Well, we thought we had a solid picture that was funny and well-acted with Kate [Hudson] and John Corbett. I think it’s hard these days of explosion pictures and things like that, to get a story through but I think certainly there’s an audience there. The worst audience for my films are men over 45. The best is women and young people, and that’s who come to a picture like “Raising Helen.” But because of the competition, let’s be honest, the competition when “Raising Helen” came out was pretty tough so I think people wanted to see it but they may have to see it in this DVD form, which is also good.
Does knowing more about the DVD market and how many people will actually see the film only on DVD affect, in any way, the way you make a movie?
Not actually. I mean, I was in television for many years – I have a career, it’s on the Internet, you can look it up (laughing) – and I always said, “I want to go on the big screen! The big screen!” So I finally get to the big screen and they’re putting it back on DVD on the little screen. But I was happy and I liked to make the movie that I shot, and I really don’t think about the DVD other than when anything interesting happens on the set. I immediately say, “Let’s get that for the DVD.” I do do that.
Having worked with Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson, how do their styles compare?
Well, I worked with Goldie and Kate and it was really fun. I did “Overboard” with Goldie Hawn and Kate was about seven or eight years old. I used to hold her on my lap and say, “Okay, now we’re going to yell ‘Action’ so mommy can act. We have to be quiet now.” And then dissolve; later I’m sitting on the set waiting for Kate to come out of the trailer. The circles of life. But they both are funny. I think Kate is more in the hip world and wants music in the picture and has a lot of thoughts about that. While Goldie, at the time that I worked with her, was into great comedy and into love stories. But both are very similar in that they’re both funny, they’re smart, and they come to work without any whining or diva stuff and that made them both a pleasure to work with.
Is it easier or more difficult to direct an actor who grew up sitting on your lap?
I think it’s a little easier. I knew Kate for a lot of years. She liked this project, “Raising Helen,” and I did myself. During the movie she had a baby, and it was just nice to work with someone you knew. We talked shorthand, we moved along, and Goldie came to visit us on the set to make sure I was taking good care of her daughter. So it was kind of a nice family situation. I’m known for putting my own family in movies so I was comfortable with that. It didn’t cause any conflicts at all. We had John Corbett who is a very easy guy to get along with, who played an interesting different love interest by playing a pastor in it. I think we had enough going for us that we all were very interested in this film.
You said men over 45 are not your audience. Do you have any plans to make a movie for that demographic?
Well, because everybody is making them for that demographic I’ve got an open field in the other place (laughing). But, no, I did make “Nothing in Common” and I made ‘Frankie and Johnny.” I don’t just specialize in one thing but because I do like movies about women, I have the chick flick market or whatever. I like really movies a family can go to. If I can get a movie like “Raising Helen” where you can bring an adult and a teenager and even the grandfather can come, that’s what I’ve done. Even with “Princess Diaries” that’s what I’ve done. There’s a family audience out there. But men over 45, I’ll get another one for them sooner or later (laughing).
What makes you happy on a set?
On a set I like to see people I know that I’ve worked with before, that I can talk shorthand with. I like to see a couple of newcomers, like a Hayden Panettiere. They don’t know her too well but she’s going to be a big star, this kid. She played the teenager. I looked all over for a 16 year-old teenager and I couldn’t find one. Hayden Panettiere was 13 when she did “Raising Helen.” So I like to see somebody new who is going to dazzle, and then see a few a people I worked with before so that I know we can move along and if suddenly I get a sneezing fit, they’ll take over so I can then stop sneezing because I have allergies. The other thing I like to see on a set is Hector Elizondo.
