Nominated for an Emmy for the documentary ”Bhutto,” Pamela B. Green has produced main titles and created and advised on internal story sequences and marketing campaigns for films such as the “Bourne” series, “Fast and Furious,” “The Muppets,” and several Marvel comic book franchises. For television and streaming, she has created titles for “Supergirl,” “The Flash,” and “Quantico,” among many others. In 2005, she founded PIC, an entertainment and motion design boutique based in Los Angeles, California. Green recently founded Legwork Collective, whose “media detectives” find and obtain rights to unusual and rarely seen footage, stills, audio, and artifacts for use in feature films, documentaries, TV series, commercials, and other industries outside of entertainment.
“Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” will premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival on May 11.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
PBG: Narrated by Jodie Foster, “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” is a documentary about the first female filmmaker, Alice Guy-Blaché. It explores the heights of fame and financial success she achieved before she was shut out from the very industry she helped create. Guy-Blaché started her career as secretary to Léon Gaumont and, at 23, was inspired to make her first film, “La Fée aux Choux,” or, “The Cabbage Fairy,” one of the first narrative films ever made. After her filmmaking career at Gaumont, [which lasted from 1896-1907], she had a second decade-long career in the U.S., where she owned, built, and ran her own studio in Fort Lee, NJ.
Over the span of her career, she wrote, produced, or directed 1,000 films, including 150 with synchronized sound during the “silent” era.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
PBG: I was first moved to begin production on this film as I was watching AMC and discovered a show called “Reel Models” about pioneering women in cinema, including Alice Guy-Blaché. I didn’t go to film school, but I work in the entertainment industry and I was surprised that I had never heard of her. I asked several people and I realized that they too had never heard of her. I just kept asking, “How could such an important figure in the birth of cinema be unknown?” It became clear I had to tell her story. Having worked on Robert Redford movies doing title sequences, I asked him and he was surprised that he did not know of her. He was the film’s first supporter.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
PBG: My hope is that this film furthers the conversation about how necessary women are to the art of cinema. If people know about Alice — or knew about and continued to remember her contributions to early cinema — how different might the creative and business landscape be? There were many, many women filmmakers in the early years but history has forgotten them. It’s time to change that.
In many ways, the film bridges the gap between past and present, and I hope it will inspire future generations to pick up their tools — whatever they may be — and go for it. There’s an Alice in all of us. If you have a dream and you visualize it, you can do it.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
PBG: Constantly raising funds; securing vintage footage from archives around the world and paying, at times, high fees for their use; restoring Alice Guy-Blaché films; new research that unearthed previously unknown letters, documents, photos, and vintage TV and radio interviews, which allowed Alice herself to tell her story. The race to get all this cleared and finished for Cannes 2018 has added tremendous expense but our donors came through for us.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
PBG: “Be Natural” is completely donation based. Our initial Kickstarter campaign was successful and the result of intense work. That success prompted other donors, who contributed through our fiscal sponsorship by IFP and the Utah Film Festival, which was founded by Geralyn Dreyfous. We received very substantial donations from women supporters, including Jamie Wolf, Regina Scully, Caroleen Feeney, and Diane Stewart, to name just a few.
Since the film was centered around a driving female force in the film industry, I knew it was important for me to get a strong female to narrate. Jodie Foster was a no-brainer. She is an amazing actress, director, and producer. And she speaks perfect French. We needed somebody who understood the language and the culture to help tell the story seamlessly. Beyond Foster, the support from the film community has been instrumental in the making of this film. Catherine Hardwicke was the first in-depth interview I conducted.
What may be the biggest surprise to some people is that Hugh Hefner is the largest single donor to the film. The outpouring of support from Hollywood in general has been overwhelmingly positive and has encouraged me to complete this film.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Cannes?
PBG: Alice began her career in France. It is very important for her to recognized and honored in the country of her birth and where she had her first success. With our film, Cannes is making a tribute to Alice on the 50th anniversary of her death.
I know that now is the time, more than ever, to step forward and bring Alice’s story to light, given the ongoing conversations about women’s rights and how more often than not, women’s stories are pushed to the shadows throughout history
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
PBG: The worst advice was not to do this documentary. The best advice was follow my instincts and keep going.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
PBG: Follow your instincts. Keep going. Never, never, never give up.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
PBG: There are so many films and I like them for so many different reasons that naming one wouldn’t give the many the recognition they deserve.
W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women — and some men — in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?
PBG: When I started working on “Be Natural” more than eight years ago, the landscape was quite different. Everyone contributes by making change where they can. My contribution is telling Alice Guy-Blaché’s story.
