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Credits - Production Details
Apr. 26th, 2005 03:19 pmAfter all the well deserved credits for hard work done on the film, there are Thanks. Many named are people who worked behind the scenes in getting the film financed or distributed. The musicians who lent the music to the film were thanked, with a Very Special Thanks to Nathan Larson, Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, David Enthoven (Roxy Music's management) and Paul Kimble. Iggy Pop and Mick Rock are listed as well as Todd's siblings and Christine's partner. It's really endearing that alongside heavy hitters like Harvey Weinstein are Blessing and Arnold Semler, Todd's maternal grandparents. An article about Todd working with legendary film composer Elmer Bernstein on Far From Heaven, also has a nice profile of Todd's grandfather:
During a series of trips to Bernstein’s studio, the cerebral, exuberant Haynes often remarked how much the composer reminded him of his charismatic grandfather, Arnold Semler, who died in early 2001.
In fact, "Heaven" is dedicated to Semler, a.k.a. "Bompi", a son of Romanian and Polish immigrants who started out in the Warner Bros. mail room in the 1930s and worked his way up to head of set construction and union organizer. A Communist Party member, he quit his job during the McCarthy-era blacklists and founded a communications and electronics business. By the 1960s, he was living on an affluent Studio City street, it turns out, just two doors down from Bernstein’s home at the time.
"My whole life, we’d see films together," Haynes said of his grandfather. "He helped me to go to college [at Brown University] and ultimately, he became a primary financier of my films."
The politically progressive Semler was pleased when Haynes’ provocative first feature, "Poison," not only won the top prize at Sundance but became the center of a National Endowment for the Arts funding controversy.
"He identified with the history of Jewish struggle," Haynes said. "All my films are about resilient outsiders, whether in terms of race or sexual orientation, and I think I inherited that from my grandfather."
During a series of trips to Bernstein’s studio, the cerebral, exuberant Haynes often remarked how much the composer reminded him of his charismatic grandfather, Arnold Semler, who died in early 2001.
In fact, "Heaven" is dedicated to Semler, a.k.a. "Bompi", a son of Romanian and Polish immigrants who started out in the Warner Bros. mail room in the 1930s and worked his way up to head of set construction and union organizer. A Communist Party member, he quit his job during the McCarthy-era blacklists and founded a communications and electronics business. By the 1960s, he was living on an affluent Studio City street, it turns out, just two doors down from Bernstein’s home at the time.
"My whole life, we’d see films together," Haynes said of his grandfather. "He helped me to go to college [at Brown University] and ultimately, he became a primary financier of my films."
The politically progressive Semler was pleased when Haynes’ provocative first feature, "Poison," not only won the top prize at Sundance but became the center of a National Endowment for the Arts funding controversy.
"He identified with the history of Jewish struggle," Haynes said. "All my films are about resilient outsiders, whether in terms of race or sexual orientation, and I think I inherited that from my grandfather."
