Poll Results | Movie Ticket Prices

We asked you how much you're willing to spend on a movie ticket. Here's what you told us...

$10 -- 39%
Less than $7 -- 33%
I don't buy movie tickets -- 11%
$15 -- 6%
$20 -- 6%
Price does not affect me -- 5%

$25 or more -- 0%
$12 -- 0%

Are you surprised by these results?

Q&A with Actor Ken Jennings

Film: Under Jakob's Ladder
Actor: Ken Jennings
Role: Oigen

Q: What attracted you to working on this film?
A: Well, first of all, it was just work. And it's always good to work. But I knew that I really liked the piece when I saw a line to the effect of "The path to salvation is through the gate of mercy." That's probably a paraphrase. But I really liked that. That's also my favorite line from the film.

Q: Did you do anything special to prepare for the role of Oigen?
A: I really didn't have to do too much to prepare for Oigen. Worked on the accent a bit. But the role is fairly self-explanatory. I play a lot of dark characters. They're fun to play. Playing an Irish gangster in a film I'm currently shooting ("White Irish Drinkers").

Q: What was the most challenging scene for you?
A: I didn't find any scene that challenging. I'm used to playing characters of this sort.

Q: What did you enjoy the most about working on this film?
A: The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the moral value of the film. And I really enjoyed meeting and working with Robert, Jill, and Mann. We had many good talks about all sorts of various things. Spiritually, it was good for me to work with them at that time. They're good people.

Q: How did you get your start in film?
A: I've been doing film and TV for quite a while now. But I really got my start on the stage. And the stage is still where I get most of my work. I've done eight Broadway shows. Won two awards for my work in "Sweeney Todd" on Broadway. Done lots of regional theater. Played everything from Shakespeare and Strindberg to Porter and Berlin. Playing the great Shakespearean roles, that's the best. I've had the honor to play both Shylock and Iago. I think those roles were the highlights of my career. The regionals don't pay as much as Broadway. But I didn't get into this for the money really. I got into it for the love.
Q: What inspires you as an actor?
A: And there's nothing like playing those great Shakespearean roles. Right now, I'm performing in an Off-Broadway show, Sessions. We've been running for over a year now.

Q: If you weren't an actor, what would you be?
A: I'd always be an actor. If I wasn't getting paid for it, I'd still be doing it on an amateur level.

Prison Rat

Stockings, our prison rat from Under Jakob's Ladder, was the feature of her own newspaper article this past weekend. Along with her owner Dana (our fearless Rat Handler)...

And of course with Yasha (Quentin McCuiston).

You can read the article here.

Q&A with Actress Alexandra Tejeda Rieloff

Film: Under Jakob's Ladder
Actress: Alexandra Tejeda Rieloff
Role: Emma

Q: What attracted you to working on this film?
A: The challenge of playing a Russian woman from a period past. I also thought the story was very moving.

Q: How did you prepare for your role?
A: Almost ten years ago, I bought a CD -- 'Russian Accents For Actors' -- which somehow remained with me. I knew one day I would put it to use; I think it was something I always wanted to do. I also watched Sergei Bondarchuk's film, 'War and Peace'. (It's approximately seven hours long.) I picked scenes where I could study the women, in particular, and played them over and over... Some nights I fell a sleep listening to their voices.

Q: How did you identify with your character?
A: With a little effort, I think we can identify with all things and other human beings... However, having some German/Russian ancestry helped.

Q: What did you enjoy the most about working on this film?
A: I enjoyed everything about working on this film. Every moment was a learning and growing experience.

Q: Talk about working on the set.
A: Robert [producer] and Mann [director] were wonderful. Mann exudes a trust and confidence which gave me trust and confidence. I thank them both for trusting 'Emma' to me. I did not have much dialogue with Jeff [role of Jakob], but the scene on the bridge was electric, for me. It might be my favorite scene. He was fantastic!

Q: What was the most challenging scene for you?
A: I only had a few scenes, but I think the arrival of Emma to Rachel's house. Maybe because I didn't have her there... But such is the art of filmmaking!

Q: How did you get your start in film?
A: I auditioned for a film called 'Destination Unknown' and got a small role. I think I have one line or two, can't remember. It was my first film audition. I had been working as a dancer and on stage up until then. It was something I always wanted to do.

Q: Who are your influences?
A: My influences are many. I am a compulsive thief who draws from everything I can: People, especially strangers, music, nature, animals. Definitely animals. They're so real and alive. My father who was an inventor, and my mother who is one of the most adventurous and courageous people I know. Actors who have inspired me! Kim Stanley, John Hurt (in the 'Elephant Man'), the French actress Isabelle Hubert, the Spanish actress Carmen Maura, Charlie Chaplin, Walter Matthau. And I wish I had been around to see Laurette Taylor on stage. Maureen Stapleton and John Cassavetes, Angela Lansbury, Peter Falk... Ben Gezzara! Jee, I've been inspired by so many actors...

The Cost of a Movie Ticket

When was the last time you went to see a movie at the theatre? Did your heart sink to see the price of the ticket? Or maybe you gave no thought as to the amount you had to pay at the box office...

Did you know that in 1948, the average ticket price to see a movie in the U.S. was just 36 cents?! Ten years later, in 1958, the price nearly doubled... to 68 cents a ticket.

Take a look at the chart below. Notice the average price doubles for each decade (the exception being from 1988 to 1998).

1948 -- $0.36
1958 -- $0.68
1967 -- $1.22
1978 -- $2.34
1988 -- $4.11
1998 -- $4.69
2008 -- $7.18

Hmmm... What does that mean for the next decade? If we're at an average of $7.18 per ticket right now, double that and you jump to around $14.00 a ticket.

