BPS 174: Producing Films in Today's Hollywood with Oscar Nominee Chris Moore

Every once in a while I have a conversation on this show that blows
my mind, this episode did just that. Today on the show we have
Oscar Nominated producer Chris Moore. He produced films like Good
Will Hunting, American Pie, Waiting, The Adjustment Bureau, and
Manchester by the Sea. Chris' profile grew from his appearance as
the producer on the early 2000's filmmaker reality show Project:
Greenlight.

I have a short, and I mean short, history with Project: Greenlight.
You can see below.

After graduating from college, Chris Moore moved to Los Angeles
after sometime working in the mailroom of a major agency he got
promoted to literary agent. He championed projects like: The Stoned
Age, PCU, Airheads, Last Action Hero, and My Girl. 

When Chris' agency was acquired by ICM, he left and became an indie
film producer. With some friends, he raised the budget to produce
the indie film Glory Daze, which starred an unknown Matt Damon.
Damon turned down the leading role in favor of paid work on another
paid project but introduced him to his friend Ben Affleck, who
ultimately starred in Glory Daze.

Afterward, Affleck and Damon wrote the screenplay for what would
become the Oscar winning Good Will Hunting, and they asked Chris
help them produce the film that was directed by Gus Van Sant.

Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is twenty years old, and already stands
out in his rough, working-class neighborhood in South Boston. He's
never been to college, except to scrub floors as a janitor at MIT.
Yet he can summon obscure historical references from a photographic
memory, and almost instantly solve math problems that frustrate
Nobel Prize winning professors. The one thing this remarkably
bright, impossibly angry young man can't do - after his latest bar
fight - is talk his way out of a pending jail sentence.

His only hope is Sean McGuire (Robin Williams), a college
professor-turned-therapist with an admiration for Will's emotional
struggles, and a keen understanding of what it's like to fight your
way through life.

Chris and I had a remarkable conversation about how to produce
films in today eco-system. We also discuss what it's like working
in the studio system, some of the issues he has with the system,
how filmmakers are treated, and so much more. This an EPIC 2-hour
conversation full of knowledge and truth bombs so prepare to take
some notes.

Enjoy my conversation with Chris Moore.

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