- 10/21/2014
Drama (2007) 70 minutes ~ Color
A documentary video crew goes in search of famed and missing filmmaker Lucas James Booth... Lucas James Booth vanished in 1974.
Director: Steven James Creazzo
Writer: Steven James Creazzo
Stars: Wes Craven, Vincent Creazzo and Ronnie Petricevich
A documentary video crew goes in search of famed and missing filmmaker Lucas James Booth... Lucas James Booth vanished in 1974.
Director: Steven James Creazzo
Writer: Steven James Creazzo
Stars: Wes Craven, Vincent Creazzo and Ronnie Petricevich
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:01:30I'm Jeremiah Booth. I don't know why I'm... I don't do this. I don't like you guys. I
00:01:46don't like press. I don't do this. You were like the first film student that ever showed
00:01:51any type of interest in my father. So that's... So we'll see where this goes, I guess. I was
00:01:58very surprised. Nobody knows. You're the first guy that ever showed any kind of interest
00:02:02in my father. So... Can you talk a little bit about your dad? He was born in Prattsville.
00:02:11He was born in Prattsville. Came to Staten Island. Started making films, I guess. Started
00:02:19making films and stuff like that, and then he died. And I didn't really know him that
00:02:24well. I'm George Stephanopoulos. No, I'm Wes Craven. Comedian, huh? Yeah. It's a pleasure
00:02:37to meet you. There was a quote made by a filmmaker back in the 70s named Lucas Booth. The quote
00:02:44about making movies is like an art. Do you believe in that? Well, I think it is. It's
00:02:49many things. I mean, it certainly is a craft, too, and there's a tremendous amount of very,
00:02:54very artistic skills that are involved, you know, from carpentry and plasters on up to
00:02:59everybody else. So I think there is a great deal of really fine craft in it. And then,
00:03:03you know, that sort of ineffable part where you're just sort of going by your gut instinct
00:03:07is, I think, some form of art. I mean, you know, I think it's always dangerous to call
00:03:11yourself an artist. Yeah. For all I know, I'm just... You know, I like to think of myself
00:03:15as a filmmaker and sort of a workman, but in many ways it seems to be the American art
00:03:20form of this, you know, of the late century. So I'm very proud to be in it. We're doing
00:03:24a documentary on a gentleman that was a filmmaker back in the 70s. His name was Lucas Booth.
00:03:28Does he sound familiar to you? No. Have you ever heard of the movie called The Fourth
00:03:32Dimension? Yes. Have you seen it before? I don't know. I'm not sure. The Fourth Dimension
00:03:37was a movie that was made by Lucas Booth. He was back in 74. He made this movie, and
00:03:42then he disappeared off the face of the earth. No one knows what happened. Does this story
00:03:45sound familiar to you? Yes, it does. Do you remember reading about it in the paper? It
00:03:48was a big thing. Recently? No, it was back in 74. I know, but reading about it recently?
00:03:53Yeah, yeah, they're revising it now. That's why we're doing a documentary on his life
00:03:56and everything, and they're actually making a movie about it. There's also another horror
00:03:59movie called No Place Like Home. Does that sound familiar to you? Yeah, it does. He started
00:04:02making his way up to the top, and then he just disappeared. Where do you make these
00:04:05movies? Staten Island, Pridesville. Yeah, yeah. Maybe the Mafia got him. We're doing
00:04:11a documentary on a gentleman by the name of Lucas Booth, who... Have you ever heard of
00:04:15the movie he made called The Fourth Dimension? Yes. Yeah, that was it. Do you remember seeing
00:04:21the movie? I do not. I do not. I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it. He was actually
00:04:25doing really well. He was making it to the big times, and out of nowhere, no one knows
00:04:30what happened to him. What do you think happened to him? That's a good question. Maybe one
00:04:33of his own monsters got him. Is he showing at the... Well, this is going back a while
00:04:38ago, and more or less. Are they reissuing the film, I guess, is what I'm asking. It's
00:04:41not part of the festival, though. No, no. There's a lost screen play out that they're
00:04:45looking for, too. He also made a movie called No Place Like Home. Does that sound familiar
00:04:49to you? No, I'm sorry. It doesn't. It was a horror film back... I believe that's back
00:04:53in 71. Movies are like art. Well, I think it is an art form, or it can be an art form.
00:04:59I guess it represents the vision of the individual filmmaker. Exactly. As much as anything else.
00:05:04So this guy, this person is still... Lucas Booth is still around, then? They think so.
00:05:08His body wasn't found. They don't know what happened to him. It was very strange how he
00:05:11did the interview on L.A. Talk Show. How old was that? This was back in 74, the time
00:05:15of the Fourth Dimension. He wrote the movie. It showed in movie theaters. It made it pretty
00:05:20big. It was up for a couple of awards, and completely disappeared. Never showed up for
00:05:24the awards. No one knows what happened to him. People still think that he's alive today,
00:05:29and some people think that he's dead. Hiding out? Possibly. That's intriguing. Be interesting
00:05:33to find out. Another Elvis, huh? Maybe. Maybe. Lucas Booth. No. Have you ever heard of the
00:05:40movie called No Place Like Home? Yeah. It's basically something like a twist, something
00:05:45like what you have. It's a twisted horror movie. Ah, cool. Do you remember seeing it?
00:05:50I don't think I've seen it, but it sounds familiar. What about the Fourth Dimension?
00:05:53Yeah. That was one of his movies, too. But he disappeared, and no one knows what happened
00:05:59to him after he made that movie. It actually made it to the big screen, and No Place Like
00:06:03Home was a low budget, never made it anywhere. But the Fourth Dimension made it big, and
00:06:07he just disappeared when it came out. Did he resurface? Is he at the Hamptons anymore?
00:06:11Nobody knows. Nobody knows. Some people have actually said that he is. You haven't seen
00:06:15him, have you? I haven't heard that rumor. I don't know. I'll keep my ear to the ground.
00:06:18Maybe you've heard of one of his other movies called No Place Like Home. Yeah, that sounds
00:06:22familiar. Yeah. He disappeared. Some people actually think he's still alive. Some people
00:06:27think that he's in hiding. What do you think happened? Since I don't know. I think it's
00:06:30like they portray the character Jim Morrison. They say he faked his own death so that people
00:06:35would leave him alone. Maybe he just had too much pressure, and he faked his own death.
00:06:39Okay. We're doing a documentary on some filmmakers who have disappeared, and some of them have
00:06:45even died. Have you heard of Stanley Kubrick? Yeah. I'm sure you've heard about what happened
00:06:49to him. Yeah. Okay. Have you ever heard of the filmmaker Lucas Booth? Lucas Booth? It
00:06:55didn't ring a bell. He was back in the 70s some time ago. Oh, okay. What happened to
00:07:00him was he was a filmmaker back in the 70s. He made a movie called The Fourth Dimension.
00:07:04Does that sound familiar to you? No, not particularly. How about the movie? There's
00:07:09another movie he made, which is his first movie ever. It was called No Place Like Home.
00:07:12Have you ever heard of that one? No. What's your opinion on it? There's a comment that
00:07:16Mr. Lucas Booth made. He said, making movies is like an art. Do you have a comment for
00:07:21that, or what's your opinion? How do you feel about that? Yeah, it's completely an art.
00:07:23Actually, I think it's all arts put together, and that's why I like doing it. I was involved
00:07:28in theater for about four years in high school. I went to a school of the arts. I like drawing.
00:07:34I kind of mess around with making music. I think the combination of all that is through
00:07:41visual and music art is film. Anyone who says that it's not, I mean, they're full of shit.
00:07:47How are you doing? We're doing a documentary on filmmakers that have died, and some have
00:07:52disappeared off the face of the earth. I'm sure you've heard of some filmmakers, being
00:07:56that you're a film student. Stanley Kubrick, are you familiar with him? Yes. And the incident
00:08:01that happened? No, I'm not. That he's no longer with us? No, that he died, yes. Are
00:08:07you a big fan of Stanley Kubrick? Actually, he's one of my favorites. I don't like his
00:08:10movies, but I like him as a person. What are the latest movies that you've seen by him?
00:08:15I didn't see Eyes Wide Shut. I guess maybe Clockwork Orange was the last movie he did
00:08:19I might have seen. Have you heard of another filmmaker who disappeared? His name was Lucas
00:08:24Booth. Does that sound familiar to you? Not at all. He was a filmmaker back in the 70s
00:08:28that disappeared, probably around 75. He made a movie called The Fourth Dimension.
