For Peter Kujawski, chairman of Focus Features, it was “very simple and easy” to greenlight James Gray’s drama “Armageddon Time.” Gray had written the script before the pandemic shut down of March 2020. By that Summer, Kujawski got a call from Roeg Sutherland, a talent agent from CAA, saying he had something that he should look at. Sutherland knew Kujawski was a “gigantic fan” of Gray’s work and he was in a position to say yes to the project.
“I was predisposed because of my fanship,” Kujawski reveals. “The movie literally could have been about young James Gray just building a model rocket, and I would have wanted to do it.”
Gray, who also produced and directed the film, says he didn’t know of Kujawski’s admiration. “This is fabulous to hear!”
Now Gray and Kujawski discuss “Armageddon Time,” the challenges of making the film during the pandemic, their careers, and Gray’s bad experience working with former film producer Harvey Weinstein.
But first, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni talk about another producer, Eric Weinberg, the criminal charges against him, and the “club” culture of complicity that allowed him to keep getting jobs in Hollywood.