CNY: When you were growing up in Marlton, New Jersey, when did you first know you wanted to be a film director?
BH: I loved movies growing up. I literally would watch, I remember in the 1980s the first movie I saw in the theatre was The Empire Strikes Back). I remember that and saying “How did they do that. What is that? How do I do that?” And once we got a betamax machine I was able to watch movies over and over again. So I remember watching Raiders of the Lost Ark three times in a row, just enamored with it. My parents were always very supportive with whatever my sister and I wanted to do and I had so much fun watching movies, that I never thought you could actually do it for a living. I thought when you grow up and get a job it’s not supposed to be fun – it’s a job after all. I was actually on my way to becoming a veterinarian. It wasn’t until my parents got me a camera when I was in eighth grade and I started making my own short films – little animated videos. I remember one of my first videos starred my C-3PO action figure. I made movies of him getting lost in the refrigerator. In high school I took a class in video production. I really enjoyed the class, but never really considered entering such a risky business. As a matter of fact, by senior year of high school I had already been looking at the University of Pennsylvania for Veterinary School. But then I turned in my senior year video thesis project. And that changed everything. I wound up making this video for my senior class which involved 381 kids doing a choreographed song and dance to the Four Seasons’ “Walk Like a Man” and “Oh What a Night”. It included not only the students but it also included the faculty of the school. I wound up showing it on Senior Night for all of my peers and the faculty in the cafeteria on a projection screen. This was the closest to a movie premiere I could get... and it was the best night of my life. The students gave me a standing ovation, my heart was full…and I got an “A” on the project. So that really sealed the deal for me. I was addicted, and my family supported my decision for me to get on this crazy rollercoaster.
CNY: Your alma mater is Ithaca College in Upstate New York. As an undergrad student there, did you ever think you’d end up where you are now – in Hollywood sharing the spotlight with Jay Leno, producing for Extra, starring in and co-directing My Date with Drew and working on major motion pictures?
BH: You know what? I have to say I didn’t know it was going to be those things specifically. I sure as heck did not ever anticipate being in front of the camera like on The Tonight Show or Extra that came from being in My Date with Drew. I was always about directing. I knew that I was taking that chance to make a living in entertainment and if I was going to make it as a director, then I would really have to make it happen. So when I left Ithaca – I graduated in December of ’97, it wasn’t until 2003 that I was able to shoot My Date with Drew. For that amount of time it was really just about surviving – keeping a roof over my head, networking, creating and fostering relationships in the business that would eventually help me out and help me through. During that time I met my mentor,(deleted) Bill D’Elia, who actually graduated from Ithaca as well. He was the executive producer of Chicago Hope, and was David E. Kelley’s right-hand guy. I met Bill through a twist of fate in L.A and (deleted) he gave me a job as a Production Assistant; which as you may know is the bottom of the totem pole scenario. I did that at Chicago Hope for two years, but I was the Producer’s PA which granted me front row access when Bill was directing Chicago Hope, or guest directing episodes of “The West Wing”, commercials, etc. Also, when any of the guest directors were directing Chicago Hope, I would hover over their shoulders as well. I learned more about film-making from them than I ever did from a text book. When Bill took over “Ally McBeal” I went there as his assistant. He was the executive producer of Ally and I was there for three and a half years. I learned what it took to run a set and what it was like to direct actors who all had very different approaches to their respective characters. Even though I was working twelve hour days, I also used the facilities at 20th Century Fox, home to both Chicago Hope and “Ally McBeal”, to make my own short films. That’s where I was really able to start putting together my Director’s Reel.
CNY: Tell me about your first big film: My Date with Drew. How did that all come together?
BH: It kind of came together out of frustration. I came out to L.A. to make movies and I didn’t know what else I needed to do to make that happen. I thought I went above and beyond with my reel, making my own shorts and proving to anybody and everybody that I could direct and handle it –not to mention nobody made a better cup of coffee than I did, nobody copied a script better than I did and nobody showed more enthusiasm than I did. I didn’t know what else to do. At the time, I had worked my way up from being a Production Assistant to being the Assistant to the Executive Producer and then I worked my way up from that to being unemployed. It was really hard because Bill took a year off and he could do that because he’s a millionaire. So I had to survive at that point.
