STEVE STARKEY
Stupid Is as Stupid Does
The Unlikely Journey of a Producer on Forrest Gump
“A fascinating glimpse into the logistics of making an ambitious and expensive film.” - Kirkus Reviews
In the summer of 1993, an army of filmmakers arrived in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and began work on the groundbreaking film Forrest Gump. Led by visionary director Robert Zemeckis and the extraordinary Tom Hanks, the team didn't know at the time that the film would make cinematic history. They were challenged by the complicated details of the production on a movie that depicted a turbulent time in American history in places that ranged from backroads of South Carolina and the bayous of Louisiana to the jungles of Vietnam and the Washington, D.C., Mall. In these pages, Steve Starkey, one of the producers of the film, takes you behind the scenes and shares his memories of the unlikely journey to make the Oscar-winning film.
Beginning when his filmmaking partner, Robert Zemeckis, dropped the script on his desk and continuing to the film's release to critical and popular success, Starkey reveals the magic of the filmmaking process: discovering the locations for the film, including the Gump house; figuring out how to shoot Gump's transcontinental runs; and, especially, creating the extraordinary visual effects that, among other things, allowed Forrest to interact with several presidents of the United States.
He also relates the difficulties of working with Paramount Pictures, a reluctant partner on the film, and how the filmmaking team was eventually able to overcome all obstacles and make the film of their dreams. Illustrated by a large number of film stills taken during the making of the film, Stupid Is as Stupid Does brings to life an iconic, beloved movie.
KIRKUS Review:
Few films permeated the popular culture of the 1990s like Forrest Gump, but on the day the script first landed on the author’s desk—placed there by his long-term collaborator, director Robert Zemeckis—the project’s success was far from assured. Zemeckis already had a string of hits under his belt, and the attached star, Tom Hanks, was highly marketable, but the picaresque story of a “stupid” baby boomer’s brushes with history gave the studio pause. “It was clearly a large production with an unconventional script,” writes Starkey. “It did not fit into any box of chocolates they had ever seen.” He takes readers through a detailed and comprehensive look at how the film was produced and provides accounts of tense meetings with studio executives irate over the film’s ballooning budget. The book also includes rare full-color photographs from the shoot. Gump fans and aspiring filmmakers alike will enjoy this fascinating glimpse into the logistics of making an ambitious and expensive film.