00:08:32Does that sound familiar? Not at all. What do you mean, like an art? How is it not an
00:08:35art? Well, you believe in what his statement was, right? I believe it's an art that's in
00:08:40its infancy, in the same way that when music first started, it was Gregorian chants. And
00:08:47when philosophy first started, there were the pre-Socratics, and then there were Socrates,
00:08:51you know? Film, in the same way, is completely in its infancy. In the first, it's barely
00:08:56an infant. I agree. I don't know how else to put it, but... No, no, that was very well
00:09:01put. I can't possibly say why it wouldn't be an art. A lot of people don't necessarily
00:09:05think of it as an art, which is, you know... I agree, I agree. Are you currently working
00:09:10on anything? Yes, I am. I'm editing old projects and in pre-production for new projects. That's
00:09:16great, that's great. Well, we wish you the best of luck, and I thank you. You have my
00:09:19permission to use this. Thank you. I mean, what are you going to do, though? Everybody
00:09:23dies, right? He made a movie called The Fourth Dimension. Does that sound familiar? Yeah,
00:09:27I think I've seen it. The box, that is. I haven't seen the film, though. He made another
00:09:31movie called No Place Like Home. Does that sound familiar to you? No. Did you say he
00:09:34disappeared? Yeah, he disappeared. No one knows what happened to him. They can't find
00:09:38his body. Do you have any idea what happened to him? No. I don't have him in my house or
00:09:44nothing. They actually have seen him. Like Elvis. Right, sure. Shopping in the 7-Elevens
00:09:48and stuff like that. Sure, like Tupac, too, right? How do you feel about that? Do you
00:09:52believe what he says? He's saying it's like an art, not that it is an art. It's like an
00:09:57art. What is? Filmmaking is like an art. I'd say filmmaking is an art. Did you ever hear
00:10:02of a story such as that? No, it's the first I've heard of it. He attended CSI. He was
00:10:06pretty popular around the campus, too. He was a very popular guy, and we do a student
00:10:10interview on most people around here, seeing if they went to school with him or they know
00:10:14anything about him, and you say you've never heard of him or any of his pictures. No, I
00:10:18haven't. Maybe you've heard of one of his movies called The Fourth Dimension. Does that
00:10:21sound familiar to you? Yes, it does. How does it sound familiar to you? Do you remember
00:10:27if it being a horror movie? It sounds like one of those thrillers. Some people said that
00:10:34he's in hiding because he owed a lot of money, and there was, you could say, some bad people
00:10:39after him. Do you believe that's true? That's certainly a possibility. I'd probably go into
00:10:44hiding if some people were, you know, the mob was after me or something. I'd probably
00:10:51find a little place to tuck and hide. Well, maybe you can help us join the crusade of
00:10:54trying to find Mr. Lucas Booth, all right? If I run into him, I'll let you know. You
00:10:58got it. Take care. It was a pleasure meeting you. He might be alive today. If we dig and
00:11:04fight for his existence, we might probably come across a little bit about him somehow
00:11:09because it's always difficult to substantiate between facts and fiction. Anybody who disappears
00:11:17on this planet have to be identified, either death or anything of that sort, being imprisoned
00:11:23or incarcerated. And if a person is not existing and there's no documentation about his whereabouts,
00:11:28then I believe he's still existing because there's people who have records to indicate
00:11:32that they are dead. And if somebody is not alive and there's no documentation, then it
00:11:38might be a problem for the general public because we all can disappear without anything
00:11:43about this.
00:11:45I agree. Does it sound familiar to you?
00:11:47A little bit.
00:11:49You don't remember anything of it? No? Okay.
00:11:51He had another, one of his first movies ever made was called No Place Like Home. Does that sound familiar?
00:11:55That sounds familiar.
00:11:57Have you ever seen it?
00:11:58I think I have.
00:11:59Did you ever hear the story of what happened to Lucas Booth?
00:12:01I read it in the paper that he was missing, but I never heard what happened after that.
00:12:06Yeah, it was pretty much publicized at the time of his disappearance, but no one knows
00:12:10what happened to him. They're not sure if he just disappeared off the face of the earth
00:12:13or he's in hiding. Do you know where he might be?
00:12:15I have no clue.
00:12:16Do you think he might still be alive?
00:12:18Probably. Probably.
00:12:20I went to school here at CSI, which at the time was a community college for the first
00:12:27two years, and the second two years was Richmond College in the early 70s to the mid-70s.
00:12:34Oh, this campus wasn't around at that time. It was over by the Sunnyside campus, I believe. Correct?
00:12:39That's correct.
00:12:41Basically, he was a filmmaker back in the 70s.
00:12:44I majored in film. If I saw a picture of him, I'd probably say, well, that's him.
00:12:51But I don't know. To recall from memory, it's been too long.
00:12:56Have you ever heard the film that he created that was called The Fourth Dimension?
00:13:00No.
00:13:01What do you think? Do you think he's still alive or still around? He's existing?
00:13:04I wouldn't know.
00:13:06That would be one of the other mysteries of the world, I guess.
00:13:09If they can't find him or whatever, then maybe he just disappeared.
00:13:14Like he went someplace on vacation or something. I don't know.
00:13:26Hey, Tom.
00:13:27Hey.
00:13:28Good to see you.
00:13:30How are you doing?
00:13:31Thanks very much.
00:13:32Thanks for allowing me to interview you.
00:13:35Do you want to walk?
00:13:36Sure. Let's just take a walk. Come on around.
00:13:38Welcome to Fort Clinton.
00:13:40Yeah. This is from the Revolutionary War, you know.
00:13:43Really?
00:13:44General Clinton took over after how? Had this thing built.
00:13:47You know that we used to find little balls.
00:13:51There was a kid over here. The kegs had broken open. Must get shot.
00:13:54I'm serious.
00:13:55Really?
00:13:56Yeah, it's an old British fort here. Doesn't look like a British fort now.
00:13:58But if it does, they lost.
00:14:00Take a look at this place.
00:14:03So, what can you tell me about Lucas Booth?
00:14:05Lucas. My younger brother, Lucas.
00:14:08Well, we were very young, you know. He was born.
00:14:13Turns out that...
00:14:15How old were you?
00:14:16I'm about five or six years older than Lucas.
00:14:18And it was different having a younger brother because I was the firstborn, you know.
00:14:25At first, I was jealous of Lucas, you know.
00:14:27Why? Why so?
00:14:29I didn't get all the presents. That's what happens when you're the oldest.
00:14:32You're not the oldest in your family. I can tell right now by that question.
00:14:34Because if you were the oldest in your family, you know that when the other one comes along,
00:14:38well, somehow the light goes off you and on to them.
00:14:42Worse, my parents even kept him. That really kind of surprised me.
00:14:46Did you write like he did?
00:14:48Well, not when I was six years of age.
00:14:49No, you know, as you got older.
00:14:50Oh, no, no, no. Lucas... Actually, we were kids.
00:14:53We used to play in the woods all the time. A lot of woods around here.
00:14:57Streams and things. It was great.
00:15:00You know, my life kind of went another way. I was older than Luke.
00:15:04So you weren't involved when he started making films?
00:15:06No. Oh, no. No. Long before that.
00:15:08When he was in high school, he started writing things, you know.
00:15:12Truth be told, he kind of changed then, you know.
00:15:15What do you mean?
00:15:16Well, he became very distant. He would... I don't know.
00:15:20He was kind of hanging in his room a lot. He was kind of solitary.
00:15:24I would say that in a way, we kind of grew apart then.
00:15:27Later in life, we really grew apart.
00:15:30What do you mean by that?
00:15:31He became like a selfish bastard. Pardon my French.
00:15:34He wasn't the Lucas I knew. No, he wasn't the Luke I knew as a kid.
00:15:38He was different. He got into this film thing. I'm sorry.
00:15:41No, go ahead. Go ahead.
00:15:42He got into this film thing. He made a couple of local films.
00:15:46He had all the people in it. I even played a part in one of them.
00:15:49I wasn't very good. And... I don't know.
00:15:52What about Fourth Dimension? You weren't involved with Fourth Dimension?
00:15:55No, I wasn't. No, I wasn't even involved.
00:15:58Lucas and I kind of grew apart. Honestly, I'm telling you the truth.
00:16:01Watch your step. Don't step on that crap over there.
00:16:03Yeah, we... we grew apart. And I'm sorry about that in many ways.
00:16:08He's my younger brother, you know.
00:16:10Of course, when he died at a young age, it was a shock to mom and family.
00:16:14So you believe he's dead?
00:16:16Oh, yeah. Lucas is dead. There's no question about it. Why is it?
00:16:19Well, there are some people... You know, there are people in the industry
00:16:21who think that because his body was never found, that he vanished
00:16:24and he's still around. He's just...
00:16:27I don't think so. I don't think my mom believes that either.
00:16:30God bless her soul. No. No, we think Lucas is dead.
00:16:34It's a shame because he was doing a lot of work.
00:16:38Although, quite frankly, I didn't really get it.
00:16:42A lot of the stuff he wrote didn't make that much sense to me.
00:16:45And quite frankly, I think a lot of it was overblown.
00:16:47And I'll tell you something else, too.
00:16:49All these great stories he wrote, a lot of them I don't think were really his.
00:16:52What do you mean?
00:16:54I think he listed a lot of other people's ideas.
00:16:56He could write. I could see that.
00:16:58But I'm not so sure those were really his ideas.
00:17:00A lot of that stuff.
00:17:02You're saying he had help with...
00:17:04Well, I wouldn't say he had help.
