Neil Kopp on a location scout for But A DreamI get these news flash emails from Variety. Most of the time, I ignore them and even think maybe I should opt out of receiving them. But once in awhile it's something of interest, like today's.
Neil Kopp, a friend and a Portland producer, won the Producer award this afternoon. He's a special guy, someone that always gives me the feeling that he'll be working at a level far beyond any of us very soon. But he's so humble and down to earth that when sitting face to face with him, you forget the company he increasingly keeps and the big career moves he's making. When he's sitting in a cafe with you in Portland this week, you'd never know he was in Cannes last week.
While producing my short But A Dream and considering helping produce Made Crooked, Neil was quietly preparing to produce Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park. I had no idea, that's how close to the vest he plays it. He was about to work with a big shot yet he took meetings with a no-budget guy. Most people wouldn't have looked back once they were working with the likes of Gus.
Willamette Week did a nice little story on Neil last week.
I hope to work with Neil again someday, though I realize he's moving on to deeper waters than I hope to navigate any time soon. With just about anybody else that might sting a bit. With Neil, it's easy to forget about myself, maybe because he's as selfless as they come in this business.
Ciao,
Signore Direttore
No comments:
Post a Comment