Pollywood (2020) - full transcript

Yeah, but I'm going to ceremony.
How to go there?

Sir, you have to keep moving now.

-Polish Filmmakers Association.
-What's this?

I am filmmaker. This is
Polish Filmmakers Association.

Ok.

Hope they don't notice I'm late
with my membership fee.

Go down the Sunset and make it right
and they'll direct you after that.

There is my credentials in the theatre,
in the office, to a reception desk.

You'll have to call someone
to bring them out to you, man.

I've got a letter from Andrzej Wajda,
who received Oscar three years ago,

to Steven Spielberg, his friend.



I'm from Polish Filmmakers Association
and they're waiting for me.

You don't have any credential,
it's way too late to get any credentials

and, as a result,
you're not gonna get inside.

-Even with this?
-Even with that.

But you know that Polish
people founded Hollywood.

100 years ago, Warner brothers,
Goldwyn, they came from Poland.

-Hi.
-Hi.

The security told me
to go this way. Highland.

POLLYWOOD

One year earlier, in Poland

Life writes
the strangest of stories.

I never would have thought
I'll be looking for Steven Spielberg

all along Hollywood Boulevard.

I moved back to our old family flat
in a small town.



Such returns aren't easy.

Things weren't going great.
I made several documentaries.

I was on the verge of bankruptcy
and I've lost my purpose.

-Hi there.
-Hello.

-What's up?
-I'm watching a movie.

One of mine, actually.

Are you making another one already?

Not really. I'm taking it slowly.

I met Grzesiek's mom, from elementary
school. Remember him?

He's climbed up the ladder, you know.
He was a moron.

He did vocational school,
then high school.

He graduated from some university.
Now he's a director at a big bank.

With your potential
you could really rise in no time.

So when will you start
making real money?

And then I read an amazing story
and everything started to change.

A friend lent me a book about
a group of Polish filmmakers,

who'd escaped pathetic towns
like the one I live in

and turned their lives around.

If they could do it, I could follow
in their steps and learn.

I've always dreamt
of visiting Hollywood.

AMERICAN DREAM

Benjamin Wrona,
a poor cobbler from Krasnosielc,

father to the Warner brothers.

One day at the bar
he met a village idiot

who revealed to him
that he intended to go to America.

"America is a rich country.

There's lots of work for cobblers for
everyone has several pairs of shoes."

Benjamin finished his vodka
and walked outside the bar.

He looked around the town
he grew up in.

Do I want to spend the rest of my life
here? What will I achieve?

His other option was to go
into the unknown.

With no money, no connections,
no guarantee of success.

He looked around once again.

The Warner Brothers studio
started here.

I know no such studio.

Do you know the house
of the Warners? The Warner brothers?

I think it's next to the clinic.
On the right side.

My neighbour said
she's heard about them.

Then they went abroad.

-Who?
-The Wrona family.

Are there any elders?
Someone who might remember?

They're all dead.
One old lady died recently.

-She would've known. But she died.
-So we're late.

The Wrona family, were they Jews?

-I think I'll call my neighbour.
-You do that.

Come on!

I heard they were here.
And they were.

Then they went abroad.

They spent some time there
and came back with the new name.

Werner, Wagner, something like that.

So they left here.
And where are they now?

-In Hollywood.
-What do they do there?

Mess around with pretty actresses.
I don't know. I don't know them.

If I went there I'd know.

If I ever enter the Warner Bros studio
I want to keep this old house in mind.

The home of a cobbler, his wife
and their 8 children.

There were 16 cobblers in this small
town. That meant one thing - poverty.

They dreamt of a better life
somewhere far away - in America.

There were 16 of us.
14 cobblers and 2 boot makers.

Now, there's just the 2 of us.

Maybe I could use this opportunity
to... See what I mean?

-This boot is beyond repair.
-Is it over?

See this crack? You can't use a new
sole and the glue won't hold.

I like them so much.
I've had them for 10 years.

And that's enough.

I sold my car
and headed for the States.

All I had was 400 dollars
in my pocket,

the book that was supposed
to change my life,

and an old phone number
to Jack Warner's grandson.

-Look, it's the Statue.
-I'm crying already.

You have tears in your eyes?

I have tears in my eyes the same way
as Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer.

-Did they arrive here from Poland?
-They did cry, but...

ANDRZEJ KRAKOWSKI
Writer, director "Pollywood" book

But it turns out it wasn't here.

Goldwyn and Mayer went to Canada.
Tickets to Canada were cheaper.

They made up those tears...

Why would they sell it
as their biography?

It was the American dream.
The American narrative.

Creating a new world.
New legends, new art, new industry.

Everything was new.
23 million people came.

But I keep wondering - why them?
Not the Swedes, not the Italians.

Just a small group from the banks
of the Vistula river.

Jack Warner's grandson, Gregory Orr,

was willing to cancel his barber's
appointment just to make time for me.

I said I could use a haircut too.
I'm in a movie after all.

When you came to Krasnosielc
in early nineties,

what was your first feeling,
your first observation?

Well, things happened in Krasnosielc.

GREGORY ORR producer,
Jack Warner's grandson

It's important the Warner father wanted
to get out of Krasnosielc, didn't he?

And he went up to Canada
to work in the fur trade

and that's where Jack was born.

It's true that they say

the heads of the studios originated
from about 500 miles from Warsaw.

Except for Walt Disney.
Why that is? It's a great question.

You can argue that their heritage
and being Jewish

didn't allow them into other bussiness
so they had to find their own bussiness.

What could they do?

And entertainment
seemed to suit them, telling stories.

And these were guys, who spent a lot of
time at music halls, when younger.

Especially Jack,
he loved show-bussiness.

That looks nice.

Movie bussiness started as a craze.
People could not get enough of movies.

From the very beginning,
little five-cent nickelodeon,

other shows and then finally, when
they were longer, silent movies.

