James Mangold moves into commercial production

By Stone Martindale Jan 17, 2008, 2:20 GMT

James Mangold - © Glenn Harris / Photorazzi

James Mangold, director of "Walk the Line" and "3:10 to Yuma" has pursued a path in commercial production.

The helmer for the Oscar-winning "Girl, Interrupted," the Johnny Cash biopic, "Walk the Line" and most recently, the remake of "3:10 to Yuma," is moonlighting with commercial production by signing to Cali outfit Aero Film.

Creativity Online asked Mangold why he did this.

"It's something that I've thought about for a long time being a writer/director. I think some guys who are just directors, you have periods where no scripts are in fruition and you're [fiddling] around and you go, hell, why not direct spots? I think for me because I've always been writing something, there's always been something to do. But I'm fascinated by film language and with storytelling. One of the beautiful things historically about television spots is that they're just incredibly economical exercises in storytelling. Very often, they're more sophisticated cinematically than a lot of what you can do sometimes in a standard, three-act storytelling situation.

So, there's a lot of experimentation and a lot of wonderful technical work that goes on as well. It's stuff that's always really interested me. [In film], you keep moving every thirty seconds until you fill up two hours. To me, that kind of attention to detail is very natural and something I'm very excited about working on."

Mangold described what kinds of projects he might involve himself in:

"I'm really interested in adventurous spots and I don't have a particular [taste]. My resume has varied from Meg Ryan romantic comedies to a John Cusack horror film to Westerns and Robert DeNiro/Sylvester Stallone crime films. The last thing you'd see me doing is telling you that I'm only looking for one kind of spot. I'm not a member of the post-modern crew of my generation that makes self-referential, ironic films. I enjoy all those movies, but I'm much fonder of the classic lines of Hollywood filmmaking. I'm very interested in ways that I can bring that kind of storytelling into the 30-second world.

The thing that's most important to me in filmmaking is the relationship between the camera and the actor. It's an area where I continue to explore ways to push the envelope no matter what genre I'm in. What's unique to me about filmmaking and film acting is that in film, you can literally see right into someone's soul. The special effect, even when you're making a straight drama with no digital special effects and explosions, that I'm trying to achieve is an emotional moment, comic beat or human beat where someone goes, how did they do that? How did they make that human moment happen under all this equipment and all this pressure? How did you make something so fragile as that moment with Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line with Reese or that moment with Russell Crowe?

It's carving out that indescribable human moment, and for me, it's something I'm always searching to do and something that I'd certainly be searching to do in any spot. It's carving out a moment that's a special effect. It's one of those jaw-dropping moments where you go, how did that emotional moment happen? To me, in advertising, some of the most memorable spots we've ever seen are of course the spots that touch us or make us laugh in a way that we want to visit again and again. The emotion in the spot is like a magic trick because it has a repeating value."