“坏素食主义者”导演克里斯·史密斯（Chris Smith）关于偷厨师如何成为Netflix的最新犯罪明星
‘Bad Vegan’ Director Chris Smith on How the Chef Who Stole Millions Became Netflix’s Latest True Crime Star
“不好的素食主义者：名望。欺诈罪。逃犯”是克里斯·史密斯（Chris Smith）的最新纪录片，克里斯·史密斯（Chris Smith）是“ Fyre：从未发生过的最伟大的政党”和“ 100英尺浪潮”的董事，也是“ Tiger King”的执行制片人。史密斯高管制作和执导的四部分的Netflix纪录片探讨了纽约市名人餐馆餐馆餐馆店员Sarma Melngailis是如何从素食女王的女王到逃亡的。 2011年，曼哈顿纯美酒和葡萄酒的所有者梅尔尼加利斯（Melngailis）开始耗尽餐厅的资金，并向骗子肖恩·福克斯（Shane Fox）筹集资金。福克斯说服梅尔恩加利斯，如果她毫无疑问地服从他的每一个请求，他可以使她的宠物皮特犬不朽。在从餐厅及其员工那里窃取了近200万美元之后，梅尔恩加利斯和福克斯被执法部门发现在田纳西州的一家汽车旅馆里被淘汰。他们的撤消？以福克斯的真实姓名Anthony Strangis的指控，用于多米诺骨牌的比萨饼。“不好的素食主义者”是史密斯的史密斯的。帽子他讲了一个故事，表面上似乎完全是肤浅而卑鄙的，并在上面放了一个人的脸。他的富有同情心而幽默的技巧 - 与梅尔尼加利斯（Melngailis）的古怪故事相关的名望，美丽和金钱 - 使“不好的素食主义者”看上去注定是一名水库。素食主义者，” 3月16日在Netflix上发行。什么吸引了您这个故事？向Sarma和她的材料，想制作纪录片。我不知道该怎么做。我是纯食品和美酒的粉丝。我去了餐厅。我买了食谱。我买了一个脱水机，试图在家做食物。当这个消息传来时，萨尔马如何从这位名人素食厨师转到在T的汽车旅馆里被捕，这是不可想象的恩妮西。我认为，如果我们能帮助观众了解她如何从A点到B点本身就是一项壮举。但是，至少在纸上，它具有一部好电影的所有关键要素。为什么最初的犹豫？史密斯：事后看来，我不知道。就像事后看来一样，这感觉很明显，但我并没有说服。我不知道细节。直到我们坐下来，对Sarma进行了八个小时的采访，我们开始从实际发生的事情上剥离洋葱的层次，这就是故事开始向我展示自己的时候她继续前进的旅程的细微差别。在那次采访中，很明显这里有一个更大的故事。直到我们进行了第一次采访之前，很难真正评估。ShaneFox/ Anthony Strangis拒绝接受采访。当他拒绝时，关于mak有什么犹豫这个系列是因为您不会听到他的故事？显然，获得他的观点会很高兴，但这并不是我们觉得我们无法制作系列的东西，因为您生活在萨尔马的世界中，并且从她的角度来看。通过讲述她的故事，您是否希望验证她的经历？史密斯：我对项目的目标永远不会试图告诉观众怎么想。这个项目非常类似于Rorschach测试。我觉得不同的人以不同的方式看到了它，他们得出了不同的结论。那是制作系列最吸引我们的事情之一。我与制片人进行了无尽的对话，试图对发生的事情和原因有所了解。我们觉得我们是否可以复制e - 我们作为电影制片人正在经历的旅程 - 并将其传达给观众，这将是非常令人发指的事情。Netflix的Courtesy系列是一个严重的犯罪，但是有些场景和访谈是真是可笑。史密斯很难达到平衡吗？那只是生活的一部分。对我和[我的团队]，我们一直在努力做一些感觉尊重的事情，但反映了人类的经历。生活。您是否会考虑像Fox，Melngailis，“ Fyre” Billy McFarland和您即将推出的Netflix系列有关被告的加密货币骗子Ilya Lichtenstein和Heather Morgan等骗子的骗子？这不是一个有意识的决定。我是一个非常简单的人这是一种本能：“这对我来说似乎很有趣吗？我想了解更多吗？我对这个人还是这个故事感到好奇吗？”因为这些项目需要很长时间，并且您奉献了很多一生来试图告诉他们。因此，我觉得我一直在硬币的两边。目前，有很多关于“ The Tinder Swindler”，“发明Anna”和“不信任的人：对加密货币的追求国王。”您为什么认为我们的文化如此吸引有关骗子的故事？史密斯：它们是在人类层面上吸引人的故事，我们对这些事情的发生以及它们的发展感到好奇。有人如何参与创建骗局，最终如何被人沦为猎物？这很有趣，因为当我们两年半前我们开始这个项目时，我们不知道这将成为Zeitge的一部分ist。您如何决定制作纪录片四集？史密斯：我们实际上是作为一项功能开始的。但是随着时间的流逝，它开始以我们认为有助于[观众]了解萨尔马的旅程的方式扩展。如果我们制作了一个较短的版本，那将很难理解所有允许更大故事发生的事情。您是如何获得这些材料的？瑞安·弗雷泽（Ryann Fraser）：所有这些都来自他的手机，当[Fox和Melngailis]被捕时被抓住。随着时间的流逝，这是Sarma向我们提供的东西之一。那不是她最初交出的东西。但是我们到达了一个尽可能多的分享的地方。她在一个很好的地方。CoURSE，她很担心，但我认为她对此表示满意。这是一个复杂的故事，她也明白了这次采访已被编辑和凝结。
“Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives” is the latest documentary from Chris Smith, the director of “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” and “100 Foot Wave,” and an executive producer of “Tiger King.” The four-part Netflix docuseries, which Smith executive produced and directed, explores how New York City celebrity restaurateur Sarma Melngailis went from being the queen of vegan cuisine to fugitive on the run. In 2011, Melngailis – owner of Manhattan’s Pure Food and Wine - began draining the restaurant’s funds and funneling the money to Shane Fox, a con man. Fox convinced Melngalis that he could make her pet pitbull terrier immortal if she obeyed his every request without question. After stealing nearly $2 million from the restaurant and its staff, Melngalis and Fox were found holed up in a Tennessee motel by law enforcement. Their undoing? A charge made under Fox’s real name, Anthony Strangis, for a Domino’s pizza.
