Jami Gertz And Stacy Lubliner Talk Movies, Motherhood, And 'A Better Life' (Video)
After twenty years as an actress, Jami Gertz decided to step into the new role of producer. Enlisting the help of veteran dealmaker and former ICM agent Stacy Lubliner, the two founded Lime Orchard Productions.
The partners bring very different but complimentary skill sets to the table. "I grew up on-set," says Gertz, whose first movie role was in 1981's "Endless Love" - "that was my high school, my college. My formal education was on a movie or television set, so I am very familiar with that." Lubliner, on the other hand, says, "Because I was an agent for so long, a lot of my skills were in marketing and publicity, working with the studio, being the liaison. Once you get on-set you see that Jami has this gift for knowing how things sound, how they look. I mean, it's really amazing -- it's just in her gut, and you can't really learn that."
What they have in common is a no-nonsense attitude and a passion for character-driven projects about important subject matter. The two working moms -- who have five children between them -- chose a story about a father and son for their feature film debut. "A Better Life," directed by Chris Weitz ("New Moon," "About a Boy"), is a moving tale of an undocumented worker, a single dad, raising a teenager in gritty East Los Angeles.
While an audience that included L.A.'s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the senior class of The Gertz-Ressler charter high school watched a special screening hosted by Arianna Huffington, Gertz and Lubliner sat down with me to talk about movies, motherhood and their hopes for "A Better Life."
Willow Bay also spoke to Gertz and Lubliner about why they chose to make "A Better Life," which they call a "love letter to LA." You can view that post here.
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First Posted: 06/28/11 06:15 PM ET Updated: 08/23/11 06:12 AM ET