Roger Corman Gets a Hero’s Welcome at Beyond Fest With Protégés Ron Howard, Joe Dante and More Reliving Big Breaks and Disastrous Test Screenings
variety.comJ. Kim Murphy “This is the only person to run a studio who knows how to make a movie,” director Allan Arkush exclaimed, hailing his former boss Roger Corman in front of a sold-out crowd at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica Saturday evening.
Now 97 years old, the unbelievably prolific Pope of Pop Cinema was the guest of honor at the genre-focused Beyond Fest, joining for a panel with Arkush, fellow directors Ron Howard, Joe Dante and Amy Holden Jones and producer Jon Davison — all of whom Corman helped launch into Hollywood under his independent production and distribution company New World Pictures, founded in 1970.
After directing more than 45 features, Corman decided to create his own banner, which would go on to help jumpstart the careers of Jonathan Demme, Curtis Hanson and countless other talents. “I made a picture for American International that made too much money, ‘The Wild Angels.’ It ran up this tremendous gross and they cheated me on the profits.
We settled that because they wanted another one. So I directed ‘The Trip,'” Corman recalled, noting the feature that he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Jack Nicholson as a turning point for his career. “That one ran up a big profit and they cheated me again!
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