“A Star Is Born” Screening And Conversation With Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper and Sam Elliott!
I was lucky enough to attend a special screening of “A Star Is Born”, followed by a terrific conversation with the film’s star and Director Bradley Cooper, star Lady Gaga and co-star Sam Elliott!
One of the funniest moments featured Elliott’s VOICE – more in a moment.
It was a great night: a screening of the movie and then a conversation about the making of the film.
As they entered the theater, Gaga went to Sam and gave him this big hug:
She then turned and did the same to Bradley Cooper – note that the film’s closing credits were still rolling as the cast hit the stage, which is why you see the words above them:
This is happening all over Hollywood: special industry screenings and conversations about the films vying for awards.
My wife and I were looking forward to this one, because the film is so good – the Q & A covered many topics about the making of the film – as Cooper pointed out, it was a fairly minuscule $38 million budget and he had only 42 days of filming – but the camaraderie between cast and crew made it work.
The audience was enthralled with great stories about making the film, and how each Actor brought something unique to the project:
Bradley and Sam kept referring to Gaga as Stephanie, which is of course her real name, and she was candid about how unusual it was for her to turn over all creative control to Cooper, who also directed.
Gaga was articulate and passionate about the film, pointing out that while she does most of the creative work on her music and videos, she knew she had to trust Cooper – and said the cast became a true family during filming:
Cooper told a funny story about how he decided that Sam Elliott had the most velvety voice he’d ever heard, and so he fashioned his character on that – then invited Sam over to his house to ask him to be in the film – and played him a tape of Cooper singing like he imagined his “Sam Elliott Influenced” character:
Everyone laughed as Cooper told the story, and Sam added that he was surprised but handled that meeting very well, telling the audience that as he walked out of that original meeting he thought: “I’ve got this part – otherwise he has to learn a whole new voice!”
Thanks to the Producers Guild of America and Warner Brothers for the screening and conversation – a great way to get more insight into the creative process behind the film.
By the way, “A Star Is Born” is a great film, with terrific new songs and incredible performances. It will surely be a major awards contender this season, so look for it to be nominated for EVERYTHING.
Let me share a bit of the magic: the music video that has scenes from the film and also showcases the moment in the film when Bradley Cooper calls Lady Gaga out on stage to sing her song “Shallow”:
I have posted about the film before, and if you haven’t seen it yet – do so now! Here is a trailer that shows just how good it is:
https://johnrieber.com/2018/06/06/new-a-star-is-born-trailer-lady-gaga-wows-bradley-cooper-sings/
Let me know if you’ve seen it yet!
Categories: Academy Awards, Art, Awards, Books / Media, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, Uncategorized
johnrieber 
I assume this is due to you being a member of the PGA and part of Warners Oscar’s ca.paign for the film. In which case…that’s friggen awesome. How cool to be in the PGA and how cool to get to listen creatives talk about one of the better films of this year and hear their passion. Nice post John.
LikeLike
Yes, Lloyd it’s part of the Warner oscar campaign: and it’s great to attend these and hear from the Artists involved!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very cool John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow. I’m not sure what excited me most about reading your post. I think I was sitting on the edge of your seat gobsmacked about seeing these people in real life. They’re not people I follow at all and I live in a fairly lay back beach community so her gown looked like something from another planet, which is probably true for her as well but I love it when you can get that personal insight into how someone else lives and what it’s like to walk in their shoes for a bit, especially when they do something extraordinary out of my realms of experience. It sounds like it was a huge deal for Lady Gaga to let go of creative control and a good life lesson for her as well. Everyone needs to get go and ride with the waves sometime.
Best wishes,
Rowena
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, that’s a great point: ride the wave, don’t try to go against the natural flow of things in order to maintain control…she did and it paid off for her! Thanks for the comment!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, John. I am a firm believer in collaboration, not that I get to put it into practice much atm. I used to be marketing manager for an IT company. I was strong on the meet and greet and communications side of things, but barely technical at all. Some of our campaigns really benefited from working with the more practical people who are general the blockers when it comes to getting anything creative off the ground. It’s good to get a range of personality types working together on a project to give it added depth.
Best wishes,
Rowena
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh wow! What a treat! I have seen the trailer to the film and it looks excellent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s an excellent film, my choice as best of 2018
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a wonderful experience. I’vew heard the film is great but the conversation sounds awesome.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was, and the film is terrific as well – a worthy addition to the “Star Is Born” canon
LikeLiked by 1 person
How sweet you and yours attended such a fun Q&A!!!
I loved the film. Excellent, John!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes we loved the conversation from all three, great perspective from them – my third time seeing it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know you like the film, John. I have also read many other positive reviews. The Q&A looks like a good event, you were lucky to be there for that.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Pete, if you enjoyed any of the previous versions, this is a strong continuation of the “remake” pattern…the approach to the male role is different in many ways
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love the Judy Garland version the best, but I appreciate it is the story for a new generation.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Agree Pete, Judy’s is flawless but this one is really really good as well…Bradley Cooper set it in the music world for both characters which added an interesting new perspective
LikeLiked by 2 people