Moviebiz

P- So after your first hit in the business did you set a production office
in Los Angeles and set up home in Beverly Hills?

E- Bucharest. We bought the biggest studio space we could get so that if we needed Tanks or Harrier Jump Jets or you know if we wanted to rebuild ancient Jerusalem- we had some room.

P- Is it hard to attract Hollywood's biggest stars to Romania?


E- Well, we got Steven Seagal out there. He fuckin' loves it, he thinks he's on Safari. He usually brings between 10 and 20 women with him - what do they call it: entourage.

P- Doesn't that cause any issues on set?

E- Well, it's bit like a circus and I'm the ringmaster. Once he brought an African princess onto "Executive Disruption". She was lovely but what could I say to her, you can't talk about dailies with an African princess.

P- Right. OKAY. So I want to talk about genre.

E- -I don't do French movies. Once had a date take me to Cyrille de Bergerac: I had to piss six times during the film. If you pass water more than once during a motion picture it's a strike-out: I think David Lean said that.

P- But there's more to cinema that just action and fighting?


E- -I'm sorry

P- Don't you ever get fed up of big explosions and actors that can only deliver one line at a time?

E- Actually the Lungren can deliver three or four lines of dialogue without having to go back to the hotel. And I've seen him deliver a monologue in Russian, during a torture sequence!

p- Erwin, I want to press you on this: looking through your catalogue, you've produced 34 films, including the Chinese Burn franchise, Knife Wounds 1-8, The Hand that rocks the blowtorch, the Samurai Tequila trilogy, don't you EVER fancy a change of pace?


E- Erm, you English are cute. Bet you went to Eton huh


P- No, er

E- Anyway, let me tell you this, I have produced 34 flicks and I'm proud of all of them. If you don't get Scarlet Johanssen boning some dude in a jumpsuit you gotta have action. Michael Bay has that written above his door.

P- ....


E- but having said that two years ago I was approached by a new producer who had his own writer attached to a couple of scripts and we decided on a change of direction. We wanted comedy with a dash a romance.

P- And you agreed to produce a film like this?

E- We yes. I'm not a robot you know, I love the classics. Sleepless in Seatle, Jersey Girl, I was blown away. Literally. Anyway so we made sure my normal writer, Mervin Schlemme had input on the first draft and we worked on it and crafted it.

P- And you didn't cast any of your regulars?

E- No, but at one point JC was going to play a Supreme court judge.

P- What Jim Caviezel from The Passion of the Christ?

E- No, Jean Claude. Van dammage.

P- Anyway, we went with a cast of unknowns and by the time we were ready to film it became much more of a ensemble piece - after rehearsal. We had some great sets too but I'm afraid to say our funding collapsed and the money men pulled the plug on the second day of the shoot.

E- What was it going to be called?

P- Inappropriate Ninjas.