I took a job working in a post-production facility on the graveyard shift. Handing out editing supplies to editors for trailers and such. It was just tough, really tough. I kind of hit my wall where I didn’t know how much longer I could do this without getting something out of it in terms of financially, but more importantly creatively…I just wanted to direct. Then a friend of mine told me about a game show that was looking for contestants. I decided to go on the audition and I wound up getting on the show and which was called Taboo and based on the board game. I won the grand prize which was $1100. The winning answer that won me the money was “Drew Barrymore”, who honestly I had a crush on since I was six years old. She was the girl on the poster in my bedroom growing up in New Jersey. She was my dream girl. And I said, “You know what? I could use this money to get through another month of bills… OR I could use that money to try and do something life-changing.” Because Drew was the term that won me the money, I was going to try and meet her and try to achieve something that if I were able to accomplish that, then I would be able to accomplish anything. To me that was my Mount Everest. It was a time in my life where I had to give everything 100% and try. And I have to say, I talked to Brett and Jon about it on Friday and we started shooting on Monday morning. We really just went right into it. We joined up with Kerry, and from that day on, every day since, has been the best day of my life. I woke up with a smile on my face every morning, even though I didn’t know if I was going to get a date with Drew or even have a movie at all. We very well might just have wound up with a video that was documenting what we did last summer. But just going after it and trying made me feel excellent. That was what it was about. If Drew said yes, great. If she said no, at least I know I gave it my best shot and tried.
CNY: How did you meet Jon and Brett?
BH: Brett and I actually grew up together in New Jersey but he is three years older than I am. So he would hang out with my older cousin while I was hanging out with my younger cousin and we’d see each other at family functions. He would be with the older kids and I would be hanging out with the younger kids so I never really saw him. He also went to Ithaca, and it wasn’t until college that we became really close friends. His senior year was my freshman year. So we met at a diner in New Jersey . He was producing a TV show for the college television station called Semesters. He hired me as not the assistant to the producer but the Assistant Producer; he created a title for me. And then I took over the show when he graduated at the end of that semester. Jon was friends with Brett, and I met him through Brett on the way to Ithaca College. Jon had grown up in New Jersey as well but I didn’t know him as I was growing up. Brett, Jon and I really hit it off in college and when I moved to L.A. they were the only two people I knew in L.A. and so we’re really close, still close. Jon just finished directing his follow-up feature to My Date with Drew at the same time I was directing mine. Kerry produced that film, called “Like Dandelion Dust”, and Brett is now a big time VP of Theatrical Marketing at Disney.
CNY: Now going back to the story with Drew Barrymore. What’s the story behind the camera you used to shoot the movie?
BH: Well, we only had $1100. That was barely enough to pay for craft service on a studio movie, let alone make an entire film. We couldn’t afford to buy a really good video camera. We wound up going to Circuit City where they have a 30 day return policy, got the camera with Brett’s credit card, knowing that we had to return the camera in 30 days to get his money back, so that gave me a deadline of 30 days to make My Date with Drew.
CNY: Have there been any specific instances when you knew filmmaking was the path for you?
BH: I have to be honest with you; I always knew I wanted to make movies. I just didn’t know I could make a living doing something I love. I had to take that risk and choose to pursue a profession that was not by any means a sturdy living or a guaranteed success. So when I made that decision in high school I knew I had to do the best I could to make it work.
CNY: We’re doing this interview with me in New Jersey and you in Chicago. Can you tell me what you’re working on out in Chi-town?
BH: I just finished directing a movie called Baby on Board. It’s a four and a half million dollar romantic comedy that stars Heather Graham, Jerry O’Connell, John Corbett and Lara Flynn Boyle. We finished shooting about a week and a half ago and I’m in post-production on it. I’m editing the movie, so I’m here for another four weeks and then I head back to L.A.
CNY: What’s it like working with Jerry and Heather and John?
BH: Terrific. I couldn’t ask for a better cast to work with. They’re so nice, very professional and I really think between Heather, Jerry and John, as well as Katie Finneran who plays John’s wife, they really not only nailed the material, but they brought such great qualities to these characters that were not on the page. It was a real joy to watch them go through this organic process of bringing these people to life and elevating the material. Lara was perfectly cast to play Heather’s boss and I firmly believe this is Heather’s best performance since Boogie Nights. She really took the reigns on this and I think the audience will be surprised at what kind of a Lucille Ball quality she has for physical comedy. Jerry is a genius in terms of just – he’s really just hysterical. Both he and Corbett blow my mind how in every scene, they are so in tune with both the comedy and the pathos of every moment. And Katie, a Tony award-winning actress, was a revelation. I was really lucky to get this cast together for this movie because they really knocked this out of the park.
CNY: Who was your favorite film director and why?