00:17:06I'd just say his creative juices weren't all that original.
00:17:08That's what I mean.
00:17:10Ah, Lucas is a funny sort.
00:17:12I remember he'd come over for Thanksgiving and Christmas
00:17:15and would sit around there and everything.
00:17:17But he was distant.
00:17:19And, of course, he kind of had a couple of fights and blew up.
00:17:22Didn't see him after that much.
00:17:24Read about him a lot in the newspapers and that's about it.
00:17:26No, I'm sorry.
00:17:28What about, I mean, some people...
00:17:30Some people claim that there might be a lost script that he wrote
00:17:35that, I don't know, that's possible.
00:17:38That he never got a chance to make it.
00:17:40That he died or disappeared.
00:17:42Whichever it is true that it's still floating around.
00:17:44Some people claim that if they find it,
00:17:46it might be like finding this holy grail in the film industry.
00:17:48Really?
00:17:51Lost script, you say?
00:17:53You didn't know anything about it?
00:17:55No, I didn't know anything about it.
00:17:57I don't know.
00:17:59We have a lot of his stuff around, you know.
00:18:01When he died, the family just took the stuff.
00:18:03We have it all over the place.
00:18:05I never heard of a lost script.
00:18:07What was the name of it?
00:18:09I don't know.
00:18:11Nobody really knows.
00:18:13I haven't got too much information about it.
00:18:15Well, it strikes me as kind of strange.
00:18:17Here you've got a rumor about a script
00:18:19Well, yeah, I mean, like I said,
00:18:21some people speculate that the script is around.
00:18:23Some people speculate that he's been hiding
00:18:25because he doesn't like the industry.
00:18:27He doesn't like the way the industry is going.
00:18:29He's been hiding an awful long time, don't you think?
00:18:31Yeah, I don't know.
00:18:33It's a shame.
00:18:35He lost everything, you know, as far as I can see.
00:18:37He lost his soul.
00:18:39Nah, when Lucas took up this writing thing,
00:18:41like a demon possessed him.
00:18:43He was different.
00:18:45He was lonely.
00:18:47I don't know.
00:18:49It kind of upset me to see that happen.
00:18:51See this acting thing, this writing crap
00:18:53and what do you call it about.
00:18:55Changed his whole character.
00:18:57I don't know.
00:18:59I guess it's their business, but quite frankly,
00:19:01you want my opinion?
00:19:03No, I don't really think he should have it.
00:19:05Look at this goddamn place, will you?
00:19:07Look at these wrecks.
00:19:09Beautiful view.
00:19:11I feel like I'm one of the wrecks here.
00:19:13You've got a beautiful view.
00:19:16Look at those buildings over there.
00:19:18Would you like to live with this view?
00:19:20I guess I wouldn't.
00:19:22I don't think you would either.
00:19:24Although when I think about it,
00:19:26years ago this place was beautiful.
00:19:28Oh man, you have no idea what it was like.
00:19:30Times I guess change, huh?
00:19:32Right over here, see that bridge?
00:19:34Did you know that right over there
00:19:36there's something to do with the atomic bomb?
00:19:38I'm serious.
00:19:40Back in the late 30s,
00:19:42there was this guy, he owned a mine,
00:19:44in the Belgian Congo.
00:19:46He was in England, talking to some fellow friend of his.
00:19:48He was a scientist.
00:19:50The scientist told him,
00:19:52this pitchblende you have there
00:19:54is the basis of uranium.
00:19:56He said this pitchblende you have there
00:19:58might be very important in the coming war.
00:20:00So the fellow shipped the pitchblende
00:20:02from the Belgian Congo to Lisbon
00:20:04and then it was transshipped down here to Stapleton.
00:20:06Did you know what a Stapleton was?
00:20:08A Freeport?
00:20:10There were two of them in the Western world,
00:20:12this was a Freeport.
00:20:14In fact, my father remembers when the barges came in
00:20:16with that pitchblende on it.
00:20:18They put it in 55-gallon drums,
00:20:20they stored it here.
00:20:22Actually, there's residual radioactivity from it.
00:20:24In fact, in 1942,
00:20:26when they decided to make the atomic bomb,
00:20:28nobody had any pitchblende, they had no uranium.
00:20:30A guy from the State Department calls up,
00:20:32he says, where can we find this stuff?
00:20:34He says on Staten Island, they got it over here.
00:20:36That's a fact, you go over there with a Geiger counter,
00:20:38that place is alive.
00:20:41You sure know a lot of information.
00:20:43Think that if the screenplay was found,
00:20:45it would be worth some money?
00:20:47Well, given the way you people seem to be making a fuss of it,
00:20:49yeah, I think that could be worth a lot of money.
00:20:51Unfortunately,
00:20:53how are you going to know it when you see it?
00:20:55I don't know.
00:20:57Yeah, that's the problem, you don't know the name of it,
00:20:59you don't even know if it exists.
00:21:01I mean, this could be a myth.
00:21:03Well, again, this is what people liken Lucas to,
00:21:05this mythical proportion.
00:21:07It's Jesus Christ.
00:21:09I don't know about Jesus Christ, but like this great writer,
00:21:11some people say that he was,
00:21:13some people say that he wasn't.
00:21:15Again, people just call him a storyteller.
00:21:17He was confident, sure he could write.
00:21:19He was this great, he's not William Shakespeare, for God's sakes.
00:21:21Maybe it's just because he was my younger brother,
00:21:23but he wasn't William Shakespeare.
00:21:25Quite frankly, after a while,
00:21:27I didn't like this son of a bitch.
00:21:29I'm sorry.
00:21:31Truth be told, I didn't like him.
00:21:33He changed.
00:21:35Lucas changed.
00:21:37Changed how?
00:21:39I don't know, he became somebody else.
00:21:41We were young kids together.
00:21:43We had a nice time together.
00:21:45And then Lucas, he became this solitary person,
00:21:47he's off with his friends and everything,
00:21:49that's bullshit.
00:21:51Like I lost a brother to your goddamn music and writing
00:21:53and theaters and everything like that.
00:21:55Yeah, right.
00:21:57Goddamn Hollywood and all that kind of shit.
00:21:59He changed my brother, you know.
00:22:01I couldn't stand him.
00:22:03In fact, even today, the thought of it makes me angry.
00:22:06I'm sorry.
00:22:08This is another side that I'm hearing.
00:22:10Again, I don't know too much about the man.
00:22:12Well, you haven't interviewed his family that much, then, I guess.
00:22:14I'm going to make him enter Jesus Christ, go right ahead.
00:22:16No.
00:22:18But I wouldn't.
00:22:20No, I'm sorry.
00:22:22No, it's okay.
00:22:24No, we're done anyway.
00:22:26It's okay.
00:22:28Again, I thank you for taking time out.
00:22:30No, I'm sorry.
00:22:32No, thank you for coming down.
00:22:34We're both in that goddamn door right now.
00:22:36If I had a car, I'd probably run him over.
00:22:38There's so many things going around now, you know, with this money.
00:22:40There's money being offered for this screenplay.
00:22:42Money?
00:22:44Well, yeah, I mean, it's supposedly worth some stuff, so...
00:22:46Really? How much money are you talking about here?
00:22:48I'm not at liberty to say.
00:22:50Well, I mean, if there's money being offered, it must be offered.
00:22:52There's a substantial...
00:22:54There is a substantial...
00:22:56Really? Really?
00:22:58I mean, if the...
00:23:00If this thing really exists.
00:23:03So, I mean, like, I'm not...
00:23:05You know, I'm just saying that, you know, it's...
00:23:07That's why one of the questions I really wanted to get through is
00:23:09if you knew anything about it, because you are...
00:23:11No, as a matter of fact, I don't.
00:23:13But, well, it's good to know about that.
00:23:22I think...
00:23:24I think he had the makings
00:23:26of being probably
00:23:28one of our greatest filmmakers.
00:23:30I really believe that.
00:23:32His disappearance, it was a little odd.
00:23:34Some people think it had something to do with it.
00:23:36I don't know.
00:23:38It seemed to be a little odd the way things took place.
00:23:40I mean, just vanishing, right?
00:23:42I mean, the day the movie opened, he disappears.
00:23:44I think that there was something...
00:23:46It was just a little peculiar
00:23:48the way circumstances played into this.
00:23:50I do believe, though, that...
00:23:52This is my personal feeling.
00:23:54I do believe the film
00:23:56should have been,
00:23:58as far as I'm concerned,
00:24:00a major contender to win that award.
00:24:02And without taking anything away
00:24:04from the film that did win,
00:24:06I think it had a shot at it.
00:24:08And I think it should have won.
00:24:10I know some professors
00:24:12have Lucas Booth and Fourth Dimension
00:24:14as part of their curriculum.
00:24:16Do you know of any teachers?
00:24:18Or do you have it as part of your curriculum?
00:24:20I do.
00:24:22You do teach it?
00:24:24I do teach it.
00:24:26I firmly believe that that film is necessary.