“Bad Vegan” is stylistically Smith’s, in that he takes a story that on the surface seems solely superficial and salacious and puts a human face on it. His compassionate yet humorous techniques — combined with the fame, beauty and money inherently tied to Melngailis’ outlandish story — makes “Bad Vegan” appear to be destined to be a watercooler hit.
Smith and docuseries executive producer Ryann Fraser spoke to Variety about “Bad Vegan,” being released on Netflix March 16.
What drew you to this story?
Chris Smith: I was out to dinner with a friend who said that Mark Emms, who is the series’ executive producer, was coming to town because he had access to Sarma and her materials and wanted to make a documentary. I didn't know what to make of it. I was a fan of Pure Food and Wine. I had gone to the restaurant; I had bought the cookbooks. I had bought a dehydrator and tried to make the food at home. When the news broke, it was just inconceivable how Sarma had gone from this celebrity vegan chef to being arrested in a motel room in Tennessee. I thought if we can help the audience understand how she went from point A to point B that in and of itself would be a feat.
You have said that initially you were skeptical about turning Melngailis’ story into a doc. But, at least on paper, it has all the key ingredients for a good con movie. Why the initial hesitation?
Smith: In hindsight, I don't know. It feels very obvious like most things in hindsight, but I wasn't convinced. I didn't know the details. It wasn't until we sat down and did an eight-hour interview with Sarma and we started to peel back the layers of the onion in the sense of what actually transpired, that’s when the story started to reveal itself to me in terms of the nuance of the journey she had gone on. In that interview, it became very apparent that there was a bigger story here. It was hard to really assess until we had done that first interview.
Shane Fox/ Anthony Strangis declined to be interviewed. When he said no, was there any hesitation about making the series because you wouldn’t get to hear his side of the story?
Smith: No. Sarma’s story was equally as valid as his. Obviously, it would have been nice to have gotten his perspective, but it wasn't something we felt would preclude us from being able to make the series because you're living in Sarma’s world and you're going on the journey from her perspective.
It’s hard to understand why Melngailis made some of the choices she made when she was with Fox. By telling her story, are you hoping to validate her experience?
Smith: My goal with projects is never to try to tell the audience what to think. This project is very much like a Rorschach test. I feel like different people see it in different ways and they come away with different conclusions. That was one of the things that was most fascinating to us in making the series. I had endless conversations with my producers trying to come to some understanding of what happened and why. We felt like if we could replicate that — the journey that we were going through as filmmakers — and communicate that to the audience, that that would be something that would be very thought provoking.
The series is about a serious crime, but there are scenes and interviews that are really funny. Was it difficult to strike that balance?
Smith: Even in the darkest of times there can be lightness or humor. That's just part of life. For me and [my team] we are always trying to do something that feels respectful, but is a reflection of the human experience.
You have said that one through line of your work is you make films about people who are forging their own paths in life. Would you consider con artists like Fox, Melngailis, “Fyre’s” Billy McFarland and your upcoming Netflix series about accused cryptocurrency scammers Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan another through line of your work?
Smith: It's not a conscious decision. I'm a very simple person that just follows an instinct of, “Does this seem interesting to me? Do I want to learn more? Am I curious about this person or this story?” Because these projects take a long time and you dedicate a lot of your life to trying to tell them.
You are very in tune with the zeitgeist.
Smith: Well, I made 15 years of movies that nobody saw. So, I feel like I've been on both sides of the coin.
Currently there are a lot of programs out there about con artists like “The Tinder Swindler,” “Inventing Anna” and “Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King.” Why do you think our culture is so drawn to stories about con artists?
Smith: They are stories that are intriguing on a human level that we're curious as to how these things come to be and how they unfold. How does somebody become involved in creating a con, and how does somebody end up falling prey to one? It's funny, because when we started this project two and a half years ago, we had no idea that this would be something that would be part of the zeitgeist.
How did you decide on making the docuseries four episodes?
Smith: We actually started this project as a feature. But over time, it started to expand in ways that we thought helped [the audience] understand the journey that Sarma went on. If we had done a shorter version, it would have been difficult to understand all the things that happened that allowed the greater story to take place.
Video footage, pictures and audio recordings from Fox’s phone are used throughout “Bad Vegan.” How did you obtain those materials?
Ryann Fraser: Those all came from his cell phone, which was seized when [Fox and Melngailis] were arrested. It was one of the things that Sarma provided to us over time. That wasn't something that she just initially handed over. But we got to a place of sharing as much as possible.
How does she feel about the series?
Smith: Fine.
Fraser: I watched it with her last week for the first time. She's in an OK spot. Of course, she's worried, but I think that she is OK with it. It's a complicated story, and she also understands that.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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发表于 2022-7-5 01:48:50
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