Independent Pictures -
the explosive release of the 1995 cultural phenomenon Kids
(starring then-newcomers Rosario Dawson and Chloe Sevigny) began a
streak of culturally significant, critically-acclaimed independent
films produced by Woods under his banner.

The next few years saw the releases of Citizen Ruth (the first film
from future two-time Oscar winner Alexander Payne), Beautiful Girls
(which introduced American audiences to Natalie Portman), and
Swingers (springboarding Vince Vaughn to comedy
mega-stardom).

His 1996 film Scream (the most successful film of "Master of
Horror" Wes Craven's career) marked a turning point for the entire
genre, grossing over $170 million and setting a box office record
that would stand for 22 years. The film instantly and
single-handedly pivoted horror toward postmodernism, spawning a
massive billion-dollar franchise (consisting of successful sequels,
a TV series, toys, and Halloween costumes), as well as inspiring
countless knock-offs in the years since.

Gummo - the directorial debut of Kids' screenwriter Harmony Korine
- received the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1997 Venice Film Festival.
Bernando Bertolucci, the famed director of Last Tango in Paris,
praised the film, calling it "The one revolutionary film of the
late 20th century."

In 1998, the first US-produced entry of the iconic Godzilla film
franchise would become Woods' and Independent Pictures' single
highest-grossing film, earning nearly $400 million.

Woods would go on to serve as co-Chairman, and Chief Creative
Officer of Plum TV, in which he was a founding partner.
Broadcasting in the nation's most affluent markets (i.e. Aspen, the
Hamptons, Miami Beach), the luxury lifestyle network would go on to
earn eight Emmy Awards.

Enjoy my conversation with Cary Woods.

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