TV Commercial Production with Paul Newman: Excerpt from Author Ben Bryant’s “Circumstances Beyond my Control”

During my four decades of

TV commercial production

as actor, producer, First AD and director one of the easiest actors I ever worked with was Paul Newman. Here’s one of the stories about him from my second book, Circumstances Beyond my Control.

“In July of 1981 I did the first of three shoots for Nissan cars (Japan) with Paul Newman. He didn’t do commercials for our TV but he did for theirs and all his (considerable) fees went to the Newman’s Own Foundation (as did all the profits from the foods sold under the “Newman’s Own” label). …

“I had been scouting Bridgehampton track on Long Island but it was in poor condition and there were no good places for the car beauty shot. We ended up at Lime Rock race track in the north west corner of Connecticut and at a very picturesque upscale Bed & Breakfast Inn for the beauty shot.

“Before I go on let me tell you about Paul Newman. In my actor period as well as in my producer/AD period I worked with a lot of stars, many of whom I’ve already written about and a few more to come, but Paul was in a class by himself. Not only was he one of our greatest actors he was one of the all-time biggest movie stars. And he was the most easygoing, down-to-earth guy one could ever meet. The first indication I got of his attitude was that, in their excessive kowtowing to him, the Japanese had hired a limo to drive him to location. He would have none of that and drove himself to the location. Paul Newman wanted no special treatment.”

Click to get Circumstances Beyond My Control

This part I forgot when writing the book: At the Lime Rock track we were doing a mild automotive gag, a short fly-through-the-air off a low – 12 to 18 inch – ramp. For this ridiculously un-dangerous shot a stunt driver had been hired. Paul wanted to do it but the Japanese and PMC’s insurance companies wouldn’t allow such expensive talent to take even a minimal risk. So we got loud, obnoxious “precision driver”, Sonny who numbered among his many charms a fondness for the sauce. Poor Mark Siegel was assigned as his handler and he did the best he could but ole Sonny was as un-handleable as they come. The next morning he wasn’t hungover, he was still drunk and clearly in no shape even to drive a car much less execute a precision stunt. While Mark drove him to the train station Paul’s stand-in was enlisted and was happy to drive the ramp and make some extra money.

We had a rookie Production Assistant on the shoot, a nice kid boasting a shiny new M. A. degree from NYU film school. He stuck pretty close to me and at one point I asked him to go to the truck to get an apple box. He took off running, stopped in his tracks and turned to me. “What’s an apple box?”, he asked. An “apple”, a rectangular box made of ¾” plywood, is one of the most common and versatile tools used on shoots. This intelligent young man had spent four years (and
God knows how much of somebody’s money) in a school that was supposed to teach him filmmaking and he didn’t know what an apple box was. That’s all I have to say about film schools. Now, back to the excerpt:

“Another aspect of the reverential attitude our clients had toward Newman-san was their desire to take it as easy as possible on him. They behaved as if they thought making even the minimum professional demands on him might cause him to quit on the spot. When shooting film one never, under any but the most extremely prohibitive conditions, does a single take of any scene. No matter how perfect the shot you always do at least one more for safety. Myriad things could go wrong with film so that chance is simply not taken.”

On Location at Lime Rock

Paul Newman & author Ben Bryant: On Location at Lime Rock

“The so-called beauty shot of the slick looking little red Nissan sports car that ended the commercial was done at night in the driveway of a very lovely old Inn not far from the track. Paul, looking every inch the handsome movie star in a tux, walked down the stairs while admiring the car, got in and drove into the night. The camera was on a crane and as the action began it was up in the air. As Paul approached the car it boomed down to a medium shot of him as he got in then pulled back and away as he drove out of the driveway.

“With the stand-in we rehearsed and refined the shot for a couple of hours before it was completely dark. Once night had fallen we tweaked the lighting and rehearsed some more. Paul watched the last few rehearsals and when the DP was satisfied with the camera move and the lighting we did one rehearsal with him which was, of course, perfect.

“Then we shot it. Also perfect. Paul drove back to the start mark as the Japanese conferred. The director then told us it was a wrap. Neither Paul nor I could believe our ears. They weren’t even processing the film in New York but taking it to a lab in Tokyo. If something technical was wrong with the shot they were screwed. Paul looked at me and quietly said, “Are these guys nuts?”

“I gave the grip a “hold everything” signal and brought George over to the car and Paul. Together we explained the insanity of doing a single take and George told Paul (looks like I’m talking bout the Beatles) that the Japanese didn’t want to impose on him. Paul thought this was hilarious and insisted that we do at least one more take and we both lobbied for two. I think this is called protecting people from themselves. So we did two more takes and the shoot was over.”

There’s more Paul Newman TV commercial production in the book.

Click to get Circumstances Beyond My Control

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