Andrew Federici '94

Hollywood Squares | Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

by Todd Larson

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Andrew Federici '94 toils in a small office at the legendary Sunset-Gower studios. While the studios are deservedly renowned - From Here to Eternity, for one, was filmed here - they are, on the morning of my visit, cruelly misidentified. Alas, there's no sun on Sunset, and thus no chance for that great shot of the HOLLYWOOD sign looming over the studio's famous front gate that Andrew has been raving about. For the second day in a row, I cancel my snazzy L.A. photographer. The Dodgers haven't been rained out in 12 years, and it's happened to me twice in two days.

Truthfully, I'm not all that concerned. For the past couple of years, I've been reading Federici's class notes submissions, each detailing his latest work on films like Seven Years in Tibet, The Opposite of Sex, and Three Kings. (It was these updates, in fact, that sparked this story and trip in the first place.) When we spoke on the phone, he mentioned a new film with Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt. Rain or not, I'm just looking forward to meeting this guy - primarily so I can gush about his good fortune and ask him whether Christina Ricci is as creepy as she seems on screen.

The current project, I learn, is called Bounce, a romantic drama being produced for Miramax. Federici works as an assistant to producer Michael Besman, whose previous credits include Sleepless in Seattle and As Good as It Gets. Together they offer creative input, troubleshoot, and basically make sure, as Federici explains it, that "everything is working out right." If the director has a problem, he goes to the producer. If an actor's wearing the wrong shirt, or his hair looks funny, it's the producer's job to figure out how to fix it. As we speak, Federici is leading the search for a composer for the film score, and watching the weather in Chicago (apparently the film's opening shot requires a major snow storm).

By and large, however, Federici's job with Bounce, now in the edit stage, is done. Which means it's back to the development work that takes up most of his time. Federici's job with Besman is somewhat the movie equivalent of what Wax does for Fox: search out new ideas, stories and scripts and then attempt to develop them into commercially viable projects, ideally with a shooting script and a director or known star "attached" to the project. The goal: a "greenlight" from a studio to shoot the picture.

"It becomes a 24-hour process ... When you go home at night, you should be writing, reading, watching TV, and looking for ideas. Or going to parties and talking to writers and actors. There's not a moment to lose. It never ends."

As with Wax, Federici's job seems more about work than perks. "It's been the toughest two years of my life," he says of his time in film development. (After graduating from Haverford, Federici spent two years at an advertising startup in Tribeca, followed by a short stint at Universal Talent Agency.) "It becomes a 24-hour process; you don't know where the next idea is going to come from. When you go home at night, you should be writing, reading, watching TV, and looking for ideas. Or going to parties and talking to writers and actors. There's not a moment to lose. It never ends."

As Federici continues, the overcast skies seem fitting: like the view out his window, Federici's outlook on Hollywood is decidedly bleak. "People are less educated and intellectual here," he says. "They do business by the throat. It becomes demoralizing." Especially taxing, Federici observes, is the way Hollywood higher-ups lean on their underlings in their desperate search for the next big project. "There's some myth or ideal that they're royalty," he explains. "They're treated like superhumans. They feel they can beat up on people and treat them horribly and that it's their right because there are so many people who want to get into film. It's sickening, it's disgusting...Producers come out of offices looking like abused children."

Federici is leaving Hollywood - not the industry, exactly, but the town. He'll begin MBA work at Babson in the fall, and hopes to start his own international film distribution company after he finishes. His focus, he tells me, will be on "specialty" films like Breaking the Waves and An Ideal Husband, movies he feels are untainted by the assembly-line approach of the American studio system. "Movies here are made to get the largest audience," he complains. "It's not like a museum where you bring people in to show them what you've created. Instead you find out what they want and give it to them."

As I head for my next meeting (in my sleek powder-white Dodge Neon), I ponder Federici's comments. Here I am all excited by the Lakers and Gwyneth Paltrow, and he can't get out of Hollywood fast enough. Why would anyone want to live here? If it's going to rain all the time anyway, you might as well live in Seattle. At least you'll be able to get a good cup of coffee.