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00:00Hello, everyone.
00:09Very pleased to be here for a conversation on Day of the Fight, a boxing drama written,
00:12directed, and produced by Jack Houston, which Falling Forward Films released in New York
00:17and Los Angeles just yesterday.
00:19This is a story of Irish Mike Flanagan, a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive
00:23journey through his past and present on the day of his first fight since he left prison.
00:27With us today on Zoom, first of all, we have Jack Houston, as well as the film stars Michael
00:35C. Pitt and Nicolette Robinson.
00:39Please come out.
00:41And Lucifer.
00:42Welcome.
00:43Oh, Luce is there.
00:44How great.
00:45Welcome.
00:46Thank you so much for being with us, but before we dive in, let's take a look at a
00:54clip from Day of the Fight.
00:56You still singing?
00:58Yeah, sometimes.
00:59Sometimes?
01:00Yeah.
01:01I don't know if you could actually call it singing, just playing to a bunch of drunken
01:10assholes.
01:11Come on.
01:12Your voice is incredible.
01:15When you sing, the world stops.
01:18To tell you the truth, I was always a little jealous of you and my father when you would
01:22talk about it.
01:25I mean, not jealous of you singing, I love that about you, just jealous, I don't know,
01:34it's like that you both had something to talk about, that you both cared about.
01:43You remember that song you used to sing to Sasha?
01:46What?
01:47The one about the rain?
01:50When I was inside and I couldn't sleep, I would just close my eyes and think about you
01:56singing that song.
01:57You used to put me to sleep.
01:58What?
01:59About our message.
02:00What?
02:01I just wish we could have talked like this when it mattered, you know?
02:21It still matters.
02:25Matters more than you know.
02:37Okay.
02:41I'm sorry I didn't give you more.
02:44I always said that I would and I didn't and I'm never gonna forgive myself for that.
02:50You're always still by me no matter what.
02:53You don't have to, you don't have to say anything.
02:57Just remember the good.
03:00You know, no matter what, like you think of me, I want you to remember that it was good
03:06sometimes.
03:12I know it was.
03:24This is probably not worth anything but just in case.
03:50Really beautiful film, Jack.
03:52I want to ask you first, this is your directorial debut and there's an interesting inspiration
03:57here in a 1951 documentary short from once Stanley Kubrick.
04:02Could you tell me about how you discovered that and what inspired, what about the project
04:06inspired you to sort of build out a narrative project sort of correlated?
04:13During the pandemic, I was sort of doing a bit of a deep dive into films and filmmakers
04:20that have inspired me and sort of taking me on journeys.
04:23And I came across the Stanley Kubrick short documentary.
04:27And it's purely that.
04:29It's about a welterweight fighter, Walter Kardashian, on the day of a prize fight.
04:34It goes through his day and he wins the fight, Madison Square Garden.
04:38That's the end of the doc.
04:40But I just thought that that was such a sort of beautiful narrative to take further, to
04:45develop on.
04:46But what if this day wasn't, he wasn't just fighting in the ring.
04:49He was fighting for everything in his life.
04:51And I'd always, you know, I was lucky enough to get to work with Michael 10 years ago on
04:56Boardwalk Empire, which we had this magic from day one.
05:01It was as much of a friendship as this brotherhood.
05:04And I used to watch him box sandbags in between takes and go off to the boxing gym straight
05:12after work.
05:13And I always had this image of him.
05:15So when I did sort of conceive the story, I wrote every word with Michael in mind because
05:22there was no Irish Mike without Michael Pitt.
05:26And it was pretty much either that or there is no movie.
05:30And then, thank God, some other guys came along.
05:33Nicolette, Joe Pesci, Ron Perlman, Anatole Youssef, Steve Buscemi.
05:38Like we were lucky enough to get all of the incredible talent that sort of came on board
05:44to help flesh this out and turn it into a love story.
05:47But it is.
05:48Michael, what did it mean to you to be approached with something written specifically for you?
05:54And what were your thoughts when you read the script?
05:57So I just wanted to say her name is Luz.
06:01We don't call her Luz.
06:03And we just got off a plane from New York.
06:06And we really appreciate it because it's very difficult to find a dog sitter.
06:11Thank God for L.A.
06:15What was the question?
06:17Just how it felt to know something was written specifically for you by a friend and what your impressions were.
06:23Extremely humbling.
06:27It's difficult to talk about.
06:30I think there's a lot of Jack in the film, though.
06:34I don't know if I'm supposed to say that.
06:37But this was the first time in a long time that I was allowed to just be an actor.
06:49He only wanted me to focus on my performance and I'm going to own the rest of my life.
06:55I love him dearly for it.
