So when I got an e-mail alerting me that Bousman’s newest baby 11-11-11 (which opens this Friday via a limited release) had also been leaked online; all I could think was “Damn, motherf*cker can’t catch a break”! So I downed a shot of JD, picked up the phone and gave Bousman a call to get his two cents on that thing we call piracy, how it affects him as a filmmaker and more! Here we go!
Arrow:…you know some version of 11-11-11 is online right fucking now?
D: WHAT?! Someone get my lawyer on the phone STAT! Yeah, I know…
Arrow: Oh. All right then, sorry to bother your ass, laterz! Just kidding. How’d you find out?
D: Actually my sister called me. She was watching it.
Arrow: Whaaaaa? Your sister downloaded it? Not cool dude.
D: Don’t get me started.
Arrow: LOL! All right. I gotta ask; as a filmmaker how does that make you feel? See your hard work put out on the web for free and before D-day at that.
D: Horrible for so many reasons. So many people put so much hard work into a movie, slave tirelessly, work around the clock, and at a push of a button it can be uploaded for the world to see… For Free… A lot of fans forget it’s the movie BUSINESS. Movie tickets, DVD sales are how we stay in ‘business’.
Arrow: Mother’s Day leaked as well. So this is not a first for ya.
D: All of mine have. But, this is the first time an incorrect version has leaked…
Arrow: Yeah I wanted to ask ya about that. So what are people watching exactly?
D: A cut that was screened in early July. But, it’s worse than that: the cut online is missing sections of the movie. 10 seconds here, 40 seconds there, 20 seconds over here. I am guessing whoever uploaded it cut around the burn-ins. So it’s pretty disheartening to know that is what people are downloading and watching.
Arrow: So how different is the American Version from what was leaked?
D: When Big Air and Rocket bought it they allowed us to finish the movie. We were able to open the film up, take time out, do VFX work, reorder and restructure, do a proper sound design and mix. A ton of things that weren’t on the table back in July. Big Air and Rocket have been great partners and awesome about letting us tweak the movie after they bought it.
Arrow: Have you watched the leaked cut?
D: Only enough to slip into a whisky induced coma. Listen, you can’t stop people from pirating movies, or music, or any other creative property. It’s shitty but it’s a reality, you learn to deal with it. My issue comes from the assholes who download the movie and then call themselves critics and review it. I saw a number of so called critics reviewing the pirated version that neither represents the foreign cut or the American cut. That is what pisses me off. It would be the equivalent of reviewing Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs album after hearing just the drum line played over the phone. People download shit because it’s there. They justify it to themselves. “The movie’s not coming to my city”, “I can’t afford a ticket”, “Darren Bousman is a douche bag”. The end result, however, is the same…
Arrow: So now what?
D: Ask the movie gods; it’s in their hands now.
Arrow: Anything you wish to say to the pirates out there?
D: Arrrrrrgh.