00:24:29I had a real grip on what Lucas Booth
00:24:31was all about.
00:24:33The other professors,
00:24:35some of them embraced it,
00:24:37some of them didn't.
00:24:39There's mixed emotions as far as
00:24:41how critical and how important
00:24:43that would be in a teaching curriculum.
00:24:45But I've embraced it.
00:24:47And I put that together
00:24:49with other film directors.
00:24:51What other directors?
00:24:53Well, Brian De Palma...
00:24:55Great director.
00:24:57But he hasn't been embraced
00:24:59as much as I feel
00:25:01he should have been.
00:25:03But then again, that's my personal belief.
00:25:05But he is an active part
00:25:07of my curriculum today.
00:25:09So you do teach it today?
00:25:11Today.
00:25:13What did you think when Lucas disappeared?
00:25:15What were your feelings
00:25:17around that time when he vanished?
00:25:19It seemed to be
00:25:21a strange set of circumstances.
00:25:23I really believe
00:25:25that a man with that much talent
00:25:27for him to totally
00:25:29just disappear
00:25:31and not come back
00:25:37bringing back
00:25:39to what we feel...
00:25:41Let me just rephrase this.
00:25:43It's emotional for me.
00:25:45First of all,
00:25:47I love film.
00:25:49And the fact that he disappeared
00:25:51really left a void as far as I'm concerned.
00:25:54Because I was so touched
00:25:56with The Fourth Dimension
00:25:58and I really believed
00:26:00that he was going to give
00:26:02the film industry something very special.
00:26:04I would have hoped he would have made more.
00:26:06That's the contention of a lot of people.
00:26:08So emotionally, it affected me.
00:26:10It really did.
00:26:12And how he disappeared
00:26:14leaves me a little distressed.
00:26:16After the time he disappeared
00:26:18there were rumors
00:26:20spreading about a lost screenplay
00:26:22that he had written
00:26:24and that was finished before he disappeared.
00:26:26It's been rumored that
00:26:28if the screenplay is found
00:26:30it would be like finding
00:26:32a lost Orson Welles screenplay.
00:26:34They call it the Holy Grail of the film industry.
00:26:36If it's found. It's like gold.
00:26:38And I guess my question is
00:26:40do you think that it exists?
00:26:42Well,
00:26:44there was always a rumor
00:26:46that there was a screenplay
00:26:48that just never
00:26:50really materialized.
00:26:52I don't know if that's really the case.
00:26:54I'll be honest with you.
00:26:56It's nice to dream though, right?
00:26:58It is. Especially if there's one
00:27:00there might be more.
00:27:02And that would be real interesting.
00:27:04There are wacky rumors about Lucas Booth.
00:27:06From this to that
00:27:08and his disappearance
00:27:10and the quote that he gave
00:27:12on the talk show
00:27:14which is the morning of his disappearance
00:27:16and one of the last things he said
00:27:19he said that certain people
00:27:21were touched and astronauts
00:27:23and doctors, people
00:27:25I think some part of the quote went
00:27:27people who travel from the earth to the moon
00:27:29but not me, he called himself just another storyteller.
00:27:31That's interesting.
00:27:33I guess there's a
00:27:35humble side to Lucas Booth
00:27:37as just saying
00:27:39he's just a storyteller.
00:27:41Some people call him touched.
00:27:43I think he was gifted.
00:27:45I think the man was gifted
00:27:47the gift that he had
00:27:49because he was so humble
00:27:51the gift that he had
00:27:53would have come through with such
00:27:55force
00:27:57such determination
00:27:59that you would have seen a creative giant
00:28:01in this humble approach
00:28:03because that's the way
00:28:05he was. At least that's the way
00:28:07I believe he was.
00:28:09So that
00:28:11I really believe that
00:28:13that humble attitude of
00:28:16Lucas Booth is really
00:28:18what would have given him
00:28:20this creative ability
00:28:22to make such great movies.
00:28:24That's the sad loss that we have.
00:28:26That's the bottom line.
00:28:28I dearly wish he would have made more films.
00:28:30And I think you have
00:28:32more of that now than we had
00:28:3430 years ago
00:28:36when I first got
00:28:38into teaching.
00:28:40I think that the creative genius
00:28:42you have today
00:28:44if we would just take them
00:28:46and cultivate them
00:28:48bring them into the fold
00:28:50I think you would see
00:28:52such innovative ideas
00:28:54coming to pass.
00:28:56We wouldn't need to take
00:28:58films that were made 20, 30,
00:29:0040 years ago.
00:29:02I'm not trying to say it's bad.
00:29:04I'm seeing so many more older films
00:29:06than I'm seeing newer films
00:29:08and the lack of originality
00:29:10sometimes gets to me.
00:29:12They're trying to remake Planet of the Apes
00:29:14just to name one film.
00:29:16But I understand what you're saying.
00:29:18I agree with you.
00:29:20I think that the future for the film industry
00:29:22is in the youth.
00:29:24I think it's in those young geniuses
00:29:26that are not being allowed
00:29:28to get into the system.
00:29:30Not being allowed to show what they can do.
00:29:32What's the consensus
00:29:34when you tell people
00:29:36when Lucas Booth appears in your syllabus
00:29:38do people know who you're talking about?
00:29:41The students
00:29:43of course are all young
00:29:45and they'll say Lucas who?
00:29:47Unfortunately
00:29:49he's not well known.
00:29:51The sad part about it
00:29:53is that
00:29:55the fourth dimension
00:29:57took place so many years ago
00:29:59and unfortunately it's life was short lived.
00:30:03Because of that
00:30:05there's been limited exposure
00:30:07as far as who is Lucas Booth.
00:30:09Naturally to the older generation
00:30:11and I hate to use the word older generation
00:30:13those of us
00:30:15that were in the film industry
00:30:17or were in the teaching industry
00:30:19we know about Lucas Booth.
00:30:21But unfortunately the younger generation
00:30:23does not know
00:30:25and unfortunately they will never know his talent
00:30:27which is sad.
00:30:29But I really can't believe that a man
00:30:31with that much talent
00:30:33could have kept himself away
00:30:35from the film industry all these years
00:30:37without surfacing.
00:30:39So my gut feeling is that
00:30:41he's probably not alive.
00:30:43Like trying to be a part of it
00:30:45I guess it's like a baseball player
00:30:47in the prime of his career
00:30:49and he can't play
00:30:51and he needs to be around it somehow.
00:30:53It's like me being a professor
00:30:55and loving film
00:30:57I can't break away from this.
00:30:59Can you imagine a genius like Lucas Booth?
00:31:01I guess he wouldn't be able to handle it.
00:31:03I don't believe that's the case.
00:31:07How did you get involved with No Place Like Home?
00:31:13Why don't you start by telling me your involvement
00:31:15with No Place Like Home?
00:31:17Well, I started
00:31:19with No Place Like Home
00:31:21I was kind of young
00:31:23I think I was 18 at the time
00:31:25and I had just
00:31:27started some courses at the CUNY
00:31:29and I had wanted to go into film
00:31:31but I didn't have any
00:31:33background in it
00:31:36and back then it wasn't like nowadays
00:31:38you had to have film school, graduate,
00:31:40win awards, things like that
00:31:42I just basically walked onto the set
00:31:44and told them I'd do anything
00:31:46pretty much to get on with a movie.
00:31:48Did Mr. Booth hire you?
00:31:50Were you hired by him?
00:31:52Oh yeah, back then, believe me
00:31:54there weren't any middle men back then
00:31:56you had the director, you had the producer
00:31:58and pretty much the crew and that was it.
00:32:00So what was your capacity on the film?
00:32:02What did you do?
00:32:04I basically
00:32:06was given some equipment
00:32:08told to follow the crews around
00:32:10and I learned as I went.
00:32:12It was a tough shoot in the beginning
00:32:14because a lot of us were like that
00:32:16it was a very young shoot, we were all young guys
00:32:18just in college or not even in college
00:32:20and we were basically just trying to get this movie made
00:32:22we didn't know how, we didn't know what we were doing.
00:32:24Did you get the sense that he knew what he was doing as a director?
00:32:26Did you feel that he was competent?
00:32:28Did he have a vision?
00:32:30I'm just trying to get some insight as to the man.
00:32:32Do you want the truth or do you want me to give you some happy stuff?
00:32:36Why don't we start with the truth?
00:32:38I think someone once said
00:32:40that you can always tell how smart a person is
00:32:42by the amount of people who don't like them.
00:32:44Well, if that's the case
00:32:46then I'd say this Lucas Booth was probably
00:32:48one of the smartest son of a bitches I've ever known
00:32:50because I don't know a single person who liked him.
00:32:52What was supposed to be a nice two week shot
00:32:54turned into almost two months.
00:32:56We were stuck in the mountains
00:32:58for two months
00:33:01we didn't have a lot of food
00:33:03we had a couple of hotel rooms
00:33:05reserved in a nearby motel
00:33:07other than that we were all sleeping in a trailer
00:33:09and you're talking about 15 people
00:33:11probably on the floors of this trailer
00:33:13getting whatever they can for breakfast
00:33:15whatever they can for lunch
00:33:17it was not an easy set.
