DAVID BURROWS ON JACK VALENTI
Our filmmaking friend David Burrows had a personal connection to Jack Valenti. He explains after the jump:
When I was growing up here in Dallas, Jack Valenti was one of my role models. My parents would talk about his close relationship to the Kennedy / Johnson Presidencies and how he forged a powerful Hollywood influence through creation of the movie rating system; the MPAA. I remember thinking, (even at age 12) how impressed I was that there he was working in the most powerful political office in the world and then onto the most exciting industry I could imagine – filmmaking. Jack was a self-made man AND he was from Texas. In all of that, from my lower-middle class upbringing, I saw hope for myself.
Not only was he the founder of the MPAA, he was also a fighter pilot, creator of an ad agency and was even hired by Humble Oil (Exxon) when he was 16 years old. But most importantly, he enjoyed movies and life in general.
He was an unlikely role model for me who I actually got to meet during the last Presidential election while shooting my indie documentary “America Speaks Out!”. While filming at a Creative Coalition debate with Bill O’Reilly, I ran out of tape (which was a good thing at that point) and decided to hit the restroom for a break. There, in the quite of the tiled bathroom, I found Jack washing his hands. I introduced myself and humbly asked if he would take a moment to speak on camera about the whole political game from his perspective. He eargerly agreed and wanted to shoot it outside while he waited for his driver. We followed him, and entered the the elevator but as the doors began to close, Jerry Stiller (Ben’s dad) rushed in. We stood there quiet for a moment and then Mr. Stiller looked over and shyly introduced himself, “Mr. Valenti… Jerry Stiller. It’s an honor to meet you.” They smiled and briefly chatted. I thought how odd yet interesting they had been in this business for years, yet had never met. We then walked outside for Jack’s unrehersed, seemless and almost child-like commentary on political conventions which starts the political documentary so proficiently.
No matter what people think about his movie ratings, he was instrumental in helping shape one of America’s biggest exports to the world – movies – because he loved them, and he inspired me to chase the dream of filmmaking and make it my own.
-David
(Oddly enough, ‘America Speaks Out!’ became a finalist entry in OurStage film competition last night. You can also view the trailer here.)
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