People went to the movies
two, three, four times a week.

That was
the only entertainment there was.

So everyone was trying
to be a movie-maker.

I mean, tell me, what interests you...

Is it that transference of how do you
start in a small town

and end up running, owning
a big movie studio, or...

Tell me, where is the, where is the...
Where's your biggest interest in it?

-At the moment he can't talk.
-I see. Yes, perfect.

Perfect for me to talk then. Keep him
that way. Right. He cannot talk.

All the actors, producers, directors,
they were very young.

Hollywood was filled with young people.
No adult supervision, like to say.

So they were going to night clubs,
they were working, running the city.

The people,
who lived there, hated them.

And I think
for the Warner brothers at least,

that gave them a great sense
of what the public was like.

They dealt with their customers day-in
and day-out in these other bussinesses.

So, they knew public taste,
they knew their public.

None of them were college-educated.
None of them were removed.

-How it happened, that they knew that?
-By having small bussinesses.

Whether it's a butcher shop, a bicycle
service, they dealt with people.

Easy! Nobody's going to college.
Everything you do professional.

I run a barber. When I was
a kids, my father teach me.

Your father teach you shoe-maker.
So, that's what it was before.

Carpenter.
That's what it was an easy way.

Anything in you make...

When you want to make your film,
alright?

You see something, then you start
use your imagination, right?

I uses my imagination to make you
look good.That's imagination.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

The Warner brothers were very young
but they had to earn their living.

Little Jack was signed up for singing
classes with the local cantor.

The family agreed that he had great
talent and chipped in for his education.

The cantor, an elderly man, took
a substantial down payment for 1 year

and died a week later.

They never managed
to get the money back.

Sam found employment at a fair
as a live target for throwing eggs.

When the price of eggs went up,
the owner used baseballs instead.

Sam was all bruised
and quickly found another job.

He became a snake charmer's assistant.

He had to sit for photos
with a snake around his neck.

He was terrified of all animals,
snakes too.

He started each day with drinking half
a bottle of moonshine. Liquid courage.

After just 1 week
the family asked him to resign.

Harry founded a bicycle circus.

His partner rode down a high tower
performing backbreaking tricks.

Harry collected money on the ground.

After just a month
his partner slipped so badly

he landed on his head
and died on the spot.

For a while Harry used the bike
to compete in bike races.

But he soon returned
to repairing shoes.

Meanwhile, Al Warner was looking
for stable income.

He took to trading meat.
After that he sold soap.

They all lived from hand to mouth
and dreamt of show business.

I returned to Poland.
I needed more money and contacts.

I reached out to over 150 assistants and
agents to known and important people

but I don't think
they took me seriously.

Meanwhile,
Andrzej Krakowski came to Poland.

Who's here a cinema-goer?
Raise your hands.

-Do you like movies in colour?
-Sure.

-Do you like talking pictures?
-Sure.

None of this would exist if it weren't
for a family born around here.

The Warner family. We all follow
the Oscars. They're a Polish invention.

The Oscars were established
by Louis B. Mayer

who was born here,
in Minsk Mazowiecki.

Samuel Goldwyn was born in Warsaw.

Take a broader look and you'll see
it all started in this region.

You must use
the same methods they had used.

First of all, you can't be afraid.
Remember you have nothing to lose.

When they kick you out the door,
get back in through the window.

Don't take it personally
or you'll be disheartened.

My hair grew back. Another
important man came to Warsaw.

He said he knew Szmul Gelbfisz,
better known as Sam Goldwyn.

What I want to show is the street.

It's called Browarna
and the district is called Powisle.

Sam Goldwyn was born
and raised here. Just down there.

How very good,
I came to his birthplace.

He was a legend already,
when I met him. Short and a...

SANDY LIEBERSON
Former president 20th Century Fox

-Big.
-Big, this size?

-Yeah, not fat, but big, stocky.
-Big fish, you can say.

Big fish,
he was a big fish in a big pond.

To me, what's exciting is the journey

from this street here in Warsaw
to Hollywood.

The adventure of leaving home
at fifteen and travelling,

not knowing, where you're going,
who can help you.

And then arriving in Hollywood and that
to me is the most exciting part of it.

Yeah, then they made the movies
and became rich and famous,

but for me the exciting part
is the beginning.

Why Sam Goldwyn and why
Harry and Jack Warner? Why?

Why this group of Jews?

I'll give you the number
of this friend of mine,

who was one of the producers
on Nosferatu: Gruskoff is his name.

INTO THE UNKNOWN

Szmul Gelbfisz is 15 years old
and he lives in Warsaw.

But he knows
Poland isn't right for him.

At the main railway station in Warsaw
he gets on a westbound train.

Moments later he's back on the platform
massaging his hurting behind

after the ticket inspector
threw him out.

Szmul had neither a ticket
nor money.

His father is a pious cantor,
who has never worked in his life.

Szmul's mother earns
the big family's living.

But nothing can stop Szmul from
making his great dream come true.

He straightens up his clothes,
and walks through the city.

He walks out of Warsaw,
through the countryside, heading west.

He will walk for the next 6 months

before getting on a ship
from Liverpool to America.

I have a simple plan.
I want to reach the big shots.

This will make my film popular

and let me get some first-hand answers
to my great question.

On my shortlist there are:
Sam Goldwyn Jr.,

son of the man
who founded Hollywood,

Harvey Weinstein, the legendary
producer, and Steven Spielberg.

I was supposed to stay with friends,

but at the last moment
I ended up in a suburban hotel.

I made some calls and found a spot
with some good fellow countrymen.

In return
for taking care of their dogs.

But I felt I was in luck.

Hi, Michael. Hi, Michael.
Here is Pawel Ferdek.

I just received your email.

Sandy warmly... warmly... warmly...
"Kurwa!" Warmly reco...

