Crispin Hellion Glover is perhaps best known for his whimsical roles in films such as Back to the Future or Charlie’s Angels or his creepy roles in movies like The Wizard of Gore.  But when his bizarre charisma is not being utilized in front of the camera, Crispin is hard at work on his own film projects.  In fact, his fans who know him from mainstream movies might be surprised to learn that he has spent more than a decade working on a series of art films that have played film festivals worldwide and been seen at special screening events.  He prefers to screen his movies in a special setting in which Crispin may read his poetry or provide a performance art piece.  The first feature was What is it? and featured a cast comprised mostly of actors with Down’s syndrome.  The second in the series, It is fine!  Everything is fine! stars cerebral palsy-afflicted Steven C. Stewart who provides a welcome charm within the film’s strange series of events.

In between film roles, Crispin is hard at work on this third and final film for his “It” trilogy.  The next film in the series is titled It is Mine and the release date is tentatively set for 2010, but that could change.  I corresponded with him recently while he was on the set working with Tim Burton on his upcoming Alice in Wonderland re-imagining.

You’ve taken a very DIY approach to your film’s release turning it into something of an event – part screening/part live theater .  Has this tour approach been successful in terms of introducing audiences to movies that go beyond the multiplex?
Crispin Glover: I perform a one hour dramatic narration of eight different books I have made over the years. The books are taken from old books from the 1800s that have been changed into different books from what they originally were. They are heavily illustrated with original drawings and reworked images and photographs. When I first started publishing the books in 1987, people said I should have book readings. The books are so heavily illustrated and the way the illustrations are used within helps to tell the story.  So the only way for the books to make sense was to have visual representations of the images. This is why I knew a slide show was necessary. It took awhile, but in 1992 I started performing what I used to call Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Side Show. People got confused as to what that is so now always let it be known that it is a one-hour dramatic narration of eight different books that I have made over the years. After the dramatic narration of the eight different books I present the film “What is it?” which is 72 minutes.

What else can people expect?
Crispin Glover: After I show the film, I have a Q and A session with the audience. This has become an extremely important part of the show particularly after showing What is it?  The film deals with many taboo elements and audiences can have very strong questioning after the film and it is important to not explain the film to people in terms of symbols and meaning.  But it is important to put the film in context of What is it? and let people know that this is not just an exercise in something random – there are specific reasons why what is being reacted to within these films is important.  During the Q & A I show the preview for the sequel to What is it?, titled It is fine! Everything is fine. This film I show on a subsequent evening with a different slide show I now call Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show II. After the slide shows I have a book singing in the lobby. My books are available and I stay until everyone has had their books signed or additional questions answered. I will be touring with the films for many years to come so if people want to know where I will be with what films, they should sign up at CrispinGlover.com and I will e-mail them when and where I am playing.

Would traditional film distribution or touring work for your “Side Show”?
Crispin Glover: There have been smaller distribution companies interested in distributing the films. I have more wherewithal than they would.  I am theatrically distributing these films, in a more unusual fashion.  But 100 years ago it would be the norm and it would be called “Vaudeville.” For various reasons it makes the most sense to distribute these films in this fashion. I am protective of the content for financial reasons and because there is sensitive material in both the films, I have discovered that the forum that I have after the film is shown is extremely important – the audience interaction with this Q & A session is really quite imperative for these films.

Does the difficult subject matter of your films make it more of a challenge for them to be seen?

Cripin Glover: There are specific festivals that it has made sense for me to attend with these films. In the US I only went to Sundance and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. I went to Ann Arbor because it is the oldest experimental film festival in the US, and it seemed like What is it? had the possibility of getting an award, which it did. It won best narrative film of 2005. Because I tour with the films, I have to be careful with festival appearances in any given area. If a significant amount of the audience that comes out to theaters already has paid to see the show at the festival then they will not necessarily come back to see it at a second time when I am able to recoup on my investment. What people pay for the ticket usually goes to the festival and not to the filmmaker. Now that the films have been around for awhile and have a reputation of being interesting and drawing attendance, I have started to be able to have certain festivals share the recoup with me.

Because of your celebrity, is it as easy for you as just asking a major festival or venue to play your film?
Crispin Glover: When I have a new film, I have to submit like everyone else.  I definitely have been aware of the element of utilizing the fact that I am known from work in the corporate media I have done in the last 25 years or so. This is something I rely on for when I go on tour with my films, and has helped immensely in the acceptance of the films to festivals.