06:58And it was a great, great feeling.
07:01Nicolette, what were your first impressions of the script?
07:03What excited you about taking this project on?
07:07When I first read the script, I held my breath the entire time.
07:12And I got to the end and I just wept.
07:15And I couldn't stop thinking about it.
07:17And I think what I loved so much about the way that Jack wrote these characters was
07:24you can just feel the history between the two of them.
07:28I mean, we're in the present day, but they've known each other for years and years and years.
07:33This is a relationship that just doesn't work in our circumstances.
07:39But you can just feel the love and the passion and the pain.
07:45And I just thought that this woman who they had their whole lives ahead of each other
07:52and then because of circumstances they were just stuck and had to sacrifice.
07:58And I think that's something so many people can relate to.
08:01That's something I wanted to talk about.
08:02It is really a master class and you have a few scenes to establish this relationship
08:06and the depths you get to together are really beautiful.
08:09Do you want to talk about working through that relationship and finding that
08:12and bringing that sense of depth and authenticity to that dynamic?
08:19Well, I mean, Jack knew this from the beginning.
08:21He was like, you guys are going to really click.
08:25He just knew.
08:27And I think in an indie film you have no time.
08:31We just showed up.
08:32I showed up one day and met Luz and then met Michael.
08:35And so we had a lot of FaceTimes when we weren't on set.
08:40But, I mean, Michael is one of the greatest actors I've ever worked with.
08:44And so he just made it so easy to just lock in.
08:49Yeah, I mean, it's just a testament of being a pro and being a true professional.
08:57I think that what seemed was our first day we met
09:05and we had to explore these things with this very long past.
09:10And it just worked.
09:14It just worked.
09:15I don't know how or why, but I think it's a testament to Nicolette and to Jack.
09:23It just worked.
09:27Sorry, I wish I had something.
09:30Like we've said, you are a boxer.
09:32What was the process of training?
09:34I'm not a boxer, so be careful because there are real boxers out there.
09:38But he's more of a boxer than probably most of us in this room.
09:43That's for sure.
09:44Well, how did you prepare for the parts and specifically this match,
09:48this climactic match at the end?
09:52I made a suggestion to Jack because we were a smaller production.
09:57And I think that it's best when you exploit the things
10:05that separate you from other productions.
10:09So my idea was I said to Jack, put the fight at the end of the movie.
10:17They won't worry whether or not I get hurt then.
10:23And we'll make contact.
10:26We'll fight.
10:28And we might need to do that because on a bigger production,
10:33they have more time.
10:35They have stunts and all these things.
10:38And so he was like, great.
10:45But Mike, we have to say we had a day and a half.
10:49We literally pursued the entire fight scene.
10:53We had the great honor of having the maestro Martin Scorsese
10:59introduce the film a while back on our first screening in New York.
11:04And when we told him we had a day and a half,
11:07he almost fell off his chair.
11:09He was blown away by it.
11:11He was such a supporter of the film.
11:13And he also knew what it takes to make something like this
11:18in such a short space of time.
11:20Having an actor so dedicated like Michael,
11:24you put him in the ring and we have multiple cameras.
11:27There's a moment where you say, you can't ask me any questions.
11:29You just have to trust me.
11:31This entire film was made with trust and it was made with love.
11:35Every single person who came, they came and they gave their full being.
11:41It was such a beautiful experience.
11:43I heard the amazing Sean Baker talking recently and he was saying,
11:48what's happened to the adult stories, the human stories?
11:52I grew up loving those kind of films.
11:57Because it doesn't have to be complex in the idea
12:03because the human condition is so complex.
12:06And everything that happens on this screen,
12:10I count it to like thoroughbreds.
12:13Like Mike was saying, you want to hand the part over to these guys
12:18and then you want to open the gates and just watch them explode out of the gates.
12:22And I don't want to get in the way of that.
12:24I want to exist within that.
12:26And I love to be moved in the theatre.
12:30I love to be moved in cinema.
12:32And I was so lucky to get these performances
12:36from the most beautiful, kind souls and spirits like Nicolette and Michael.
12:41It's such an honour for me that my first film I got to play with,
12:47which I consider some of the greatest actors that exist right now in our generation.
12:52So thank you for that.
12:54Yeah.
12:56One of the many incredible things about this film
13:00is the participation and involvement of one Joe Pesci,
13:04who I know you connected with on The Irishman.
13:06And he's just got a couple scenes, but they're extraordinary.
13:09So I'd love to hear about that from your perspective, Michael,
13:12and also for you, Jack,
13:14about getting him on board also as an executive producer
13:16and what it was like to have him.
13:21Joe Pesci was really intense.