Sandy recommended me warmly
to meet you in Los Angeles.

So... could you please...

Let's have a drink?

-Hello?
-Hello, is it Michael Gruskoff?

-Yes, it is.
-Good afternoon.

This is the hitman from mister
Sandy Lieberson speaking.

They were all like pirates those guys.
They were taking real chances.

MICHAEL GRUSKOFF
Producer "Quest for Fire" "Nosferatu"

Gambles, big gamblers.
They were brought up on the streets.

And the energy, the wherewithal,
the strength...

1910, 1915...

The Irish, the Italians... Everybody
was an immigrant practically.

But it wasn't easy for them.

It is amazing

that this happened here
in this country.

It was a new world.

Before they came, California
was... not many people here.

Try this number.
32365...

Gruskoff got me in touch with renowned
producer, Paul Maslansky

who personally knows Sam Goldwyn Jr.

I will ask him to help me reach Sam.

I went over to Europe in 1959
to play trumpet in a band in Paris.

And in Paris I met a young
Danish documentary maker.

And he says,
let's make a documentary.

PAUL MASLANSKY Producer
"Police Academy" I-VII "Return to Oz"

I said, what do you want me to do?
I'm a musician.

He says, I want you to produce it.
I never took a film course in my life.

That's how it happened.
My life.

It's not by education.
It's by adventure.

It was by adventure.
You hit it right on the head.

Producer's job is to have the dream
of what the subject matter's gonna be.

Is it an article you read?
Is it a book that you read?

Is it an event
that you've seen on television?

Is it... someone tells you a story?

Is it something
like Police Academy...

I saw what was happening on the street

and I said that would be funny,
if I put that on the screen.

Ideas come from everywhere. They do
and you have to be open to them.

I started to like it here
in Hollywood.

The thought of going back to my town
filled me with dread.

I found the courage
and asked Paul the question.

Enough?

What could you advise to me?
How can I made a film in Hollywood?

Marry a very rich person.
No... no...

You know who you should interview
while you're here? Sam Goldwyn Jr.

-You met him, Sam Goldwyn Jr.?
-I know him, yeah. I know him.

I'm gonna call him,
I want to introduce you.

Hi. This is for Sam Jr. I'd love
to speak to Sam about something.

Very interesting group of people came
in from Poland doing a documentary

and they would like very much
to be in touch with Sam

to discuss his life
and the life of his dad.

They're very serious people
with great credentials

and they've been representing
the Polish film industry

and I think it would be good.

Soon as I speak to Sam,
tomorrow most probably,

cause the office is closed today.

Because they knew you were in town,
they closed.

This is what people do in our
bussiness, you know that.

I like it.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Sam Warner was looking for a job in
Chicago when he saw a movie projector.

He was thrilled.
He felt there was money in that.

He talked his family into it,
they all chipped in.

They spent the whole family savings
for a used projector.

His father pawned the horse
he used for deliveries.

They couldn't afford chairs or movies

so they kept screening The Great Train
Robbery which came with the projector.

The Warner business operated
as follows:

In the morning they rented chairs
from a nearby funeral home.

Then they sold tickets.
The audience entered.

The chairs were inside an old train
carriage they bought from a junkyard.

Jack took care of the crank,
Sam made sure the flame was burning,

the remaining brothers
shook the carriage,

so that the audience would feel like
they were in the centre of events.

When the movie ended
Jack showed up to sing a song.

He was going through voice mutation.
His croaky singing discouraged anyone,

who'd want to watch the movie again
with the old ticket.

Of course, they couldn't operate
during funerals.

-Say the name you'd like to call.
-Sam Goldwyn Jr, please.

-Pardon?
-Sam Goldwyn Jr.

-Did you say "goodbye"? Say yes or...
-No. Sam Goldwyn Jr.

-Pardon?
-Sam Goldwyn Jr.

Sorry? If this is correct, say yes.
Otherwise, say no.

Yes.

-Hello?
-No. Did you say "go back"?

-Please, say yes or no.
-No, I said Sam Goldwyn Jr!

Did you say go back? Please,
say yes or no. Pardon?

Pardon?

As I was waiting to meet Sam,

I decided to learn something
from historians and experts.

-Hi, Steven.
-Well, hello there.

You've had a very long journey
to get here, haven't you?

-Me? No, I just took a plane.
-You just took a plane.

That's all you have to do, right?
A lot different from the old days.

This is this famous Polish place
in Los Angeles, yeah?

This is basically, I suppose you could
say without much exaggeration...

STEVE BINGEN writer, historian
"Hollywood's lost backlot" book

...that this is where the popular
culture of the world was born.

If you funnel everything in popular
entertainment, music, movie, television,

all popular entertainment of the 20th
century started here at this building.

At that times Hollywood wasn't
the center for film industry.

Hollywood in 1913, when DeMille arrived
was not really a center for anything.

It's disputed where the name came from,
it doesn't really make any sense,

because holly does not grow
in Los Angeles, is not native here.

And technically speaking, it doesn't
produce wood, it's a bush.

So, the word Hollywood is a lie.
And that's so appropriate.

Well, Hollywood's been lying
to you ever since, hasn't it?

-Thank you.
-I'll follow you.

This is how the barn looked

at the time of the production
of The Squaw Man in 1913

and subsequently, when they continued
to use it for other movies.

So this is basically
Hollywood in the beginning.

If you boiled Hollywood to it's basic,
most base essential,

this is where it start, this is the
prototype for the movie studios

that spreading up all around this barn
in subsequent decades.

I love this place. You could just,
you can feel the ghosts in here,

you can feel all the echoes of all the
old films that came out of this place.

Let's feel these spirits for a while,
you know?

Everything was open here.
You could do, whatever you want.

You could live the life
you could only imagine

and that's kinda what the moguls did.