00:33:19Lucas sometimes suffered from what I would call
00:33:21tunnel vision and you don't hear about it much
00:33:23because no one wants to admit it
00:33:25when he would see his movie
00:33:27he saw where he wanted it to go
00:33:29but he didn't always have the exact way to get there
00:33:31and he was not good at changing
00:33:33he was not good at adapting that movie
00:33:35to fit the circumstances
00:33:37and when you're shooting a movie
00:33:39at that kind of a budget
00:33:41that low circumstances happen
00:33:43and you have to be willing to adapt
00:33:45you have to be ready to adapt
00:33:47Lucas was not an adaptor, he was stubborn
00:33:49Lucas was a stubborn man
00:33:51I think anyone who you meet and knows Lucas Booth
00:33:53is going to tell you that
00:33:55how truthful they are, I don't know
00:33:57for everything I'm saying
00:33:59he was a hard ass
00:34:01he was not the nicest person to work with
00:34:03he did have a talent
00:34:05and that talent is what I hope
00:34:07comes out of this
00:34:09why is it becoming such a big deal for anyone
00:34:11something that happened so long ago
00:34:13something that hasn't even
00:34:15alright let me ask you this
00:34:17I've asked other people this
00:34:19and I've gotten mixed responses
00:34:21do you think he's still alive?
00:34:23Lucas Booth?
00:34:26no, no way
00:34:28why don't you think he's still alive?
00:34:30because I think it's a myth
00:34:32it's become a word of legend
00:34:34it happens with other people
00:34:36it's happened in rock and roll
00:34:38it's happened in other industries
00:34:40he's long dead, he's not around
00:34:42if he was around
00:34:44I know Lucas Booth, if he was around
00:34:46he wouldn't be hiding
00:34:48there have been rumors
00:34:50that have been going on for a lot of years
00:34:52about a screenplay
00:34:54that Lucas Booth wrote
00:34:56some people call it
00:34:58the holy grail
00:35:02now that I'm talking to somebody
00:35:04who was actually there
00:35:06do you believe that
00:35:08such a screenplay exists?
00:35:10I wouldn't doubt it
00:35:16I know there was a project that Lucas was working on
00:35:18while we were even shooting
00:35:20Place Like Home
00:35:23that he had been very excited about
00:35:25that wasn't the 4th Dimension?
00:35:27no, no, this was not the 4th Dimension
00:35:29I know of the 4th Dimension, believe me
00:35:31I was supposed to be on the 4th Dimension
00:35:33I was supposed to be on crew, we had a falling out
00:35:35it didn't happen
00:35:37a difference of views, a difference of opinions
00:35:39I was after No Place Like Home
00:35:41like I said, I was very young with No Place Like Home
00:35:43I was just learning the industry
00:35:45I was a kid just learning the trade
00:35:47after that
00:35:49I started to get my own views
00:35:51I started to figure out how I saw
00:35:53where the film was going
00:35:55it just kind of went in a different direction
00:35:57than Lucas
00:35:59we had a couple of arguments
00:36:01I was supposed to be on crew for the 4th Dimension
00:36:03we did not speak again
00:36:05a couple of weeks going into it
00:36:07and that's the last I spoke to Lucas Booth
00:36:09so that was the last time
00:36:11you actually had a conversation with him
00:36:13was the argument you had?
00:36:15yes
00:36:17so you do believe
00:36:19I know he was working on something
00:36:21that he
00:36:23from his point of view
00:36:25was something that was going to be
00:36:27it was going to change the media
00:36:31I had never seen it
00:36:33but
00:36:35he did have a project
00:36:37do you think he's getting more accolades than he deserves?
00:36:39of course
00:36:41his movies
00:36:43knowing
00:36:45from someone who's been on the set of his movies
00:36:48the way they were produced
00:36:50his movies
00:36:52more than any others
00:36:54were a combination
00:36:56of his crew
00:36:58he had lots of people around him
00:37:00so it wasn't just like his own visions
00:37:02you're saying that there were a lot of other
00:37:04people involved to help create that film
00:37:06I guess you could say
00:37:08as somebody who wants to
00:37:10be in film, I believe that a director should be able
00:37:12to see the whole film in his head
00:37:14and you're saying that Lucas Booth really
00:37:16didn't have that or
00:37:18he saw the whole film in his head but he used a lot of other people
00:37:20to help him see it
00:37:22if that makes sense at all
00:37:24well that's not necessarily a bad thing I guess
00:37:26no I'm not saying it's a bad thing
00:37:28I just think that when looking at
00:37:30Lucas Booth the director
00:37:32it's
00:37:34he
00:37:36he used
00:37:38everyone around him
00:37:40to create his works
00:37:42to create his screenplays
00:37:44I was supposed to only be a lighting
00:37:46and I had a lot of input into what
00:37:48was going on with No Place Like Home
00:37:50I gave him the ending of No Place Like Home
00:37:52he did not have
00:37:54that ending of No Place Like Home, he didn't know where it was gonna go
00:37:56after all I was on a Lucas Booth project
00:37:58and he wasn't exactly someone who was embraced by the rest of his peers
00:38:00so me coming in with
00:38:02then also? and now?
00:38:04then, then especially
00:38:06do you think now also?
00:38:08well I think now the legend
00:38:10the name Lucas Booth
00:38:13is just transcending who he really was
00:38:15and I think right now you're gonna have a lot of people
00:38:17who
00:38:19just want to
00:38:21hang on to that
00:38:23want to align themselves
00:38:25with the Lucas Booth name, with the Lucas Booth legend
00:38:27but back then
00:38:29uh uh, back then
00:38:31there wasn't a whole lot of respect
00:38:33for him back then
00:38:35even winning the award
00:38:37there were a lot of his peers
00:38:39didn't think he should have won that award
00:38:41and there was some animosity
00:38:43so me coming
00:38:45after having a falling out with Lucas
00:38:47I wasn't getting onto many other films
00:38:49I was getting smaller parts here and there
00:38:51but it wasn't enough to cut, it wasn't making the cut for me
00:38:53so now you do video?
00:38:55so in the mid 80's with the boom of the music video
00:38:57I started, it was a growing industry
00:38:59right there so I jumped in
00:39:01and I do that now, I tech on a lot of music videos
00:39:03do you believe in that?
00:39:05do you believe films are like making art?
00:39:07sure, yeah
00:39:09I hate to find a filmmaker who doesn't believe that
00:39:11um
00:39:13I don't know necessarily
00:39:15how he
00:39:17I didn't see the interview by the way
00:39:19it was a radio interview
00:39:21I did not hear the interview
00:39:23after we stopped talking I pretty much washed my hands of Lucas Booth
00:39:25and I didn't keep up
00:39:27with much of what he was doing
00:39:29why did you agree to come here?
00:39:31I want the world to know the real Lucas Booth
00:39:33I want them to know beyond the legend, beyond the person
00:39:35that is being inducted
00:39:38now that is being awarded now
00:39:40I want them to know the person back then
00:39:42the good and the bad
00:39:44the fact that he wasn't this messiah of filmmaking
00:39:46the fact that he did use other people
00:39:48the fact that he did have a lot of influences
00:39:50outside of himself
00:39:52that just never were seen
00:39:54there were other people on that film
00:39:56myself included
00:39:58that just had a lot of
00:40:00say in what was going on in that film
00:40:02he invented guerrilla filmmaking
00:40:04Lucas Booth invented guerrilla filmmaking
00:40:06when I'm showing you the movie itself
00:40:08I can give you some of the background
00:40:10and some of the scenes
00:40:12there were times when we were just shooting
00:40:14what's a permit?
00:40:16who knew what a permit was back then?
00:40:18we just basically set up shot
00:40:20and would close down a street on our own
00:40:22and just shoot in until the cops showed up
00:40:24that's the way this movie was made
00:40:26and I'm pretty sure that's the way
00:40:28some of the fourth dimension was made
00:40:30it was grueling on him
00:40:32I think the process
00:40:35of filmmaking is one of the things
00:40:37that made Lucas Booth disappear
00:40:39do you think he killed himself?
00:40:41yes
00:40:43you do?
00:40:45yes
00:40:47do you think he committed suicide?
00:40:49why?
00:40:51I'd rather not
00:40:55knowing Lucas Booth
00:40:57knowing the person he was
00:40:59knowing how he saw
00:41:01the industry and the way he saw it
00:41:03the direction he saw it going
00:41:05he took himself out of it
00:41:07in every way
00:41:19what capacity were you involved
00:41:21with Lucas on the fourth dimension?
