My Relationship With Steven Soderbergh

Watching Steven Soderbergh’s masterwork, Traffic (2000), is thrilling and terrifying.

As a teen who was surrounded by some of the same dangers (although nothing of that magnitude), Traffic was a very dark look at the negative outcomes of temptation.

I’d never seen a film in which each sequence was so blue, red, and yellow. It was visceral.

As the movie weaved through the violent chaos of drugs entering America, it wasn’t the politicians or gangsters that caught my attention but, the teenage daughter who becomes a junkie.

The immediacy shocked me.

I doubled over when I learned that Soderbergh not only directed the picture but was also the cinematographer.

This deeply inspired me.

But there was another movie he directed that had a lifelong impact on my filmmaking and led to me meeting Soderbergh years later.

That film was Ocean’s Eleven (2001).

The elaborate hijinks required to rob three casinos simultaneously were enthralling and as it turns out, inspiring.

No, I’m not a bank robber, but in my earlier years, I did sneak into a film festival or two, inspired by some of the techniques in Oceans 11.

In 2015, I was hot out of film school, my first feature script in hand, feeling like my chances to direct were invariably tied with my ability to meet producers who made $3M movies with first-time feature directors, who got theatrical distribution and had a major star attached.

So, after getting my college thesis film into the Cannes Short Film Corner, I flew to the south of France.

Step one of the heist: getting past the bouncers and into A-list premiere parties.

I figured I could do this by either slipping by the bouncers or impersonating someone on the attendance list.

Luckily for me, on day one at the festival, I met an executive from 21st Century Fox named Michael King (If you’re reading this Michael, I’m sorry! But I was young and dumb, and had just a bit too much confidence for my own good.)

He gave me his business card, and from that moment, I knew what I had to do. I had to become him.

Now, premiere parties at Cannes are typically hosted on the beach. So that night, I dressed up and made my way to Gus Van Sant’s Sea of Trees party.

Approaching the entrance I walked up to the bouncer holding a clipboard with the party list. He stopped me, and in a strong French accent asked for my name.

I responded, “Michael.”

The bouncer just stared back at me.

So I added the last name on the business card, “King, Michael King.”

The bouncer ran his finger down the list of names, then looked at me and in his strong French accent said, “You’re not on the list sir” then turned to the person behind me.

So I pulled out King’s business card and presented it like some sort of golden ticket.

He dead-eyed me and repeated that, I, “Mr King,” was not on the list.

Stepping away, I collected myself for a few seconds then pulled my phone out, and found the name of one of the project's co-producers.

I walked back up and gave the bouncer this new name. They were not on the list.

As this was happening, a woman walked up to the bouncer, said something in French, and walked on into the party.

So without missing a beat, I started walking in right behind her.

The bouncer called out to the woman. She stopped. So did I. And they exchanged something in French. Then she turned to me, looked me up and down, and shook her head vigorously as if to say “no.”

At that point, I knew I was done for. The bouncer grabbed me by the shoulder and tossed me out onto the street.

But I wasn’t going to give up that fast. What would the Ocean’s 11 crew do, I thought.

Again, I got my phone out, but this time looked up the name of the highest-level producer at the festival I could find.

Then stepping forward again, I gave the bouncer my new, new name.

He blinked twice. I don’t know why. I can only assume it was a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

To my surprise, he let me in.

The Ocean’s 11 crew would be proud I thought as I made my way in.

Four years later at TIFF, I had my mind set on meeting Jennifer Fox (producer: Nightcrawler, Michael Clayton, We Need to Talk About Kevin).

She is one of those producers you dream of working with and I was determined to meet her while I was there. The problem was that as hard as I dug, she had no contact I could find but, I did see that she had a party for her feature at the festival The Report.

Could I do it again? Dare I do it again? I was unsure but, I flew to Toronto anyway and using my previously acquired Ocean’s 11 skills, got into the party. This time it was a breeze!

But…

As I entered the party I saw Soderbergh standing in the corner ordering a drink. Suddenly, I didn’t so much care about meeting Jennifer.

I wanted to talk with Steven.

Soderbergh (L). Copoola (R).

I had seen Soderbergh at Tribeca six months before, where he shared the stage with Francis Ford Coppola—a two-and-a-half-hour conversation about the trials and tribulations making Apocalypse Now.

It was a tete-a-tete conversation that showed Soderbergh's humbleness and his appreciation for the Godfather of cinema, and the cinema of the Godfather.

So, standing now only feet away, I introduced myself and told him how much I appreciated his conversation with Coppola.

I expected him to take the compliment confidently, but instead, he was very humble. He mentioned how nervous he was talking with Coppola.

I was nervous talking to him. I wanted to tell him how much he meant to me, how his style of filmmaking had influenced my own, and how Ocean’s 11 was my blueprint for networking.

But I didn’t, instead, for the next 25 minutes, we geeked out on Apocalypse Now and how wild the production process was.

Then at the end, as the conversation was winding down, I asked if he could introduce me to Jennifer Fox. He did.

Ocean’s 11.