BH: Oh Steven Spielberg. I know you hear your Spielbergs and your Coppolas and your Scorseses talking about the filmmakers that inspired them. Those are the movies they watched growing up that made them want to get into filmmaking. For me the movies by Spielberg inspired me when I was growing up; the fantasies, the movies that allow you to escape your every day life for two hours or so and enter another world. To me those are the movies that sparked my imagination and I want to make those movies. Spielberg’s stories, innovation and visual craftsmanship are really the best thing that ever happened to film since Charlie Chaplin.
CNY: What sets Brian Herzlinger apart from any other director?
BH: My body hair. My extreme love for pizza and macaroni and cheese. All I can say is I’m very passionate – it’s not a job for me, it’s something that every time I step onto a set of a film I am making, I’m living a dream come true. So I think when you have that element, and I’m not saying no other director has that, but anyone who loves what they do. I think that gives them the edge over someone else who is just doing it for a paycheck. I just wanted to make movies and I’m finally getting the opportunity to do so. I love the highs and I love the lows and it’s all worth it when you’re sitting in a theater with an audience full of strangers who are laughing, crying and cheering at moments in your movie and you can say, “I did that.” I think that’s the best feeling in the world.
CNY: Professionally speaking, who has inspired you the most at this point in your career and how?
BH: You can take it from the Spielberg question. He’s definitely been an inspiration in terms of filmmaking for me and Bill D’Elia. Bill really inspired me in terms of watching somebody who is a terrific guy, a generous guy, a New York/Jersey boy who not only is great at what he does but also surrounds himself with great people that he wants to work with that want to give one-hundred percent. I think that’s key. I was very fortunate to be reared in an environment in L.A. where the Chicago Hope and “Ally McBeal” crews and cast were all people who were like a family. To be surrounded with a work environment like that spoiled me to the point where I thought every show and movie worked like this and that’s definitely not the case. Bill really created an environment that was so conducive to me learning about filmmaking and it was so easy and he was an open book. I asked him question after question for six years and he would always give me thought-provoking answers and would always take the time to make sure that I was taken care of. He really has become family. And of course my family has been so supportive of me. They’re definitely the biggest inspiration for me.
CNY: What has been the biggest challenge in getting where you are today?
BH: Persevering. Basically entertainment is a roadless industry. If you want to be a doctor you go to college, go to medical school, do your residency and become a doctor. If you want to be a lawyer you go to law school, you pass the BAR and you’re a lawyer. If you want to be a filmmaker, an actor, a writer – whatever, there are no roads on how to do that. So how do you do that? How do you create a road in a roadless industry? It was just finding that path that was really hard and surviving the hard times. I’ll quote Bill D’Elia. He said the three things you need to make it in this business are “Perseverance, perseverance and perseverance.” And eventually those three things change. After you’ve been in it a while, the three things you need are “Perseverance, perseverance and talent.” For me it’s a question of, if you want it badly enough then you have to stick it through. And that’s what I did. It took me ten years to be that overnight success.
CNY: What’s next for Brian Herzlinger?
BH: I was made an offer to direct a feature in L.A. It’s a $30 million movie called Mental, and my team has just closed the deal for me to co-write and to direct. I’ll be shooting it in L.A. I’m going to continue doing correspondent work with The Tonight Show then next up after “Mental” is getting my own scripts made. One is called “Before Christmas” and the other is a road trip comedy called Three for the Road. By the way, the majority of my scripts I have co-written with one of my best friends in the world, a guy named Jay Black. I’ve known him since fourth grade, we grew up together and he’s the number one stand-up college comic in the country. He’s a guy that went on his own and figured out his way to achieve his dream of being a stand-up comic. He and I are going to be rewriting Mental with me directing it and he and I have numerous projects on the slate that we’ve written together that we’re going to get made. His website is Jayblackcomedy.com. He’s hysterical, he’s a great guy and I couldn’t ask for a better writing partner.
CNY: What advice would you give to filmmakers trying to make it today?
BH: The best advice I could give is: do not give up. If you want to do this you have to want it more than you think you do because you have to make it happen for yourself. It’s really an industry where it’s really survival of the fittest. I came out to L.A. in a bubble dreaming of doing this and the purity and innocence of just wanting to make a movie. I promised myself that if it gets to a point where the business bursts my bubble, and I become jaded and don’t love it anymore, then I would stop doing it. And I’ll tell you, the bubble has been poked, prodded and it is very bruised… but it is still not broken. If you really want to do this you have to keep that bubble around you just to not lose sight of why you got into it in the first place, why you want to do it. If you have a story to tell, tell it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the money to tell your story. It doesn’t always take $10 million to tell a story on film. I made a movie with $1100, a video camera, no tripod, no lights, no external microphones, edited it on a laptop computer and it became the fourth most profitable film of all time. There’s no excuse for you not to go and make your movie and tell your story.