Is there any possible way your trilogy could have seen traditional distribution outside of the festival circuit?
Crispin Glover: To be clear I have not yet made part three of the trilogy, only parts one and two. I also have distributed both the films outside of the festival circuit. In fact I have only played What is it? at Sundance and The And Arbor Film Festival and It is fine! Everything is fine. at the Sundance film festival.  I will recoup my monetary investment in these films by distributing them myself theatrically throughout the US and the world.  That being said, this is a very slow and difficult way of recouping.

How do you balance mainstream film acting and making your indie films?
Crispin Glover: Since about the year 2000 I have been acting in films with the concept of being able to fund my own films. This makes the monetary element of the films I am acting in extremely important, as funding feature films is expensive. Every actor has different reasons for acting in a film weather it is a studio film or a so called “independent” film. My reasons have certainly changed and I am sure will continue to change. I specifically started funding my own films with the money I make from acting, when Steven C. Stewart’s lung collapsed, this was around the same time that the first Charlie’s Angels film was coming to me. I realized with the money I made from that film I could put straight in to the Steven C. Stewart film. That is exactly what happened.

Your films confront audiences with many taboos, which can’t make them easy to get made, even by funding them yourself?
Crispin Glover: It is important to show What is it? first because it sets up going into taboo subject matter to the extent so that when people view It is fine! Everything is fine! the taboo element is not what becomes important but the emotional content of the film. The two films have thematic similarities but are very different kinds of film. It is fine! Everything is fine! deals with the emotional catharsis of the main character played by the author of the screenplay, Steven C. Stewart, who was born with a severe case of cerebral palsy.

That’s a pretty bold move to cast someone with cerebral palsy in the lead role rather than traditional casting.  How did that come about?
Crispin Glover: Steven C. Stewart had written his screenplay in the late 1970s. I read it in 1986 and as soon as I had read it I knew I had to produce the film. Steve had been locked in a nursing home for about ten years when his mother died.  He had been born with a severe case of cerebral palsy and was very difficult to understand. People that were caring for him in the nursing home would derisively call him an “M.R.” short for “Mental Retard.” This is not a nice thing to say to anyone, but Steve was of normal intelligence. When he did get out he wrote his screenplay. Although it is written in the genre of a murder detective thriller, truths of his own existence come through much more clearly than if he had written it as a standard autobiography. I feel It is fine! Everything is fine! will probably be the best film I will have anything to do with in my entire career.

You experienced many struggles to get your films made, including the death of your lead actor – how did that impact the process?
Crispin Glover: Both What is it? and It is fine! Everything is fine! were relatively complex productions. I set out two make simpler productions but in retrospect they really were not. Now after having produced these two productions I see what a truly less complex production is and that is what I plan to do next.
So back to the year 2000, I finished acting in Charlie’s Angels and then went to Salt Lake City where Steven C. Stewart lived. I met with Steve and David Brothers with whom I co-directed the film. I went back to LA and acted in a lower budget film for about five weeks and David Brothers started building the sets. Then I went straight back to Salt Lake and we completed shooting the film within about six months in three separate smaller productions. Then Steve died within a month after we finished shooting. I am relieved to have gotten this film finally completed because ever since I read the screenplay in 1987 I knew I had to produce the film and also produce it correctly. I would not have felt right if I had not gotten Steve’s film made, I would have felt that I had done something wrong and that I had actually done a bad thing if I had not gotten it made. So I am greatly relieved to have completed it especially since I am very pleased with how well the film has turned out.
After Charlie’s Angels came out it was good for my acting career. I started getting better roles that also paid better and I could continue using that money to finance my films that I am so truly passionate about. I have been able to divorce myself from the content of the films that I act in and look at acting as a craft that I am helping other filmmakers to accomplish what it is that they want to do. Sometimes the films I act in are interesting and I like the films. Sometimes that is not the case. Usually filmmakers have hired me because there is something they have felt would be interesting to accomplish with using me in their film and usually I can try to do something interesting as an actor. If for some reason the director is not truly interested in doing something that I personally find interesting with the character then I can console myself that with the money I am making to be in their production I can help to fund my own films that I am so truly passionate about. Usually though I feel as though I am able to get something across as an actor that I feel good about. It has worked out well!

Aside from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, what else are you working on?
Crispin Glover: The next project I work on will not be part three of the “It” trilogy but it will be something outside of the trilogy. It will be good to work on a somewhat different thematic venture. Also as I own property in the Czech Republic that I have property on which I am making a small sound stage to continue making my own films. It is a different culture there and a different language. I need to start out there with less complex productions.

It is Fine! Everything is Fine trailer (WARNING: R-rated):

By Chris Gore