Summary
According to Oscar-winning filmmakerR.J.
Did Martha Stewart Forfeit Creative Control on ‘Martha?’
COLLIDER: I really want to start with you did an awesome job withMartha.
Image by Nimesh Niyomal Perera
R.J. CUTLER: Thank you!
What was it like?
Was it one of these things where you went after her or she decided to date you?
Image via Netflix
Whose idea was it to seat the two of you together?
Was it Martha’s or yours?
CUTLER: Well, it was a small table.
She has very good taste.
She knows what she’s doing.
She’s very smart.
Image via Netflix
CUTLER: They were consistent with conversations I always have with people I make films about.
I always like to have the conversation as early in the relationship as possible.
Martha, as you know, has many extraordinary gifts, but Martha is not a filmmaker.
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She’s many, many, many, many things.
Casual and devout fans alike will appreciate this deep dive into Elton John as an artist.
At some point, you’re going to show her the movie.
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CUTLER: Well, I always share the film with the people I’m making a movie about.
The story does not belong to me.
The story belongs to the subject, and they’re loaning it to me.
Image by Zanda Rice
They’re trusting me.
And Martha trusted me to tell her story.
As you pointed out, rightfully, it’s not a position she has often put herself in.
Just remarkable material that she was fully all in on.
Was there anything where she was like, like, can we abbreviate this, or anything like that?
Or was it one of these things where she just was like, It’s cool?
A documentary chronicling Martha Stewart’s evolution from Wall Street to influential icon, featuring candid interviews that explore her reinvention through the years.
But that’s okay.
That’s pretty much the bottom line.
The world is being reminded of all of these things for those who knew them.
Those who didn’t know them are getting to experience those things.
If she was super happy with every aspect of it.
This is very personal.
To me, the reaction that one has is one’s entitlement, and I embrace it.
Martha knows that I have nothing but respect for her.
It’s no secret that I’m the filmmaker.
It says written and directed by R.J. Cutler.
But there is also no secret that this is the truth, and it is the truth.
That’s the film that we’ve made.
Thats the beauty of art is that we get to explore these things in all their complexities.
How is this edit compared to some of the other edits you’ve done?
There’s so much you might say about her, and it’s a two-hour movie.
I’m just curious what that edit was really like.
CUTLER: Every film is different.
Every film is its own puzzle.
The second half of Act Two, of course, is at the very peak of that success.
Then in Act Three, she does.
She climbs herself out of it.
Well, that’s great.
You almost always do.
I mean, I’ve had very long cuts.
The very first cut for the Billie Eilish documentary was 27 hours.
I knew it would get shorter than 27 hours, but I didn’t know how much shorter.
The Martha film, at its longest, was about three hours and 20 minutes.
This is the beauty of what we do.
She’s not slowing down in terms of popularity, and you could argue she’s only getting better.
I thought it was fantastic.
When we spoke at TIFF, you mentioned to me you were doing something on the World Series.
Now that it’s after the World Series, what’s the status of that?
Whatever you made, you didn’t get into specifics.
CUTLER: The project has since been announced.
We had full access to this year’s World Series.
We were with the Yankees, we were with the Dodgers.
There were cameras everywhere it’s possible for you to imagine, microphones all over the place.
We are in the middle of the edit as we speak.
We’ll be working through the holidays.
What stories to tell, and what a remarkable thing it is.
We were just talking this morning about how baseball’s just the hardest.
It’ll break your heart.
We’re all fans.
The astounding thing is that it’s the same for the players.
What an incredible year he’s had.
But you know what?
That’s the story that we’re telling.
What an incredible thing.
Do you know what the distribution plan is?
CUTLER: We’re on Apple TV+.
Thank you for asking.
Our biggest partners, of course, are Apple TV+, where we made the Billie Eilish film.
Imagine, of course, has also done a lot of wonderful things with Apple TV+.
Man, we’re so proud of that film.
Marthais available to stream on Netflix now.