They didn't know
they were creating myth

or that they were re-tracing the steps
of myth but that's what they were doing

They were going West to find their
dreams and to follow their dreams.

How romantic is that, huh?

Samuel Goldwyn is one of the unique
characters in the story of Hollywood.

There's just a handful of people
in the history of the world

that created a Hollywood studio.

And Samuel Goldwyn was responsible

in whole or in part
for creation of three of them.

He was instrumental in the creation

of Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
and Samuel Goldwyn Pictures.

Is there something
that you could advise to me,

if I want to have
a movie done in Hollywood?

-Wanna be a success in Hollywood?
-Just came in from Poland.

Rent a screening room in here
and screen your movie

and invite all the biggest names that
you can find to come to that screening.

I had a friend that did that once,
he was really smart.

He screened his independent film at the
Director's Guild of America on Sunset.

And he brought in a portable bartender
with a portable bar

and set him up
in the corner of the lobby

and he gave the bartender like a three
hundred dollars under the table

and said: give everyone
that has a drink triple alcohol.

So everybody got drunk

and the next day my friend woke up
with a hangover

and he got a signed contract
to get his movie distributed.

You've probably heard the story
about Steven Spielberg.

He took an empty briefcase

and dressed up in his dad's suit,
when he was a teenager

and walked through the gate at
Universal and waved at the guard.

And the guard looked at him like,

well, he's walking straight through
the gate, he must not be important,

and they let him in.

According to the story, which got more
elaborate the more times he tells it,

but he says he found an empty office
and he just moved into the office

and he called the main switchboard
and said, I've moved into this office,

can you hook up my phone
and send me a secretary?

And he was there for weeks, before
they found out no one had hired him.

This is why I want to talk
to Spielberg so much.

He just tricked his way in
like a mogul and stayed there,

while also changing
the course of cinema.

I want to hear the story from him. I
want to hear it's still possible today.

Record your message at the turn.

When you are finished recording,
press pound. To cancel, press star.

Thank you
for calling Samuel Goldwyn.

Dial an extention,
press nine to dial by name

or stay on the line and
someone will be right with you.

After bussiness hours
you may leave a message

and we'll distribute it to the proper
person the next bussiness day.

Yes, I'm Marc Wanamaker,
I'm the archivist here.

Nice to meet you.

So, here this is my office,
which is built in 1916.

MARC WANAMAKER historian

But over the years and in late twenties

they put a false colonial,
American colonial style,

sort of details on the building,

so they could use this also
to shoot films, as a background.

Right on the lot. So, you shoot. Here's
the studio, the production office,

you close the door
and this could be an apartment.

-So, they save money.
-To save money.

This Hollywood filmmaking
is more illusional, not realistic.

Harry Warner. Albert, Sam
and Jack Warner.

So this is a very important shot.
Like an ad in the trends

to show that
we're now gonna become producers.

1921 they were already advertising
the family.

-For what reason?
-To show this is a family organization

It's not just to exploit you
for your money.

It's to show we are here
to make films for the people.

It's not a big corporation.
That was their idea for publicity.

Benjamin.
What about Goldwyn?

This is the earliest picture
I have of him.

The Polish boy coming into America.

Polish boy, but already elegant.

Possible that the jacket
and the tie could not be his.

It could be rented
or just for the photoshoot.

Look at his self-esteem at the time.

They all believed that by looking
successful you will be successful.

They were role-models,

meaning they were
symbolic of an industry

that had a moral obligation
to the world.

What kind of obligation?

A moral obligation is the kinds of
films that they were producing

to teach people about morals
or history or education

or humanity, about people.

Wait a second. He said,
Goldwyn said, his motto.

The films are not about the...

If you... fuck. How was it?
If you want a...

-I know, what you gonna say.
-Not delivery, but... If you want...

I forget what it is.

"We make films for entertainment if you
want a message go to Western Union"

The art of it is to have a message,
at the same time have it entertaining.

Whether it's funny or sad.
And this is where they succeeded.

They succeeded in classic film,
which touch people.

The goal of this is to show this
in an entertaining way.

And if they did this,
they will make money

and people will think
that their films are the greatest.

These moguls knew about films,
everybody knew about films,

but they were novelty
and novelty means not important,

it's just not important
at all, at any level.

Except when their friends or others
told them

to look at people going into the film.

They would pay a nickle, they go into
the film, come out not holding any bags

Say, did you see them holding
any bags coming out? No? No.

And they went in again, paid another
nickle and came out with nothing again.

What they came out with
was illusion in their head.

They were entertained
by something on the screen,

but not carrying merchandise.
Merchandise is boring!

This is not only making money,
but also is fun to do.

So, you have
a wide open life of happiness

and do what you want to do
without being held back

by past cultures or past restrictions

and class or language, whatever it is.

It's unusual, experiment. America.
Which is only 200 years old.

So, it's still, everything
is still possible in America?

Yes! And that's what Goldwyn
and Laski and Mayer believed.

But it was one century ago. I think
some things changed since then?

-It's only a century. It's nothing.
-Only a century?

-It was empty land here.
-That's progress.

Now everything is ready,
everything is here.

Opportunity is there,
if you wanna take it.

So that's American story that
Goldwyn and Mayer wanted to show.

You didn't want to make a movie?
You have so many stories.

I have two or three scripts, but I gave
up for a while, I'm gonna start again.

So what you are doing with
the scripts? You write a script.

I have to re-write them. Moderni...
I wrote them twenty five years ago.

And then I will get an agent
and I have friends that have agents

and see, if they can sell them.
It's all I can do.

I have also some stories.
Maybe not scripts, but treatments.

What is the way
to make them be produced here?

-You have to have an agent.
-Yeah, but how to get an agent?

-Very difficult.
-Do you know anybody I can call?

