While MGM's Fame reboot isn't exactly sending the critics, it does have its supporters (The A.V. Club says it "respects the original" and is a "raw, uplifting love letter to creativity in every possible form," and the NY Times says, "[While it] suffers from a surfeit of flash, it nonetheless offers the undeniable power of young performers pursuing art at peak dexterity."). We talked with its first-time feature director, Kevin Tancharoen -- a choreographer and music video director who staged Britney Spears's Onyx Hotel Tour and the video for "Me Against the Music," her duet with Madonna -- about his inspirations in reviving the 1980 musical relic, and our increasingly fame-obsessed and talent-show-oriented culture.
Had you directed any short films before diving into Fame?
No. You know, anything I've ever shot had always been for something very specific, like videos for Britney on tour. I always wanted to direct. This just happened to come up. I really didn't think I was going to get it, but there's been a trend in choreographers turning into directors, whether it be Rob Marshall, Adam Shankman, Anne Fletcher. There's a handful of choreographers that make the transition.
Why do you think there seems to be a big move towards that right now?
I don't know. I would actually be very interested in talking to the people who hire. But there is a trend there.
What was your pitch?
I went in and said, listen, I love Fame. I think it's fantastic, but you can't recast those characters. I said, they're all so perfect, but what you have to do is to take the idea and the message and the integrity and the grittiness and translate it to a 2009 tale. Because something that was so good about the first one was that it really painted pictures of characters living in 1980.
Who were your influences?
My influences are a little bit more classic than one might think because of my background. I didn't reference any music videos. I mean if there were any music videos, it would be videos by a romantic. And all of my influences on these kinds of genre movies were movies like All That Jazz, or Gene Kelly, Busby Berkeley, Stanley Donen, Fred Astaire, Nicholas Brothers, that kind of stuff that I grew up loving. Because those sequences were just pure talent and the camera didn't overcompensate with just pure editing. And I don't like that, you know, complaint cliche that everything's been edited together so fast you don't know what the hell is going on, because you can't see or appreciate anything. So they liked that my influences really kind of were a little more old school.
You mention Busby Berkeley -- are there fantasy sequences in the film?
There's no big fantasy elements. I just liked the way he elegantly shot them. It was just crafted so well. I hope one day I could do something as massive as a Busby Berkeley sequence. But I just liked his appreciation for the talent. He let them do his thing. That's something Stanley Donen did so well for Gene Kelly. Though Gene Kelly was the showman, Stanley Donen really was the technical guy who helped him execute it.
It seems as if it's being marketed, and the idea of it, comes as a one with all of these reality competition shows that are so popular now.
It's funny: In the trailers, they have that YouTube line. That's not in the movie. [Laughs.] And the reason why is that I always find it a little cheesy when you have to nod at the technology of the new era just to seem cool and updated, so I took it out.
But I know what you mean. I think we have to market to all the demographics, because this movie is played for every demographic. You have the nostalgic factor for people who loved the original film and television show, and then there's this whole new generation of kids who grew up loving High School Musical, and Step Up, Stomp the Yard and all that stuff, and the people who love dancing shows on TV. So it's not like when you have a superhero movie, when you know who you're marketing for.
As someone who's worked professionally in this world of performing arts, showbiz, do you feel that people are maybe encouraging kids to pursue those dreams a little too much?
I think there are both sides to that. I don't know why I watched it, but last night I landed on this TLC show called Toddlers and Tiaras. I wanted to vomit, but was glued to the television because of what these parents are doing.
A lot of people think, oh, that's an easy school because all you do is sing and dance. But that's not true at all, because of all the extra work you have to put into it. They actually amplify the academics because of that. It's a very difficult school, and these kids are put under a pressure cooker from society, who says you have to make money. In this industry, nobody respects what you do until you actually make it, which is really sad. And these kids have to deal with it every day. Their teachers are a prime example of the ones who don't make it, and they're in front of them every day. It's a very unique situation for a teenager to be in. ♦