Quill & Quire Review and Q&A with Bill Brownstein

John Dunning’s memoir, You’re Not Dead until You’re Forgotten, is getting lots of buzz leading up to the Toronto book launch at Ben McNally Books this Thursday! Quill & Quire gave the memoir a starred review:

The best filmmaker memoirs are the ones that feel like movies themselves, whether it’s the epic, melodramatic sweep of Roman by Polanski or the wry, anti-establishment farce of Luis Buñuel’s My Last Sigh. To these ranks we can now add You’re Not Dead until You’re Forgotten, John Dunning’s posthumously published autobiography, which takes its cues from the late French-Canadian B-movie impressario’s thriftily produced films. Written with the assistance of Montreal Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein, the book is fast, frank, and endearing, not in spite of its occasional cheesiness, but because of it.

Read the full review here. Co-author Bill Brownstein also sat down with Q&Q this week to discuss Dunning’s career and legacy. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

How did you become involved in this project? John Dunning called me out of the blue about 10 years ago and asked if I would help him with his memoirs. I found that interesting because when I had been writing reviews for the Gazette I had been particularly tough on his films, as a lot of critics had been. It was easy to take shots at the certain kinds of B-films he produced. Nonetheless, he said he felt I was honest, and he didn’t hold grudges. This was going to be just a book for his family, but after he passed away, I started to see that this was more than just a family legacy thing.

John Dunning is probably the most successful filmmaker in this country that no one has ever heard of. I think its only fitting that now people are starting to appreciate that without him, we wouldn’t have as distinct a film industry as we do, and in fact some of the creators that we have.

What was he like? As prurient as the films might have seemed, he was the most upstanding, very conservative-looking person. He was a humble man and very self-effacing. He would hire people to take his place on the red carpet. He didn’t want the glory, which is just the antithesis to almost anybody else I’ve met in this business. He was really in it for the craft. He was in his element giving young filmmakers a chance.

What was his role as a mentor? There was no commercial film industry in this country when he started out – so who’s going to give a break to someone like a David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand, or Jean Beaudin? He’s often compared to Roger Corman in the States, who had huge luck with some of the biggest American actors [like Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, and Robert De Niro] and directors [like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, and James Cameron] of our generation. It was the same with him. Certainly, Cronenberg would never have had a platform if it were not for John Dunning. He produced two of Cronenberg’s early films, Shivers and Rabid. Dunning also worked with Ivan Reitman, one of the most successful commercial directors around. They produced Meatballs together. At the time it was a bit of a lark, but when it became for a while the biggest-grossing Canadian film, people suddenly took him seriously – Bill Murray was launched as a result of that. Don Carmody is another guy who started out with him. He was asked to be an extra in some X-rated film, and then he ended up being a production assistant, and later went on to produce the movie Chicago.

Read the full Q&A here

UPCOMING EVENTS

This Thursday! Book Launch
Ben McNally Books, Toronto
6:30 PM
More details >

Nov 2: Bill Brownstein Book Reading
Books & Breakfast, Sheraton Hotel, Montreal
10:00 AM (tickets are $32)
Details coming soon

MEDIA ATTENTION FOR JOHN DUNNING MEMOIR

• Book excerpt in the Montreal Gazette
• CHOM 97.7 interview with Bill Brownstein
• CBC All in a Weekend interview
• CTV Montreal interview
• CJAD800 interview

To learn more about You’re Not Dead until You’re Forgotten, click here.
For media requests, please contact Jacqui Davis.