Summary
This year, living icon SirElton Johnwas crowned withEGOT award status.
CutlerandDavid Furnishin their new filmElton John: Never Too Late.
Elton John: Never Too Lateis a documentary followingJohn as he looks back on his life.
Image via Federico Napoli
So let’s start with the most important thing, which is your early work onThe Nanny.
DAVID FURNISH: [Laughs] You have done your research!
I like to come with some curveballs at the beginning.
Image Courtesy of Apple
What did it mean to you in the 90s to be on that show?
Now let’s talk about the next thing.
In 2015, you were named one of GQs 50 Best-Dressed Men in Britain.
Image by Photagonist at TIFF
FURNISH: I’ve always loved clothes and fashion; it was nice to be recognized.
I wore a tie for you.
Im trying to step my game up today.
Image by Photagonist at TIFF
If they haven’t, what’s the one that you want them to start with?
RJ CUTLER: Oh gosh, its like picking a favorite child.
you might name two or three if you want.
Image by Photagonist at TIFF
We started filming with Billie when she was 16 years old and ended right after her 18th birthday.
It’s a film that’s very near and dear to my heart.
CUTLER: No, we didn’t know.
Image via Disney+
It’s all cinema verite.
David Furnish and R.J. Cutler Discuss the Best Elton John Music
Completely.
What’s the song or two that they have to hear if they’ve never heard a song?
Image via Disney+
CUTLER: Well, I point people to the entire albumMadman Across the Waterand that song in particular.
FURNISH: I am very fond of Someone Saved My Life Tonight.
That’s the first song that really resonated for me when I heard it.
Image by Photagonist at TIFF
FURNISH: And never intended to be an album.
It was the first stereo broadcast of a live, inside-a-radio-station performance.
So thankfully, it’s been properly preserved.
Image via Disney+
CUTLER:17-11-70 theres a good day.
A day well spent.
It’s just all right answers.
Image via Disney+
You’ve covered so many subjects in your career.
Have you ever had the conversation of revisiting someone a decade later, looking at the next chapter?
Fifteen years later, we went back, and we followed up with everybody.
Its very resonant and very rich.
CUTLER: Once you make a film, the film, the experience is very complete in my experience.
You directedTantrums & Tiarasback in 97.
Image via Disney+
How did it become a co-directing project instead of you doing it on your own?
We’d been down there for seven months, and we were back in LA.
I felt a sense of trust.
Image via Disney+
And I would go on any dangerous mission with RJ.
He gave me that sense of being steady and reliable and dependable and solid and creative.
CUTLER: Yeah, I was 13 years old.
Image via Chapell Roan
FURNISH: I was like, Okay, the universe has just sent me the signal that I need.
This is the person to collaborate with.
Actually, that’s one of the things I wanted to bring up.
Image via Disney+
Talk about that moment and the importance of that moment, and trying to get footage.
In those days, there was no secondary ticket market.
You either somehow magically had a ticket to Madison Square Garden, or you didn’t.
It showcases a never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family.
Madison Square Garden was shaking.
Lennon hadn’t been in New York since Shea Stadium in 1966.
He had been out of the city onThe Lost Weekend[A Love Story] for over a year.
He and Yoko were separated that would change that night.
Sean [Ono Lennon] was conceived that night, if you do the math and count nine months.
He was born pretty much to the day, nine months after, Thanksgiving 1974.
Elton, of course, is Sean’s godfather.
His life had changed.
Lennon didn’t even know it would be a number-one hit, but Elton knew.
We got every picture, we got every frame.
It’s a reason alone just to watch the documentary, just for that stuff.
FURNISH: And found true happiness in his life before we sadly lost him.
CUTLER: And the last performance of his life.
What am I willing to show as a director and as a dad?
FURNISH: I think Elton and I were both very protective of our sons.
We actively don’t promote them in the media.
So, it was important to me in this film.
The challenge was only one of our two sons actually likes being filmed.
The other one doesn’t like being filmed at all.
I don’t want to be filmed.
He just would completely shut down.
you might see how they’re brothers.
He mentions that in the documentary.
you might see the culture around our sons.
It’s loving, it’s positive.
He tells them he loves them every single day.
It’s a very powerful contrast when you hear of Elton’s childhood, and you see that.
We don’t know if we want to be part of this.
How nervous were you before that first screening?
Because that phone call is really important.
FURNISH: When they saw it, they were like, Oh my god, we’re so young!
We’re talking like babies.
Our friends are going to tease us about this.
They don’t get it.
They’re like, How could people be so wrong?
Because they’re perfectly happy in their situation.
So there’s a lot of work to be done.