00:41:23well I was one of the leading actresses
00:41:25in the film
00:41:27one of the actors
00:41:29in the huge ensemble
00:41:31got to be very good friends
00:41:33with Luke during the process
00:41:35of filming
00:41:37it is one of those
00:41:39rare experiences in any woman's career
00:41:41any actresses, any actors career
00:41:43for that matter
00:41:45it was thrilling
00:41:47absolutely thrilling
00:41:49especially since considering
00:41:51going into the project
00:41:53we never expected it to do
00:41:55what it did
00:41:57there was a real kind of
00:42:00underdog mentality
00:42:02to the whole process
00:42:04you had a bunch of new upstarts
00:42:06getting together
00:42:08working with a rare genius
00:42:10like Lucas Booth
00:42:12but at that time
00:42:14nobody really knew
00:42:16there wasn't that label attached to him
00:42:18at that time
00:42:20what about casting?
00:42:22was he involved with the casting?
00:42:24did he take part?
00:42:26oh absolutely
00:42:28this was his pet project
00:42:30from the beginning
00:42:32that's one of my favorite stories
00:42:34about the process
00:42:36I actively pursued Mr. Booth
00:42:38in order to get this role
00:42:40it ended up me
00:42:42writing letters to him specifically
00:42:44getting phone calls
00:42:46I had two screen tests for this man
00:42:48he just put me through the paces
00:42:50did you get along well with him?
00:42:52absolutely
00:42:54I think that persistence
00:42:56and passion for our craft
00:42:58was something that
00:43:00we had in common
00:43:02and after conversations
00:43:04together
00:43:06I discovered that
00:43:08we're two people of the same breed
00:43:10so to speak
00:43:12this is show business
00:43:14you establish relationships
00:43:16with people sometimes
00:43:18on a set that's very family oriented
00:43:20and I think for the most part
00:43:22we had that
00:43:25he was the father
00:43:27of the crew
00:43:29he was in control
00:43:31the crew got along very well
00:43:33he's a very demanding director
00:43:35I've always thought that a lot of things
00:43:37people have said about Luke
00:43:39through the years
00:43:41have been absolutely blown out of proportion
00:43:43he's very demanding
00:43:45but who isn't
00:43:47when they're pursuing their craft
00:43:49at the height of what they're doing
00:43:51when they're in the moment
00:43:53the one thing I will say
00:43:55there was a lot of synergy
00:43:57among the group
00:43:59people have these mythical ideas
00:44:01about him
00:44:03he was this, he was that
00:44:05he was tyrannical
00:44:07no
00:44:09he was generous beyond belief
00:44:11he was sympathetic
00:44:13particularly to his actors needs
00:44:15he took a lot of time
00:44:17to direct his actors
00:44:19it just wasn't about
00:44:21his process
00:44:23producing and directing
00:44:25this film
00:44:27he took care to really
00:44:29talk to you one on one
00:44:31and that was generally appreciated
00:44:33and amongst his actors
00:44:35it was long hours
00:44:37it was six months
00:44:39of being on the set
00:44:41and you have no life
00:44:43it's very difficult to have a life
00:44:45outside of that
00:44:47and I think he really cared
00:44:50about his actors and his crew
00:44:52everybody on the set is people
00:44:54he pushed them hard
00:44:56and he demanded a lot
00:44:58but he
00:45:00he disappeared
00:45:02the morning the film came out
00:45:04how did that make you feel
00:45:06when you heard about that
00:45:10it was horrifying
00:45:14absolutely horrifying
00:45:16when you
00:45:18when you establish such a close
00:45:20relationship with somebody
00:45:22even professionally
00:45:24to have something like that
00:45:26happen it just
00:45:28cuts you to your soul
00:45:30when was the last time
00:45:32you spoke to him
00:45:34we spoke
00:45:36after I viewed the film
00:45:38and I
00:45:40called him and spoke with him
00:45:42about it and we were very excited
00:45:44actually that wasn't the last time we spoke
00:45:46the last time we spoke
00:45:50well it was the day before it was released
00:45:52and we were talking about
00:45:54meeting up
00:45:56at the party afterwards
00:46:00there was such a sense
00:46:02of anticipation
00:46:04and excitement
00:46:06in his voice
00:46:10it was just really sad
00:46:13everybody would have loved him to be there
00:46:15I know I saw The Fourth Dimension
00:46:17I was taken back by its size
00:46:19and what you guys put into it
00:46:21and how it was done
00:46:23what about
00:46:25I ask this question to a lot of people
00:46:27what about the rumors of the lost screenplay
00:46:29the screenplay that he was
00:46:31supposedly writing
00:46:33the lost screenplay
00:46:35that's one that's been thrown around
00:46:37for years
00:46:39well
00:46:41there's no doubt in my mind
00:46:43that that screenplay exists somewhere
00:46:45so you believe it's around
00:46:47absolutely
00:46:49and we spoke about it briefly
00:46:51actually he was telling me
00:46:53he was working on a very special project
00:46:55it was near and dear to his heart
00:46:57it was a personal story
00:46:59allegorical
00:47:01in many ways
00:47:03I won't say that we spoke a lot about it
00:47:05because he was a very private man
00:47:08um
00:47:10but
00:47:12yeah
00:47:14I don't doubt without a fact
00:47:16that that screenplay exists somewhere
00:47:18and I think it's probably a great loss
00:47:20for us that he never had an opportunity
00:47:22to make it because
00:47:24who knows
00:47:26I think there were probably many masterpieces
00:47:28still left in that man
00:47:30I guess the question I can ask is
00:47:32do you think that him and the film
00:47:34were warranted to be there
00:47:36to be part of it
00:47:38oh without a doubt
00:47:40you must be kidding me
00:47:42this is a
00:47:44with Hitchcock
00:47:46with Orson Welles
00:47:48Martin Scorsese
00:47:50yes he is
00:47:52without a doubt
00:47:54his talent
00:47:56is of the magnitude
00:47:58of those gentlemen
00:48:00and then you have a guy who does one film
00:48:02and it touches people in such a way
00:48:04well it changed film making
00:48:06it changed film making as we know it
00:48:08um
00:48:10introduced a new style
00:48:12if you will
00:48:14did something different within the genre
00:48:16um
00:48:18and that alone
00:48:20it touched people's souls in a way
00:48:22that we're talking about it now how many years later
00:48:2425 years later
00:48:26and people are still talking about this film
00:48:28still watching this film
00:48:30um
00:48:33no his life was cut
00:48:35too short but like many of the
00:48:37greats
00:48:39the morning of his
00:48:41disappearance he um
00:48:43he was asked a question
00:48:45the question that he was asked was
00:48:47does he think
00:48:49that he was a touched person I guess
00:48:51a gifted man
00:48:53part of his response was
00:48:55that he was just
00:48:57another storyteller
00:48:59he's so humble
00:49:01he was the most humble man
00:49:03um oh that interview
00:49:05cracks me up actually when I listen
00:49:07to it he uses the word touched
00:49:09oh
00:49:11and that gets blown out of proportion
00:49:13but if you know what a kind
00:49:15gentle almost
00:49:17childlike soul that this man had
00:49:19um
00:49:21a vision
00:49:23absolutely and with every great
00:49:25artist you try and preserve
00:49:27that um that sense
00:49:29of innocence inside you so that you
00:49:31you know that imagination
00:49:33that playground that you have
00:49:35he called doctors touched people
00:49:37astronauts people who travel from
00:49:39the earth to the moon he said those people are touched
00:49:41not me yes he was very
00:49:43humble touched oh yes
00:49:45he definitely had insight
00:49:47um
00:49:49and he's one of the great storytellers of our time
00:49:51however I do
00:49:53agree that or believe
00:49:55myself that
00:49:58the controversy surrounding the film
00:50:00did diminish its commercial
00:50:02appeal
00:50:04um I think that's why
00:50:06although it was a critical success
00:50:08on a variety of levels
00:50:10that commercially
00:50:12at the box office we didn't
00:50:14do as well there
00:50:16myself you know it was
00:50:18one of my first few forays
00:50:20into uh the film
00:50:22so I went back to the theater
00:50:24I moved back to New York
00:50:26did a large amount of
00:50:28stage work which has been
00:50:30the body of my career
00:50:32um and also
00:50:34turned to you know
00:50:36European film
00:50:38worked with a lot of European
00:50:40directors worked
00:50:42abroad I got married
00:50:44to an Englishman and so
00:50:46we eventually moved to London
00:50:48so um that's kind of
00:50:50where my focus turned after that
00:50:52there's a certain amount of disillusionment
00:50:54once you've been in this business for so long
00:50:56and I'll have to admit
00:50:58although I enjoyed my time
00:51:00um
00:51:02I was happy to move on
00:51:04and do something different with my career
00:51:06you seem to keep
00:51:08referring to Lucas Booth I guess
00:51:10in first person as you know
00:51:12he is he is the right he is this
00:51:14was I doing that? you were doing that
00:51:16I guess the question I wanted to ask was
00:51:18because I mean I don't know if that's a habit
00:51:20do you think that he still is alive
00:51:23do you think he's still around
00:51:25oh well
00:51:29I just don't know
00:51:33wherever he is though
00:51:35I hope that he is very very happy
00:51:45for starters I want to thank you for letting us
00:51:47into your home to view some of the footage