No. I have to start from scratch myself
I used to, but they're all gone.

It seems the days
of endless possibilities are over.

Well, time to kiss
my naive hopes goodbye.

I have to get in touch
with Goldwyn Jr.

Thank you for calling Sam Goldwyn.

Dial an extention,
press nine to dial by name

or stay on the line
and someone will be right with you.

Please,
say the name or number to call.

-Three, one, zero. Eight.
-Three, one, zero.

-Eight, six, zero.
-Six, zero.

"Kurwa", eight!

Is it for Sam?

Sam is sitting next... next table.

-Why nobody answer?
-Try here, Sam Goldwyn.

-Thank you.
-Ok. Thank you.

I'm looking for contact
to Sam Goldwyn Jr.

No one is here.
I can give you a phone number.

Would be nice.

-Three, one, zero. Eight, six, zero.
-Wait a second, please.

-Three, one, zero, zero.
-Ah, this one.

I'm afraid I tried to call this number
many times, but no response.

Well, that's the number.
You'll have to leave a message there.

-And that's how it works, yeah?
-Yes, it is.

-Do you have any email address?
-No, we do not.

Two days later everything
became crystal clear.

It seems an era has come to an end.

The last witness of the beginnings
of Hollywood is gone.

I'm left with nothing.
What's next?

THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY OUT

When Szmul Gelbfish came to America
his name was different: Sam Goldfish.

He started trading gloves.

The business was fine
but his ambition reached further.

He ordered 40,000 pairs
of cheap leather gloves from France.

He paid and awaited his shipment.

Just as it happened, the US government
imposed huge tariffs on leather goods.

His situation seemed very unfortunate.
But Sam sent a cable to France

asking to divide the pairs
into right and left gloves

and to ship the left gloves to Boston
and the right ones to Atlantic City.

He never showed up
to collect those shipments.

According to regulations the ports
had to put them up for auction.

Ads were published
in the local press:

"40,000 left gloves for sale"
and "40,000 right gloves for sale".

Nobody came to those auctions.
Except for Sam Goldfish.

He offered to pay
the lowest possible price,

1 dollar for the whole shipment.
Tariffs cost him 1 dollar, too.

Then he paired the gloves and
flooded the market with cheap gloves.

This was his first amazing deal.

I've got a new plan.

I have to reach the Hollywood big shots
to see how they work and view the world

I remember Marc Wanamaker's words:

By looking successful,
you will be successful.

How does it look like?

It looks great but there's we can
make it even better. Unbutton this.

-It's quite formal.
-Makes it less formal.

Reveal the t-shirt.

This is a must.

-Your individual style.
-A little Italian, right?

-Do you feel good?
-Good, a bit too formal, though.

You could take your jacket off?

I think it's all about your talent.

If you really know how it's done, you
get on set, you know what it's about,

you know what you want and how to film
it, and what you expect from your cast.

This is what's most important.

You could... be wearing
a crazy hat and it's fine.

It's business.

How much will it cost?
How fast can we shoot it?

And how many assistants do I get?
For how long?

You have to squeeze everything
in 12 hours, no overtime, and so on.

Let's go, let's go.
You know what I mean.

Hi, Richard

-Good morning.
-Good morning.

-Richard. Meet Pawel.
-How are you? Pleasure. Hello, crew.

-How are you?
-Thank you. How are you?

Good. May I get you something?
A coffee, a water, something?

I get something for you.

-Traditional.
-Vodka, I hope. Very good. Excellent.

-It's from potato.
-Excellent, thank you.

I wanted to meet you, Richard,

because you made the one of my
favourite movies I ever watched.

-Not only one, but two.
-Which one?

-Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
-Great.

What was Reservoir Dogs
called in Poland?

-Wsciekle Psy.
-And what does that translate to?

It's like... mad dogs.
Mad dogs, yeah.

And what was Pulp Fiction
called in Poland?

-Pulp Fiction is Pulp Fiction.
-Ok, good. Good.

For me, what I like to do,
is to find a story,

whose theme is grand and personal.

So, like the Bourne Identity is...

Someone can say,
what's the movie about

and you say: oh, this guy
has amnesia and he wakes up,

he does this, and then he does that
he tries to figure out, who he is,

and he killed this guy,
but did he really kill this guy?

That's what happens in the movie.
But it's not what the movie's about.

It's about a guy trying to figure out
is he a good man or is he a bad man?

There's a big misconception that a film
producer is only about the money.

-Right, but if you can't earn money...
-Let's say it's a different world.

The teachers get paid a million dollars

and film producers get paid
ten dollars an hour.

And you put your movie in theatres
and they're free. You make no money.

It's like goverment sponsored.
It's like China or something, right?

I would still do it.

Coming here I couldn't expect to hear
the words like that, you know?

Maybe you didn't expect that because
you have a cynical or a jaded view

of American movie producer

with a cigar and fat,
and chasing women.

DESIRE FOR SUCCESS

Jack Warner was the youngest brother,
so he had to perform the simplest tasks

One day, when he was 15 years old, he
was at their empty distribution shop.

All movies were rented out.
He had nothing to do.

A black boxer came. He had just opened
the first movie theatre in Harlem,

an area inhabited
by the black community.

He asked for something new
and interesting.

Jack didn't want to refuse a customer.

He thought it was time to do business
and make real money like his brothers.

He remembered that
in a dusty part of the warehouse

he had a negative of a mime movie.

The mime's face
was painted in white.

"You know what" - he said -
"I have something completely new.

The first black movie in history."

The man didn't believe at first.
He's never heard of this movie.

Jack showed him a piece
of the negative on a projector.

There was a man on the screen
and his face really was pitch black.

The theatre owner rented the movie
for a week and paid in advance.

Then he prolonged.
2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks.

The movie was screened to a full house
and above the entrance it said:

First Black Movie in History.

