Director Billy Wirth is walking to the Park City Library for the second Sundance screening of his feature debut, Macarthur Park. He's doing the interview while directing his management and PR teams (who are following in a van), drinking his coffee, and being careful not to slip on the icy roads along the way. Nothing about him reveals the fact that he's had no sleep, that last night was one of the most talked about parties of the festival in honor of his film, that he was up at the crack of dawn to lead filmmaking courses for inner-city schoolchildren, or that he's on the way to his next Macarthur Park screening. His skin glows, his voice is calm and composed. Proving his Directing Wirth
KERRY SHAW ARTICLE
Photo © Julie Brown 2001
Maybe it's his years of training as an actor that have prepared him for the festival hustle. After all, Wirth is one first-time director who brings plenty of feature film experience to the camera -- though not necessarily behind it. He's appeared in more than 20 features, including his breakout role in The Lost Boys, and he's worked for directors such as Frank Roddam, Abel Ferrara and Joel Schumacher. His experiences with these legends inspired him to try his luck at directing. First he made documentaries, then he embarked on his feature directorial debut, Macarthur Park, in competition at the Sundance Film Festival 2001.
The film explores the harsher reality of Los Angeles; it is a portrait of a homeless park community and the men and women who are bonded by crack cocaine addiction. The story revolves around Cody, a "father figure" in the drug community who is one day approached by a man who turns out to be his long lost son. Cody's dilemma is how to become a better role model for his son -- how to escape the cultural borders of his community.
The story of how a young Brown graduate and Hollywood actor made one of the most-talked about films in competition at Sundance actually began with a documentary film Wirth made about the darker side of LA's crack world. He was in the process of making the documentary when he met the girlfriend of Tyrone Atkins. Days later, she handed Wirth a handwritten script, one that Tyrone had handwritten in jail.
"When I first read Tyrone's manuscript, I was an actor," recalls Wirth. "Like many of us, actors and non-actors alike, I was unsure of myself and of my place in the world. I was searching. That's why I was shooting videofootage of the homeless. I was looking for a story." He knew as soon as he read the script that it could be a great film.
"I really didn't think it would amount to much," says Atkins. "I just broke out a pen and started writing."
During the course of filming, Atkins passed in and out of jail a total of three times. Throughout this process, they worked together to rewrite the script. "He was totally supportive throughout the process," says Wirth, despite the fact that Tyrone's original story was "doctored" by a team of screenwriting experts.
So what did Wirth do when he found out that his first feature had been accepted to the Sundance film festival?
In post production on his film, and with an upcoming role in Reunion, Wirth says, "I was actually too busy with other work to really celebrate." Whatever celebrating he missed in New York, he has had been able to regain here; the Macarthur Park party was so well-attended that its bouncer made local headlines for screaming at would-be guests, "Don't even try to get in unless you're a celebrity."
For Wirth, the most rewarding part of the film was seeing Tyrone reunited with is son for the first time in 12 years. "If nothing else had come from the journey, this would have been more than enough."
And at last the walk is over ... When Wirth reaches the library, he is swamped by sales agents, press officers, producers, and well-meaning fans who have lined up in the snow to see Macarthur Park. He talks to everyone who demands his attention, sneaking off to answer the cell phone. And then he's off.
Special Thanks to Kerry Shaw for the use of the article and to Julie Brown for the photo Sundance Film Festival - One To Watch
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