00:51:49that of the movie
00:51:51that you have here
00:51:53let me I guess first go to a scene
00:51:55the scene that I was in
00:51:57I wasn't even really supposed to be in this
00:51:59I was just on crew like I said
00:52:01but we were kind of running short on actors
00:52:03in fact the actor who was supposed to be in this scene
00:52:05um ran out
00:52:07about the night before
00:52:09because we were so far back on schedule
00:52:11that he didn't want to wait around anymore
00:52:13and he wasn't being paid very much
00:52:15so he kind of just hightailed it out of there
00:52:17and we were stuck a couple scenes
00:52:20it's actually one of the first murders
00:52:22in the movie
00:52:24I think I'm closing up a supermarket
00:52:26that to me
00:52:28a little younger
00:52:30and um
00:52:32the funny thing about the scene is
00:52:34aside from being in it I came up with
00:52:36the murder
00:52:38initially Lucas had planned a pretty
00:52:40simple murder in which I
00:52:42went into my car and my throat was slit
00:52:44from behind and it just seemed very boring
00:52:46so I came up with this idea that maybe
00:52:48I should be attacked before I even got to the car
00:52:50um it was a
00:52:52it was kind of an on the fly kind of thing
00:52:54I just thought it was a better idea
00:52:56and most of the crew members agreed as well
00:52:58so we kind of shot it like this and Lucas liked the way it came
00:53:00so we ended up keeping it in
00:53:02as you can see here
00:53:04and this was my idea to get this kind of a shot
00:53:06with the knife I just figured if we're going to go for it
00:53:08we might as well go for the full gore effect
00:53:10um and it turned out to be a pretty good scene
00:53:12I was pretty proud of it
00:53:14so Mr. Booth worked with you on some ideas
00:53:16he let you have a little say
00:53:18in some of the parts
00:53:20sure I don't think he planned it that way
00:53:22I think it was just a matter of
00:53:24that I came up with an idea that just was a good idea
00:53:26I don't think he necessarily cooperated
00:53:28with me but once he saw the idea
00:53:30he couldn't really argue with it
00:53:32they were just so fed up they were just throwing kerosene
00:53:34on top of clothes
00:53:36cue cards anything you can imagine was just being burned
00:53:38because Lucas was inside the trailer
00:53:40and no one really
00:53:42he knew he wasn't around so no one could see it
00:53:45so uh it was a madhouse
00:53:47it was just a lot of crazy stuff going on
00:53:57him
00:53:59well I would think he should
00:54:01it's his father Lucas
00:54:03really
00:54:05yeah he starred in
00:54:07he starred in his own movie
00:54:09a couple near car accidents
00:54:11a couple people almost were injured
00:54:13because they were just so tired
00:54:15lack of sleep, lack of food
00:54:17one crew member drove right into a sewage ditch
00:54:19and Lucas basically
00:54:21went crazy on him
00:54:23because it slowed up production
00:54:25it took a couple hours off of our shooting that day
00:54:27and he basically sent the guy packing
00:54:29we never saw that crew member again
00:54:31Lucas kicked him right off
00:54:33that's another hand that's gone from the crew
00:54:35I've never seen
00:54:37that's the first time I've actually ever seen Lucas
00:54:39are there any other photographs you have
00:54:41of him
00:54:43I
00:54:45probably have a couple here and there
00:54:47I don't really
00:54:49have many that I keep around
00:54:51video footage or photos
00:54:53well pretty much the best you're going to find
00:54:55is what's on this film
00:54:57so these two girls did all the choreography themselves
00:54:59or the stunt work themselves
00:55:01no no they weren't trained stunt
00:55:03it was basically took
00:55:05a couple takes over and over again
00:55:07of getting them
00:55:10into the fighting mood
00:55:12but then once they got
00:55:14started
00:55:16they could barely get them off each other
00:55:18I came up with the idea to have two killers
00:55:20the father and
00:55:22Lucas' character
00:55:24I just thought it would be more of a surprise
00:55:26and you don't see it done
00:55:28nowadays you see movies like Scream
00:55:30but when this was done this was original
00:55:32this was back how long ago when they had two killers
00:55:34so yeah
00:55:36it was a completely different idea than what Lucas
00:55:38really wanted
00:55:40so what was his response
00:55:42well I think he couldn't
00:55:44let me just pause this here
00:55:46I think he couldn't deny
00:55:48the fact that it was a great ending
00:55:50when he heard it he couldn't deny it
00:55:52I think it was more of a pride
00:55:54a matter of pride that he didn't want to admit
00:55:56that my ending was better
00:55:58what I actually did to get this into the movie
00:56:00is I approached him with it knowing his ego
00:56:02I approached him with it when we were in close quarters
00:56:04just myself and Lucas
00:56:06there was no one else around
00:56:08to hear me argue with his idea
00:56:10so he was able to
00:56:12play it off as his own
00:56:14so it actually did get into the movie
00:56:16and unfortunately I didn't get any credit for it
00:56:18the ending of this movie had
00:56:20we were burning one of the killers bodies
00:56:22because it was torched by the main character
00:56:24not a real body
00:56:26no we set it up with a dummy with clothing
00:56:28and we stuffed it
00:56:30unfortunately we didn't have any pyrotechnics experts
00:56:32on the set
00:56:35I'm just going to pause this
00:56:37the fire got out of hand rather quickly
00:56:39and we got very nervous at the time
00:56:41so a lot of the crew members kind of ran around
00:56:43we were trying to put it out because there were bushes around
00:56:45a lot of things around
00:56:47I got a little bit close and some of the other crew members
00:56:49threw some rocks onto the fire
00:56:51next thing I know I have second degree burns all over my leg
00:56:53the flames shot outside
00:56:55no one was expecting it
00:56:57we really weren't planned well for
00:56:59you don't think Lucas Booth had anything to do with that do you?
00:57:01that would be a kind of funny ending wouldn't you think?
00:57:03from the knee down
00:57:05I can't really see it from the angle
00:57:07but from the knee all the way down
00:57:09and a little bit on my left leg as well
00:57:11it wasn't as bad on my left
00:57:13but full second degree burns on my right leg
00:57:15and the funny thing at the time no one knew I was that injured
00:57:17they just saw it happen
00:57:19but we were in such a rush to get things done
00:57:21no one was really taking any precautions with it
00:57:23only hours later when I started to really see the swelling
00:57:25and the skin starting to actually bubble
00:57:27you actually saw skin bubble on my leg
00:57:29that I decided to go get some medical treatment
00:57:31I found out about the second degree burns
00:57:33you mean you actually worked through this?
00:57:35sure
00:57:37as I think other crew members did too
00:57:39worked through their injuries as well
00:57:41didn't Mr. Booth have any concern about the people working on the film?
00:57:43if he did I didn't see it
00:57:45I think Lucas Booth was a talented man
00:57:49a misunderstood man
00:57:53and most importantly he was just a man
00:57:57that's about it
00:58:00one more thing
00:58:02I just happen to notice that you have the cassette down here
00:58:04is it ok if we just get a clipping of that?
00:58:06oh sure
00:58:08this was the original cover
00:58:10I don't know if it's bright enough in here to see
00:58:12but yeah this was actually created by Lucas Booth himself
00:58:14he did it by hand back then
00:58:16obviously he didn't have the budget or the capabilities
00:58:18to do what they do nowadays
00:58:20with the printing
00:58:22I mean this was basically a cut and paste job
00:58:26interesting
00:58:28of course I have regrets
00:58:30I think at the time
00:58:32it was the only thing that could happen
00:58:34we just had to separate ways
00:58:36it was just the natural thing to do
00:58:38but looking back on it
00:58:40sure wouldn't you be regretful
00:58:42if you missed the chance to be involved
00:58:44in a movie that won that many accolades
00:58:46nominated 13 times
00:58:48it's pretty
00:58:50yes I have regrets
00:58:58what I'm saying is
00:59:00that there is a film
00:59:02that
00:59:04that he put his life into
00:59:06I know
00:59:08because I wasn't part of his life when he was doing it
00:59:10a lot of the press seem to think that
00:59:12I guess when
00:59:14he died
00:59:16people started spreading rumors that
00:59:18he decided to just go under
00:59:20and go into hiding
00:59:22do you
00:59:24my father's dead
00:59:27if he's not
00:59:29and he's hiding and he's alive
00:59:31then fuck him and he should be dead
00:59:33because
00:59:35you know
00:59:37I mean
00:59:39I'm just like I said
00:59:41I'm just trying to understand
00:59:43when I first started this thing
00:59:45I didn't even know that you existed
00:59:47why are you doing this thing?
00:59:49I'm really just trying to find truth
00:59:51I'm looking for truth
00:59:53somebody's trying to capitalize on a dead filmmaker
00:59:55that's never happened
00:59:57people do that everyday
00:59:59I guess like I said
01:00:01what I'm trying to find
01:00:03I'm not trying to dig up stuff
01:00:05bad stuff, good stuff
01:00:07you want the holy grail don't you?
01:00:09you want the grail
01:00:11don't you?
