Tonight I interviewed Sam Mendes and John Krasinski after a screening of their new film "Away We Go." It was a full house at the Chelsea Cinema and I have to admit I was a bit nervous especially after the woman who greeted everyone told them to stay for what would be an exceptional Q & A.
And then I saw people I knew. That is always the killer.
But the funny thing is (another metaphor?) that people are not there to see ME or hear what I have to say! Hah! They are there to hear Sam and John and I just facilitate. Simple.
Simple?
What I DO have to say here on MY BLOG!! is that I thought moderating/interviewing would be easy because I have seen so many good ones. It was when I saw some really bad moderators in action, I quickly appreciated that making it look easy is a total skill.
I find it important not to be sycophantic. Not to want to ask questions to showcase ones own intelligence and wit and not to infuse ones own experience. It is not group share at therapy. The purpose is to get the conversation going and put the subjects at ease and get them willing to open up to tell great stories. I felt I did that tonight and it was really rewarding.
Sam Mendes is totally nice and really has an opinion which I appreciated. This is one busy as hell guy with cutting films here, shooting films there and directing plays in New York and London in between. I marvel at this. I am sure he was exhausted, but he engaged us and spent a long time with us even though he had another one to do straight after.
John came late from a shoot and he was funny and as affable as you would think. A total delight. This guy has Jimmy Stewart/Tom Hanks potential.
Besides good and bad moderators, there are good and bad interviewees and I have had both in my short career doing this and these guys were great.
1 comment:
Very exciting! Good job.
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