On Sunday night Brandeis students were granted a rare delight when Hollywood writer and producer Marshall Herskovitz answered students' questions after a free screening of his latest film, The Last Samurai. This question and answer forum was fascinating for all those with any interest in film, and it is always beneficial to listen to people who have made a name for themselves in a difficult industry. Herskovitz, who has produced hugely successful movies and shows, such as Legends of the Fall, the multi-Academy award winning Traffic, and television's Emmy award winning My So-Called Life, was affable and forthcoming. He talked about the process of filmmaking, that it remains the same whether "you have four dollars or 100 million." The process "is very humbling," Herskovitz confessed, and it involves many people blundering along. It is those collaborated blunders that ultimately create the movie.

Herskovitz has been in the movie business long enough to know what makes the audience tick. When the first draft of The Last Samurai hit his desk, he knew that the movie was too aloof for American people to become personally invested in the storyline. A Civil War veteran in Japan struggling with his destiny is not too gripping to the average American movie-goer, so Herskovitz changed the script to where the audience could get involved with the on-screen relationships. Love and death should never just be taking place on screen, Herskovitz claimed, but in every audience member as well, because if you do not feel the loss, the movie will not be a moving experience.

Herskovitz touched on the magic of movie making, painting it as an ever-changing and nearly improvisational art. Throughout the drafting and filming of The Last Samurai, there was debate about a kiss between Tom Cruise and the female protagonist. On the fateful day, the directors and producers were still not sure whether the kiss would remain part of the movie, but told the two actors to try it anyway. When they saw it from behind the camera, the entire production crew was taken aback with the passion of the moment, and decided to leave it in. It was a moment, Herskovitz recalled, where everyone just said "wow," and that part of the movie virtually edited itself into the final product.

Despite the international success of the movie, Herskovitz was extremely forthcoming in regard to the main criticisms of the movie. Some of it can be attributed to being misperceived by American audiences, he claimed, although he acknowledged that perhaps they could have done more to explain the climactic unfolding of the movie. What many people viewed as an implausible ending could have been explained with the lengthening of one scene, but that posed other issues involved with that scene. The scene could be thought of as an illustration of the myriad of problems facing movie-makers with each and every scene.

As a successful producer of both television and film, Herskovitz was an excellent resource to hear about the work behind both mediums. As a producer on television, one is given the title executive producer, and consequently become the king of the project. Often, the executive producer writes the pilot for the show, directs it and is in charge of virtually every aspect of production. When working on movies, a producer becomes subject to the creative whims of the director, and is there primarily to help the director's vision become a reality.

Furthermore, there is a vast difference in the allocation of both time and money for the two forms of entertainment. With television, everything is done "bam-bam-bam," and crews are often under-funded. Conversely, studio movies offer nearly infinite resources, huge budgets and virtually as much time as is needed. As a result, movie-making "moves at a glacial pace," subject to the whims of many different people, be it stars wanting to take a vacation or directors wanting to re-shoot a scene 30 times.

To hear someone who has entrenched himself as a successful Hollywood producer, in an industry that is so difficult to succeed in, was a true delight. Herskowitz was a very honest and gracious speaker, and hearing about his trials and tribulations was truly a privilege.