Author: The Committee Movie

Gary Austin (October 18, 1941 – April 1, 2017)

The Committee Movie

Gary Austin - Camera B

We lost another pioneer this week with the death of Gary Austin. When The Committee started its run at The Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles, Gary joined the cast in San Francisco under the direction of Del Close, and he was part of the company when it made its early breakthroughs in longform improvisational theater. Austin continued on with The Committee with various ensembles under various directors, evidently soaking up everything he quickly learned. It’s hard to imagine that The Committee’s cultural influence would be so widespread without Austin to evangelize their work. The Groundlings, which Austin founded in 1974, became a force in comedy that for years was matched only by The Second City in the talent that it attracted and nurtured. As a teacher of acting for forty years, Austin helped players bring their full selves to the stage and to play at the top of their intelligence. Thanks, Gary, for your commitment to elevating the art form and for your life of service. 

Fragmented, Illogical, Unpredictable.

The Committee Movie
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“The Committee Workshop style is almost the complete opposite of the Stanislavsky Method. ‘The Emotional Symphony’ where each member is assigned a different emotion to emit in the form of a sound upon the conductor’s cue breaks every rule of Method Acting. There is no character analysis, no logic, no build-up or reason for the emotions, only the emotions themselves. Somehow, the fragmented, illogical, and unpredictable nature of The Games more closely represents the workings of the human mind than the logical constancy and fixed identity portraits typical of O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Clifford Odets, etc.” – Judith Meyer, “The Games are the New Theatre”, Los Angeles Free Press, September 6, 1968 (thanks to Chris Smith, via Tamara Wilcox-Smith).

 

 

Talking The Committee on “SK Morton’s Lousy San Francisco” podcast.

The Committee Movie

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Earlier this month we joined San Francisco history and culture maven SK Morton on his podcast SK Morton’s Lousy San Francisco Podcast to talk about The Committee, The San Francisco Improv Festival, and our personal histories in uncomfortable detail. We even do a little improv at the end. Enjoy, it’s a fun listen and if we got anything wrong, holler.

Grateful.

The Committee Movie
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courtesy of The Digger Archives. www.diggers.org

It’s been a week since we presented a five minute sneak-peek of our film to a live audience. It was the first new material that we’ve presented in a while that shows off the depth of the material that we’ve uncovered, in addition to choice interviews, including interviews with Committee co-founder Latifah Taormina and Howard Hesseman. As we have said in the past, we are between production and post-production, editing the material that we have assembled into a rough story, while still looking forward to interviews that are outstanding and crucial to our story.

Since we are not focussed on edits that will be presented to the public online, we can now truly play with our sandbox, including the vast amounts of material that we’ve identified that we will need but for which we have not yet secured the rights. This project has been a joy from day one, but now that we’re getting into the edit, it’s getting really fun, and our subject’s broad, deep appeal is becoming more and more evident.

The clip that we showed at The San Francisco Improv Festival was edited by Jamie Wright as part of an application process that we were in the midst of. The edit focussed on The Committee’s activism and the difference between The Committee and The Second City. We chose material that was super-timely, both to issues in the culture like Black Lives Matter and a certain Presidential candidate’s shameless demonization of immigrants. The edit was edgy (trigger warning!) but well received by our audience. We will continue to shape this story and will show material regularly in the Bay Area and beyond as we identify funding sources and continue to build awareness. To keep posted on our progress, follow us on Facebook or watch this space.

 

Who Says Satire Has a Limited Shelf Life?

The Committee Movie

Forty-Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, to stand for the National Anthem reminds us of how The Committee depicted a similar instance of non-violent resistance. As spot-on today as it was almost 50 years ago, The Committee’s “Star Spangled Banner” scene is emblematic of their vision of American nationalism, the militarism at the heart of our national identity, and what happens to protesters who won’t stand up and salute the flag. This clip is from 1969’s “A Session with The Committee”, but the scene goes back with the company to 1966 at least.  Featuring Peter Bonerz, Barbara Bosson, Carl Gottlieb, Christopher Ross, Garry Goodrow, Howard Hesseman, Jessica Myerson, and Mel Stewart. #respect #Kaepernick #nationalanthem