13:24And he's very specific about when he could work
13:32and for how long he could work.
13:38So I think one of the first scenes,
13:40which is maybe the climax to my character,
13:46it was two pages of dialogue, a monologue.
13:50It was like the second day or something.
13:53And I begged Jack, I said,
13:55Jack, please, please, it's hard enough.
13:58And that's when Pesci could work.
14:01And so we went in that day.
14:05Jack came up and he was like,
14:08Are you right? Are you okay? Are you okay?
14:10I was like, I think I'm okay. Stop asking me if I'm okay.
14:13I was like, everything's fine. You're going to be brilliant.
14:16I'm like, okay, okay.
14:19And Pesci just looked at me and was like,
14:24Don't fuck this up.
14:28I should mention, not only is he acting...
14:31Which actually was, you know, it's simple,
14:34but it's kind of good advice.
14:37I was going to say, in addition to acting like you,
14:40he actually sings for the movie, which is kind of wild as well.
14:43So maybe that's something to highlight, Jack.
14:45That was actually how I sort of came up with the character.
14:52When my grandmother was suffering from early dementia,
14:56it was a heartbreaking experience
14:58because you'd sometimes go into the room
15:00and you wouldn't remember certain things, or you.
15:03And then you'd play some music and she'd start singing along
15:07and it would bring this moment of clarity
15:09and she'd look you in the eyes and everything would come back.
15:12And I went to a friend's house and he said,
15:18Listen to this.
15:19He goes, I'll give you a hundred parts
15:21if you can tell me who's singing.
15:23And I listened and I was like, who is it?
15:25And he goes, he's an Oscar winning actor.
15:27And after a bit, I was like, who is he?
15:30He goes, it's Joe Pesci.
15:32And that stuck with me in such a way
15:36that when I thought about this character,
15:38we had to cast somebody who had such a history
15:42not only as an actor, but something that precedes them.
15:45Because when Mikey is describing his father,
15:48he has this power, he has this ability,
15:50this sort of overwhelming ability
15:52that's sort of taking control of his life.
15:54And I thought if you're going to use an actor,
15:57you need an actor that their reputation precedes them.
16:00Because what he's going to do in this scene
16:02is he's not going to speak,
16:04but at the end of it, he's going to sing.
16:06And that's what brings him back into it.
16:09And Joe was actually the person who gave me the idea
16:13to include him in the final scene as the taxi,
16:16which is almost like an angel going through the River Styx.
16:19Did it really happen?
16:21That he should be in his head
16:23and start seeing visions of his father.
16:25So getting Joe Pesci was like landing the white whales.
16:29It was the greatest moment of our life.
16:31And I do want to say,
16:35I don't think another person
16:37could have pulled that off but Jack Houston.
16:39I mean, it's one of the things
16:41where I look at my friend and my brother,
16:44I look at him and I just go,
16:47how the hell are you doing that?
16:52I just wanted to say that.
16:56Please, please, give it up.
16:58We're short on time, but I just wanted to ask everybody,
17:01what do you hope people will take away
17:03to see Day of the Fight in full?
17:10I hope it makes them feel.
17:15It made me feel and I hope it makes them feel.
17:21I agree.
17:22Seriously, seriously.
17:25And Jack said it better when he was talking about
17:27where are the films where we feel things?
17:34It's extremely hard for me to watch this film
17:37and that's never really happened to me.
17:41So I hope that's a good thing.
17:43I think so, yeah.
17:49I think with any art that I try to approach,
17:54I hope that people who watch it
17:56can see some of themselves within it.
17:58And I think that the script alone,
18:01when I first read it,
18:02I saw so much of myself within it.
18:05And I hope that we can do justice to the storytelling
18:08so that people can see some of themselves.
18:14Jack, for you.
18:18I mean, these guys said it best.
18:21I love film.
18:23I love that we're able to tell these stories.
18:27And we're at a bit of a crossroads in cinema right now.
18:32And these films won't be around much longer
18:35if we don't show up for them and support them.
18:38And I really implore people
18:43to support films, independent cinema.
18:47And I take away this isn't a boxing film.
18:52It's a film about a boxer.
18:53It's a human story.
18:55It's about the human condition.
18:57It's something for everybody.
18:59And it's a love story.
19:02So thank you.
19:03Well said.
19:05There's so much more I could ask about this wonderful film,
19:07but that's unfortunately all the time we have.
19:09Please do check out Day of the Fight and Spread the Word.
19:12It's in select theaters now
19:13and will subsequently be expanding nationwide.
19:16Please give a big hand to our esteemed guest,
19:19Jack Houston, Michael C. Pitt, Nicolette Robinson.
19:22Thank you so much.