Screentime: Michael McDermott, Founder, Gung-Ho Films

Screentime is a regular feature in the Beijinger magazine in which we reveal the celluloid dreams and despairs of a local Beijing personality.

Have you ever walked out of the movie theater? If so, which scene made you say “I can’t watch any more of this”?
I was watching Ted with my daughter and very early in the film I realized it wasn’t a funny, cute movie about a toy bear. So we walked out. I can’t remember which scene. It was when Ted starts fantasizing about a woman.

In the biopic of your life, which scene should be filmed in slow motion?
During the filming of any one of the three Chinese TV shows I acted in. That way you won’t see how bad I was. The experience was incredible, but each time I was asked to participate, I was shocked because I knew how bad I was at acting.

What’s the TV series or movie that you haven’t been able to find on DVD?
100 on Broadway – a Chinese TV show that I helped produce in Los Angeles, but also acted in. We shot it in LA in 1996. I was in every episode. I was so bad that I wanted to show my daughter for laughs.

What movie do you watch to remind yourself of home?
Jackie Brown (my childhood classmate, Brigit Fonda, is in it) or Shampoo (filmed in the neighborhood I grew up in). The house that the characters Julie Christie and Jack Warden live in is actually the house right behind my childhood home.

What line from a movie/TV show do you quote the most?
“Do you like apples? How do you like them apples?” said by Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. It gives me a good laugh how persistence and brains wins over arrogance.

What TV show or movie did you once love but now think is rubbish?
When I was growing up, our house had a 35mm screening room where my parents and their friends would watch movies before they were released to the regular theaters. One of the very first movies they invited me to watch was The Great Gatsby. It has always been one of my favorite movies. With the release of the new version last year, I decided to re-watch the original. I didn’t like it as much this time around. It wasn’t rubbish, just not as good as I remember.

For more information on Gung-Ho Films visit Gunghofilms.com.

Photo: courtesy Michael McDermott