01:00:13talk to me about that
01:00:15you knew what I was talking about
01:00:17I mean obviously
01:00:19I didn't tell you something you didn't know about
01:00:21I don't know too much about it
01:00:23you want the script that doesn't exist
01:00:25you got this thing in your head
01:00:27and your intentions might be good
01:00:29like I said no film student
01:00:31it was always entertainment tonight
01:00:33and E and all these places
01:00:35they would come here and find me
01:00:37and I try and convince them that I'm not who I am
01:00:39but then you, a film student
01:00:41I'm like oh my god
01:00:43there's no holy grail
01:00:45you know the holy grail of the film industry
01:00:47the lost screenplay of Lucas Booth
01:00:49I wouldn't have a problem with that
01:00:52you know what scares me the most?
01:00:54what scares me the most is
01:00:56if it did exist
01:00:58what people
01:01:00would turn it into
01:01:02how they would destroy
01:01:04his work
01:01:06have you heard about
01:01:08I don't know if this is true or not
01:01:10supposedly
01:01:12Orson Welles has got a screenplay
01:01:14have you heard of this? I've read this
01:01:16that Orson Welles, a screenplay
01:01:18one of the screenplays he wrote
01:01:20and somebody bought it
01:01:22and they're trying to remake it
01:01:24or make it and stuff like that
01:01:26it's not going to be whatever his vision was
01:01:28I don't think he was the greatest filmmaker
01:01:30but clearly he was a great filmmaker
01:01:32the greatest filmmaker and great filmmaker
01:01:34there's no greatest
01:01:36there's no best
01:01:38there's better, there are suck
01:01:40storytelling
01:01:42my father said
01:01:44he said once
01:01:46you know what I'm talking about
01:01:48he said something once about
01:01:50that
01:01:52storytelling is the heart
01:01:54I don't know if he said
01:01:56storytelling is an art but he was like
01:01:58the embodiment of filmmaking is the story
01:02:00is the characters
01:02:02is
01:02:04the soul you put into it, it's not the effects
01:02:06somebody said
01:02:08that a special effect or something
01:02:10grand without emotion behind it
01:02:12is just a special effect
01:02:14I don't know
01:02:17and that's kind of right
01:02:19so what I'm saying is
01:02:21I go to a movie, I want to be entertained
01:02:23and I think this is what my father
01:02:25was about
01:02:27even his first film
01:02:29the horror film
01:02:31that's what it was about
01:02:33it was about story
01:02:35not that it was a great work by any means
01:02:37but it was just about story
01:02:39and the fourth dimension
01:02:41was the same thing
01:02:43the fourth dimension was about story, about emotion
01:02:45and that's what my father was about
01:02:47and I think that's what
01:02:49he wishes the industry
01:02:51as a whole was about
01:02:53do you think the fourth dimension would have been
01:02:55well received today?
01:02:57and money has nothing to do with it
01:02:59see that's the trick
01:03:01people, they make a movie
01:03:03it makes 200 million dollars
01:03:05and they're a good filmmaker
01:03:07bullshit
01:03:09fourth dimension didn't make any money
01:03:11and my father was
01:03:13one of the best filmmakers
01:03:15not is the best but one of the better
01:03:17definitely in the top
01:03:19area when he was alive
01:03:21I guess maybe we should get back to the lost script
01:03:23and there is no lost script
01:03:25well there is no lost script like I said
01:03:27I hope nobody fakes it
01:03:29and says oh look what I found
01:03:31the lost script
01:03:33that's not what you're going to do
01:03:35no like I said I'm not really
01:03:37well let me ask you a question
01:03:39what would you do with it
01:03:42what if somebody said here it is
01:03:44what would you do with it
01:03:46what would you do with his lost script
01:03:48I really don't know
01:03:50I don't know what I would
01:03:52do at this point if I found it
01:03:54I'm not so sure it exists
01:03:56either anymore
01:03:58in the little time I've been doing this
01:04:00I seem to run into people
01:04:02who know
01:04:04who he is and then I know people
01:04:06who have no clue who he is
01:04:08so it just kind of leads me to believe
01:04:10and then I find you
01:04:12don't look
01:04:14no forget it
01:04:16because my father
01:04:18led the life he did and nobody knows
01:04:20you know
01:04:22that was it
01:04:24I was
01:04:26I don't know how old I was when he died
01:04:28I guess I was 5
01:04:30I guess
01:04:32sure they can make him whatever he wants
01:04:34but like I said
01:04:36I really just want to kind of find out
01:04:39the truth I'm kind of really in this now
01:04:41I think really just to find the truth
01:04:43and whatever that is
01:04:45I think I'll be satisfied with that
01:04:47I love that word the truth
01:04:49I love that word the truth
01:04:53why
01:04:55that's my favorite word
01:04:57yeah it's my favorite word
01:04:59yeah
01:05:01truth
01:05:03I love that word truth
01:05:05I believe in truth
01:05:07people can be fooled
01:05:09by what is true
01:05:11well the thing is that truth
01:05:13so you said you want to learn the truth
01:05:15and truth is depending on what your point of view is
01:05:17is what the truth is
01:05:19my truth is that my father is dead
01:05:21my truth is that there is no lost script
01:05:23my truth is that people will capitalize on my father's name
01:05:25why did you agree to come down here then
01:05:27I don't know
01:05:29I'm sitting here and I'm thinking about it
01:05:31and the only positive feeling
01:05:33I'm getting out of this is that
01:05:35you like movies
01:05:37you believe in filmmaking
01:05:39nobody's ever asked me
01:05:41about storytelling before
01:05:43and stuff like that
01:05:45I don't even know if you've asked me or if I've volunteered it
01:05:47well
01:05:49like I said before
01:05:51again I'm in this
01:05:53with the hopes of finding
01:05:55why did I agree to this
01:05:57with the hopes of finding
01:05:59the hopes of finding somebody with the same
01:06:01creative
01:06:04or storytelling beliefs as I have
01:06:06or my father had
01:06:08do you think there is anybody like that
01:06:10out there now
01:06:12making movies you mean
01:06:14James Cameron
01:06:16I think
01:06:18is a storyteller
01:06:20I think Steven Spielberg
01:06:22is a storyteller
01:06:26barring Jurassic Park
01:06:28barring the dinosaur films
01:06:30I think Peter Weir and Bonnie's storytelling
01:06:32he did
01:06:34Witness
01:06:36with Harrison Ford
01:06:38he also did a movie in 1993
01:06:40called Fearless
01:06:42with Jeff Bridges about a man who develops
01:06:44an invincibility complex after
01:06:46he's in a plane crash
01:06:48just to add
01:06:50to what you were saying
01:06:52I am a lover of films
01:06:54I like movies
01:06:56I like to learn about people who do
01:06:58I knew when I studied
01:07:00people like Spielberg and even people like Cameron
01:07:02and I've studied a little bit
01:07:04of what we all know about Lucas Booth
01:07:06I guess as a director you have the ability to
01:07:08I guess good directors are supposed
01:07:10to have the ability to see a finished
01:07:12film in their minds
01:07:14before
01:07:16I think that's the
01:07:18first
01:07:20it's the first
01:07:22not necessarily only
01:07:24but it is the first and only
01:07:26necessary talent
01:07:29a director has to have
01:07:31is to be able to tell a story
01:07:33and to be able to see it in his mind
01:07:35a director does not have to know anything technically about a camera
01:07:37does not have to
01:07:39that's what you're going to be there for
01:07:41that's what the DP is there for
01:07:43does not have to know how to light
01:07:45does not have to know how to record sound
01:07:47but a director has to know how to tell a story
01:07:4920 bucks says you got no photography of him
01:07:51no I haven't
01:07:53no like I said people know who he is
01:07:55no press clippings
01:07:57he did a show
01:07:59he did an LA talk show
01:08:01but it was a radio interview
01:08:03he did a radio interview
01:08:05that was the last interview he gave
01:08:07so
01:08:09so if you want to see him
01:08:11find that film
01:08:13again I don't know if I should be saying this on camera
01:08:15but I don't know how much of
01:08:17what I do in the next couple of weeks
01:08:19he's going to know about
01:08:21or at least I'm just going to cover my tracks
01:08:23again I don't know why I tell you this
01:08:25just because I believe
01:08:27because you want to search for truth
01:08:29you want truth
01:08:31we all want truth
01:08:33and anyway
01:08:35so thank you very much
01:08:37again thank you very much
01:08:43I've decided that I'm going to
01:08:45take this, take all the footage that I've shot
01:08:47and release it as my own investigative documentary
01:08:49in the life of Lucas Booth
01:08:55and
01:08:57and
01:08:59and
01:09:01and
01:09:03and
01:09:05and
01:09:07and
01:09:09and
01:09:11and
01:09:13and
01:09:15and
01:09:17and
01:09:19and
01:09:21and
01:09:24and
01:09:26and
01:09:28and
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01:09:32and
01:09:34and
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01:09:38and
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01:09:42and
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01:09:48and
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01:10:12and
01:10:14and
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