There’s a lot of preconceived notions out there.
FURNISH: That was something that Elton and I deliberately didn’t build up with the boys.
It was only a day or two before the final Dodger Stadium.
He said, I had this idea.
How would you guys feel about maybe just coming on stage with me?
And they’re like, Well, why would you do that?
They were very guarded and very protected, so we played it down.
I just said, Be yourself.
I said, You’re getting your daddy back full-time.
Show the world how that feels.
And that was all I said to them, and they rose to the occasion magnificently.
CUTLER: It’s always long, and you never think you’re gonna get it shorter.
The first cut was probably about three hours.
I mean, I’ve done worse.
The first cut ofBillie Eilishwas 27 hours.
CUTLER: I’m not joking.
It’s a delightful 27 hours.
If you have the time, come on over.
I’ll show it to you.
CUTLER: Well, there you go.
Billie had a lot to say.
[Laughs]
Wow!
FURNISH: Especially for someone so early on in their life.
CUTLER: Yes, and I’m telling you, it was very compelling.
CUTLER: And it came down.
It came down beautifully.
It’s like a sauce, these films.
You’re making a reduction.
So, you asked, did we ever think we would get it down?
So it’s a question of like, ultimately, what’s the story you’re saying?
Which leads me to my next question.
It’s basically building to Dodger Stadium and stuff in the early 70s.
How did you guys figure out what the storyline was gonna be?
David said, I thinkit should be shaped around the final tour.
And I said, If that’s the spine, the nerves will be the first five years.
What a prolific time of artistic explosion that Elton went through.
Nobody really knew where the music industry and pop music was going.
Along comes Elton John with this extraordinary explosion 14 albums in five years.
CUTLER: Seven of them go to number-one, songs that we now consider to be the classic songs.
He almost dies on the road to that.
FURNISH: I was particularly excited about the opportunity.
FURNISH; Biggest star in the world.
CUTLER: People werenotcoming out.
FURNISH: Nobody came out.
He risked his career.
FURNISH: So I think it was good to give young people that context.
Also, Elton is very passionate about the fact that success in music is not overnight.
There’s no foundation there in which a career can be sustained.
There are things I need to learn.
There are lots of opportunities that I need to step into.
CUTLER: Look at Chappell now.
Look at Chappell Roan and the decade that she put in.
CUTLER: That’swhyshe’s so extraordinary.
There are a lot of great projects.
I’m just honored to be part of the documentary filmmaking community.
Are there plans for more concert films or things like that?
FURNISH: Elton is most inspired by new creation.
That is what excites him the most.
We have two stage musicals opening this year.
So, that’s just two irons that we have in the fire at the moment.
Elton, I know, wants to write and record and continue to develop new stuff.
He doesn’t sit on an archive of unreleased recordings that he’s dying to put out.
He always does one album at a time.
So,Elton is the least nostalgic person I know.
Let’s keep unearthing things that haven’t been seen or done before.
I was so thrilled with this documentary.
We had an opportunity to do that with the archive footage that we have and the audio tapes.
Elton’s handwritten diaries serendipitously found their way back to us a few years ago.
He’s like a shark; he has to keep moving forward to stay alive.
It’s what feeds him.
It’s what thrives him.
His radio shows, he absolutely loves doing them.
He calls her up, and he says, Your album is about to break.
Oh, yeah, I’m watching the numbers.
I know how this works.
I know how the charts work.
You’re getting the right amount of ads.
This is hanging around.
This is your lead single.
And so, he does that for love.
Have you thought of doing this?
I am so curious aboutThe Devil Wears Prada.
What can you tease about this?
FURNISH: If you love the film, you’ll love the show.
Vanessa Williams is playing Miranda Priestley, and she is terrific.
Vanessa is a beautiful singer and a fantastic actress.The songs sound very much like Elton John songs.
It’s a really great fun sonic pop soundtrack.
So visually, everything holds together.
Its cohesive, and it’s fun!
There’s so much negative stuff in our world right now.
How many songs are in it?
FURNISH: Off the top of my head, I would probably say there are at least 14.
It’s hard for me because songs come in and come out, and they change.
We’ll work on the show until the night that the critics come in.
You’re always, with musicals, polishing the jewelconstantlyand looking at ways of reconfiguring and doing things.
So, thats why I’m not on my toes.
It doesnt come out until, you said, December 1st.
That came from not last summer, but the summer before.
Elton and Brandi are close friends, our family’s holiday together.
She was so inspired, she wrote that lyric.
FURNISH: And a month before in theaters.
And also Roxstar Entertainment, our event producing partner and Photagonist Canada for the photo and video services.