Jack earned a lot
and later spent years

boasting of his pioneering role
in breaking race barriers in cinema.

This was a big moment.
I was entering the Warner Bros studio.

How did the Warner brothers feel,
taking the same road to work daily,

so different from the roads
in their little Polish hometown?

I did hope that, just as in
Stephen Binken's story,

I would drink vodka
with a very important producer

and in the morning
I would wake up with a contract.

-Use this!
-Polish vodka!

Should I put it here? We getting
some money from them or no?

-Not yet.
-Not yet? Ok. Put it here.

Action!

Films are the greatest export,
that America has.

BRETT RATNER director, producer
"Rush hour" "The Revenant" executive

The thing that they have goes
to every corner of the Earth.

If you go to Africa, you see my movies.

If you go to South America,
if you go to China,

anywhere in the world you could see
American Hollywood movies.

That's the greatest export,
that they created. For America.

Better than steel, better the coal...
Anything. Any product.

Movies are the greatest export.

I think it's important
that in order to be a filmmaker

you have to have not necessarily
education... Education is good.

Not necessarily knowledge,
but you have to have experience.

You must have experience in interacting
with people and have the history.

Whether it's your family
sharing their stories with you.

You take all that with you in shaping
not only who you are as a person,

but as a filmmaker
and as a storyteller.

Storytelling is a big part
of our culture and our history.

Part of our culture is passing down
stories from generation to generation.

So I think what it takes, you know...

The studio heads from before
were also the filmmakers.

Even though they weren't actually
directing the movies,

they were supervising the scripts,
they were hiring the directors,

they were producing the movies,

but as the financiers and the guys
who built the machine that made these.

So they were also filmmakers.

And I think there's so many Jews
in Hollywood

mostly because of the history
of the Jews being storytellers.

They had an eye and an ear
for great stories, you know.

The irony is that most of them
are from Poland.

Why it's irony?
Maybe it's some reason in that.

I think there is a reason.
Polish are smarter than people think.

Ladies and gentlemen, success!
Great success!

I have a meeting set with Harvey
Weinstein, the legendary producer.

Many people compare him
to the moguls of the past.

And more than that.
They call him the last mogul.

Why?
Because he's afraid of nothing.

He makes decisions
and knows the audience.

I want him to share
his success formula with me.

Harvey Weinstein reportedly left for
rehab overnight, seeking treatment.

At the flood of new allegations
against the former film executive,

who has left Hollywood up in arms.

The allegations against the movie
mogul are only growing.

Two of Hollywood's biggest stars say
Weinstein sexually harrased them too.

Former president Obama said any man
who demeans and degrades women,

needs to be condemned
regardless his wealth or status.

Why are you so gloomy?

I feel I'm just scratching the surface
while the truth is somewhere else.

It's the tip of the iceberg.

This place is the boulevard
of broken dreams.

I'm beginning to feel this.

As I try to reach these people
and the essence of film

I keep moving closer
to the side of the broken dreams.

This is the city of angels,
which is beautiful...

ANNA LODEJ actress producer

...and there are
all kinds of opportunities

but finding the truth is
so fucking hard and depressive.

People get really lonely sometimes.
I know the feeling.

That's why the Hollywood sign was
closed. People would jump and die.

-Jump from the sign?
-Yes, commit suicide.

There's a fence around it
and you can't get in,

because they would find 1, 2, 3 people
every day, who jumped off the letters.

The truth is everybody comes here
with an agenda. Chasing a dream.

But how many actually
do succeed? 1%? 3%?

I must leave this damned city.

The moguls' great dream did come true.
It is now shared by millions.

It was a poor immigrants' dream,
who wanted status and money.

This wasn't right for me.
I needed a new dream.

I went to the desert, to Arizona.
I wanted to meet an old acquaintance.

THE GETAWAY

Thomas Edison
patented the film camera

and collected horrendous sums
from all film producers using cameras.

Only Jewish producers
refused to pay up.

They figured, they didn't came
to America to be told what to do.

Edison teamed up with Italian gangsters
who'd burst into film locations,

burn down the sets
and broke people's arms.

Times were harsh
and Sam Goldfish played all-in.

An ambitious feature film
"The Squaw Man".

He started shooting
just outside New York

but 2 days later he was warned Edison's
men were planning to raid the set.

He quickly packed up the whole set
and all people

and bought tickets for the first
westbound train leaving New York.

He bought tickets
to Flagstaff, Arizona.

He's never been there but a glance
at a map convinced him

it was far enough
to make the film and stay safe.

Three days later they got off the train
at the Flagstaff platform.

They were in the middle of the desert.
There was nothing there.

Goldwyn yelled: "Back on the train!"
They all went to the last stop.

It happened to be Los Angeles.

Goldwyn started to ask around
to find a cheap production office.

He found a barn outside LA,
in a place called Hollywood.

He rented it out for peanuts. That's
where the production was completed.

That's how the first Hollywood movie
in history was made.

Goldwyn was the first to come.
Others followed.

By the time you go on a voyage
that intense and that difficult,

you're not like everybody else
around you.

MICHAEL SCHIFFER Screenwriter
"Crimson Tide", "Call of Duty" game

These guys were battle-hardened,
by the time they got to LA.

They didn't grow up in some comfortable
town, where everything was nice.

They came through the fire and
they escaped depression, and poverty.

I would think, if you come
as an immigrant from nowhere,

you have a desperate need
to be someone.

And in some people
it can become an overweening need,

like a megalomaniacal need.
like a tyranical need to be someone

and those guys all had some of that.

I had a three hundred-dollar car.
I've been working as a roofer.

I had fourteen hundred dollars saved up
and I drove out to Los Angeles.

I gave myself five years to break
and I said,

for 5 years work every day as hard as
you humanly can, never question why.

You've made this decision,
you gonna try to do this.

And don't take your temperature
and don't get depressed.

You get depressed,
but don't let it derail you.

I was desperate, I got 65 dollars.

I was about to go to Oregon
to fight fires. That was my plan.

And I got the job writing Colors.

So it was my last and best shot,
I was 38, when Colors came out.

And I just wept.
I just wept, I was so grateful.

You have to become your character.

Imagine what it's like
to step off that boat

and then you must be that guy
in that time and that place

and not censor...

-It has to be spontaneous from within.
-So, how to be Sam Goldwyn?

I'd think his eyes would be critical
to tell the story of a Sam Goldwyn.

Who are you?
What can I do with you?

How can I put you to work?

So that I can have, what my dream is.
It is to be somebody. I would think.

I don't think they would've been
good to me. These guys. At all.

And I probably would've hated them.

They might've given me
some opportunity

and then would've crushed my dreams
and taken opportunities away.

I have no illusions. They were rag
merchants, right? Shmata merchants.

-The yiddish word shmata means...
-What means?

-Fabric. Right.
-Szmata. In Polish it's szmata.

Is it? In Polish too, so...
People were shmatas to these guys.

To me the aftermath of their
achievement is also interesting.

Not just how did they have a pilgrimage
to become, who they became,

but then it goes on beyond that.

Now, that they become, who they are,
that's great, that is one story.

The only going question is ok,
now, what do you do with it?

What is your legacy to the world?
How have you treated people?

In a truest spirit sense,
how should we feel about you?

Where is the soul of that bussiness?

Back to LA. I wanted to find Spielberg.
I wanted to find an agent.

I wanted to do something, anything.

How do I find an agent here?
They didn't teach that in film school.

Instead I heard many times
to keep my head down,

That dreams are dreams but life...
You know the way life is.

One needs to wake up
and go back home.

All I needed was a conclusion
to my movie. Like this...

THE LEGACY

Immigrants from the towns
and shtetls of Eastern Europe

produced thousands of movies
and made great fortunes.

We can speak about their success

but know nothing certain
about how they achieved it.

They were very reluctant
to speak about their beginnings

or changed the story a bit
every time they told it.

One of them, born in Eastern Poland,
claimed to be a nobleman from Vienna.

Another one used to carry a bagel
in the pocket of his coat.

He supposedly missed
that childhood flavour

but many said that deep inside
he was afraid of starvation.

We know one thing for certain. They
knew the power of stories and illusion.

After all, they set out for America
after hearing legends about it.

They made their fortunes
selling dreams to people.

They founded a dream factory.

Hollywood is in corporate hands today.
Financiers are running the business.

They have great power

as yesterday's dreams
have become the world of today

and today's dreams
will become tomorrow's reality.

This could have been the end.

The end of the movie,
but does it conclude my story?

An interesting man sat down
next to me.

As a screenwriter, how can you describe

a typical hero journey
in a story, in a movie?

Beginning, middle point, end.

You want me to write you a...
You want me to write a show for you.

JAY WOLPERT screenwriter
"Pirates of the Caribbean"

That's a whole different thing. You
must think you're talking to an idiot.

There's no secret,
there's no key to the lock, it's...

it's a feeling.

It's a feeling about what makes
a great film. Involvement.

Involvement makes a great film.

If I wanna make a lotta money though,
a lotta ways to make a lotta money,

if all you wanted to do
is make a lot of money.

But the excitement
of doing this kinda thing,

of getting the phone call from
the guy saying they want to do it.

Holy crap. I mean my God.
What it feels like.

That kind of exhilaration
you don't get from drugs.

You are like Jack Warner.
You are like Sam Goldwyn.

-They loved to gamble.
-They took chances.

Now, those guys had to.
I didn't have to.

Those guys would be chased
by God knows what.

They were possibly
going into the lion's mouth.

In a place they didn't know.
A language they didn't speak.

Because there was
a panther's mouth behind them.

And so they had no choice.

It wasn't about: I wanna go somewhere,
where I can make really good money.

This was I wanna go
somewhere, where I can breathe.

You should forgive the expression,
but they had balls.

They had courage.

Here's what I've learned.

Don't take yourself out of the game.
You understand?

-More or less.
-Go for it. Go for it.

Don't say, oh I shouldn't, no.

I mean, that's never gonna happen.

In this business anything can happen.

So you never take yourself out
by yourself.

Somebody doesn't buy?
They didn't buy. That's ok.

But don't decide
they're not going to buy.

This is Hollywood.
This is illusion.

Films are the greatest export
that America has.

So when will you start making
real money?

The word Hollywood is a lie.

By looking successful,
you will be successful.

You could do whatever you want. You
could live a life you'd only imagine.

Polish are smarter then people think,
you know?

So everyone was trying
to be a movie maker.

Can you find anyone,
who was like them?

You have to become your character.

Involvement makes a great film.

Pawel?

-So, what are you trying to do?
-Man, thank you for coming.

I just want to make a short interview
with Steven Spielberg.

-And it's really hard to get him.
-It's gonna be really hard to get him.

-Are you an aggressive driver?
-Me? Yeah, I can be.

MARK K. paparazzi

You gotta be following him,
parallel lane, shift lanes,

long straightaway,
maybe you get ahead, you know.

Don't get right behind him, you know.
You wanna be smooth.

This is the way I would do it. Park
four houses away and just wait.

It's like fishing, you gotta be patient.
Just wait.

-And the drivers and the stars...
-They're gonna know.

-They really see? In the mirror?
-Yeah, oh yeah.

They're professionals,
so you gotta be a professional.

So, what's the most attractive point
in the Dream Factory,

that people really want
to be there and...

People want to live a life
that they think, when they die,

that other people will still gonna
like care about them, you know.

Everybody dies, it's like,
when it's over, it's over, you know.

Like, live your life, be happy.

What do you know about Warner Bros
and Goldwyn? Old Goldwyn?

Not even on my register.
I wouldn't care.

You know, Goldwyn? Nah.

Maybe you know, where is the cemetery,
with Warners and Sam Goldwyn.

Yeah, watch. Findagrave.

Sir! Excuse me! One second please.

We were living in Cincinnati.

And I have relatives here
in California, in Southern California.

So I went to visit them,
spend the summer with them.

And then I found out

that there was a tour
of the movie studios.

When I saw my opportunity,
I got away from the tour and I hid.

So I then got away and I sat...
I found the libraries,

so I went there, I sat down,
I read some books about directing

and then this gentleman came up to me
in a great suit and everything.

He said,
what are you doing, young man?

And I said, well, as a teenager,
I want to be a director

and this is what I'm here for.

And he said...
We talked for a few minutes.

So he reached in his pocket, he took
out a pass, signed his name.

This was a temporary pass.

And he said to me,
this is only for this week.

After this week,
you can't come back here.

So the Monday came,
I had my attache case,

with a shirt and a tie and I looked
good, like I looked the week before.

Got dropped off at the gate.

When I entered the gate,
I waved at the security guard.

He recognized me, he said,
come on in. Go, go do your thing.

-Without the permit?
-Without the permit or anything.

And at that point
I was so happy about this.

I found an office,
a dingy little office in the basement.

No windows.

So I sat down and said,
ok, what am I gonna do?

I'm here. This is like a fulfilment.
I was so excited about this.

Movie, that I was writing,
was called Duel. D-U-E-L.

And that began
my career as a director.

-What a nice story.
-Thank you.

And this is a true story.
This is very true.

HOWIE SLATER building contractor
Steven Spielberg impersonator

Where most the time in Hollywood
stories aren't true. They're fake.

Or they're imitations of life.

And in Hollywood we want
to be respectful of life,

but we also want the audience
to enjoy the movie.

It's really inspiring

because it reminds me

of the same way of thinking

of the original moguls
like Warners, Goldwyn, Mayer.

They really used the same
creative ideas

and would... brave... brave things
to really do this, to be in.

If you have a dream,
any and everything is possible,

because I make a living in dreaming.

Thank you. It sounds like
an amazing quote at the end.

We would like to...

-Thank you for this.
-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, again. Thank you.
-Thank you.

I looked at Howard
and I felt very strange.

Was I satisfied about my trick?

No.

I ended up in Hell.

I was in imitators' land.
In the back row.

I don't mean faking Spielberg as much
as me following the footsteps of others.

I ask how to do things, can I do them,
I ask for permission to do anything.

I was the imitator
dreaming someone else's dream.

Doing whatever I could
to avoid mine.

Because that requires effort,
courage, risk.

But I have a dream of my own.
I have a voice, like we all do.

I just had to listen to it.

Trust it and let it guide me.

I want to ask you,

how to proceed with a film idea.

-For the next movie.
-Sure.

I told Paul the story of a brave girl
living 15 000 years ago.

The girl breaks her tribe's taboo
and tames a wolf.

That's how the first dog came to be.

The movie will be both
entertaining and educational.

So it was like a change of the
paradigm of treating the natures.

-Fascinating!
-We really can have a friends there.

-We can live together.
-It's a great story. That's wonderful.

I, as a producer, hearing that idea...

Where would I get the money for that?

You find some movie star,

female, that loves dogs.

You just google and you'll find a list.

Off-hand I know some older ones.

I know Michelle Pfeiffer love dogs,
but she's too old.

I discovered one thing,
that directors, writers from overseas,

that have good ideas,
can get to see people here.

Spielberg, Amblin Pictures,
they take chances.

It's the kinda story
that, I'll bet you,

that you bring to Amblin,
Spielberg's company,

they might be interested.

I wish you a lotta luck, man. You have
talent, cause you have good ideas.

-That's the beginning of it.
-Thanks, Paul.

That's the beginning of it. Ideas.

God bless you. And do widzenia.

When we say do widzenia, it means
we want to see each other soon.

From my heart the same.
Do widzenia. Do widzenia.

Thank you so very much. All of you.

Thank you.

You...
You made this journey possible.

Thank you for your adventures,
stories and lessons.

I brought you a stone
from Krasnosielc.

I picked it for you in a field.
I'll let it rest here.

From your old home to your new home.

My grandparents came here, and
that's New York I'm talking about,

came here in like 1890, I would think.
Yeah, something like that.

-From Europe?
-Yeah, yeah. From Poland.

-Poland? Holland?
-Poland.

-My Poland.
-Get outta here! Really?

My mother's family came from Pinsk.

-Do you know, where Pinsk is?
-I know, Pinsk is the same...

It's on the border of Russia.
It was in the Polish corridor.

My mother was born
in a place called Szeptówka.

And my father,
I think it was Odessa, actually.

My grandparents come from Bialystok.

-You know Bialystok? Yeah.
-North-Eastern Poland.

-Near the Russian border, right?
-Right. Russia and Belarus.

My family originates from Russia.
Or probably, what's now Ukraine.

In that area. It's where both
my grandparents came from.

And came through Ellis Island
in the twenties and...

My parents were born
in the United States.

My grandparent on both sides
were all born in Eastern Europe.

My grandfather was born in Poland
in 1920,

my great-grandmother on
my mother's side was born in Kiev.

So, I'm half-Russian,
half... yeah, Polish.

Half-Polish, I would say,
half-Ukrainian. I guess, Ukrainian.

But I feel more Polish
than I do Ukrainian.

I don't drink, but I feel closer
to the Polish side of me.

You're always talking about the men.

What about the women from Poland
and Hungary and Europe,

who went to Hollywood?

-Lot's of those. Hedy Lemarr.
-Pola Negri.

POLLYWOOD

THE END