Of course, these figures are the average for the entire United States. Spend some time in New York. We're already paying between $10-$14 for a movie ticket in NYC. So, that would make the average New York City movie ticket $20-$28 in 2018, right? (Popcorn, anyone?)

What do you think? What are you willing to pay for a ticket to see a movie? (Where do you draw the line? $10? $15? $30???)

Take our poll... {This poll is now closed, but you can still leave a comment below.}

Also, feel free to leave a comment...

Water in the Hole

Have you watched a prison escape movie recently?

They always have the inevitable escape hole.

Well, in our prison movie, Under Jakob's Ladder, we too had our own hole.

Week 3 of the film shoot. It was on a Monday (technically our "day off"). Everyone on the crew was pretty exhausted. (Our big question was why Peter [i.e. "Vovik"] hadn't been able to dig all that much with the spoon we had given him?!)

And we needed the hole by the next day. A hole deep and wide enough to stand in. Big enough to be an escape hole.

Well, that's when it's nice to have associate producers who don't shy away from having "hole digger" as part of their resume. Unlike Peter, Steve was allowed to use a shovel. Up went the dirt, down went the hole. All ready by the morning of Tuesday's shoot.

Except it rained during the night.

We had a new problem.

Now, we had to spend some time getting the water out of the hole!

Loss

Under Jakob's Ladder is, on one level, a movie about loss.

It's about the loss of freedom for the protagonist Jakob and his fellow prisoners... The loss of trust where everyone begins to suspect everyone else... The loss felt by a granddaughter as her grandfather is torn from her.

This movie is based on real-life events that happened in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Real-life losses that were felt by real-life people.

But this movie isn't just about a certain group of people in a certain historical time. You probably never spent time prison because your neighbor was looking for another bottle of vodka.

But you can perhaps identify with loss on some level.

For Jakob and his fellow prisoners, they looked for and found a way to rise above the loss felt in their lives. Something (we hope) is a major theme that plays out in the movie.

(This blog post is dedicated to the people who deal with loss everyday.)

Taking a Break

We'll be taking a break with the actor Q&As for a couple of posts. Don't worry. There are still more to come...

Q&A with Actor Sean Patrick Folster

Film: Under Jakob's Ladder
Actor: Sean Patrick Folster
Role: Yosif

Q: How did you get your start in film?
A: Just began auditioning.

Q: How did you prepare for your role in this movie?
A: Lots of Russian dialect practice, lots of work on my own with grief and loss. That's sort of what I saw this character [Yosif] as, someone whose character problems got him pulled out of the life he built for himself, and the difficulty of that... stuff I could easily relate to.

Q: What was the most challenging scene for you?
A: By far the dialogue scene, the one where I tell that big long story. Never felt like I got it.

Q: Which scene in the movie was your favorite?
A: As far as what I was in, there was a moment when Yasha came over to me and retrieved the box of bible passages I'd thrown against the wall, sort of a moment of connection with him and me, some tenderness... I liked that moment. Don't know how it played, but it felt good.

Q: What was it like to work on this film?
A: Really enjoyed everybody. Was a pleasure. Folks just wanted to do their best. Mann was particularly good for me, he had a real openness and curiosity about what you could bring, but one time he told me "You didn't have it in the long shot, I need it for the close-up." I really appreciated that, that when he really needed to see something, he wouldn't BS me and shine me on, but just be straight... Really appreciated him for that.

Q: What did you enjoy the most?
A: The camaraderie. The sense of togetherness. The way people left you alone to work on your process. The sense of silent support everyone had for each other, even though we were all pretty tired. How cold it was that first night.

Q: Who inspires you as an actor?
A: Benicio del Toro, Phil Hoffman, Chris Cooper... I don't know, lots of people.

Q&A with Actor Peter Iasillo

Film: Under Jakob's Ladder
Actor: Peter Iasillo, Jr.
Role: Vovik

Q: What attracted you to work on this film?
A: The casting notice said that the producers were looking for authentic and authentic-sounding Russian accents. I had played comic Russian "characters" before, but wanted to seriously play the part of a Russian. The part [of Vovik] originally called for a medium-build wiseguy type, almost mean at times. The Moon Brothers rewrote the part to be that of a larger, more humanistic character, who would at times lighten up scenes with humor and still be able to show his sensitive and tragic side.

Q: How did you prepare for your role?
A: I had studied Russian history for past roles, but for this part I delved deep into the history of Stalin's Russian and the period of the detention camps and the "Black Ravens". I did a lot of online study, printed and studied photos and drawings of actual prison camps and watched as much video on YouTube as I could. I also listened to authentic Russians speaking in English. Let me say that it was never my intention to sound like a Russian actor trying to speak English, but rather as an American actor with a believable Russian "tone" to his speech.

Q: How did you identify with the character of Vovik?
A: Anytime I play a part, I ask myself what would I say, do, or feel if I were in this character's shoes. The lines are already written, so it's just a matter of learning them and speaking them as the character. Even if I were playing an axe murderer, I put myself in the character's psyche and play it truthfully.

Q: What was your favorite scene?
A: My favorite scene is the fight between me and Bruno. Stuntman and actor Matthew Staley worked with us to make the scene very powerful and convincing.

Q: Tell about working on the film.
A: Where do I begin? It was a joy from start to finish. Even standing in the freezing cold rain in the middle of the night was "enjoyable" as the crew was always ready with blankets and coats between takes.

Q: What did you enjoy the most about working on this film?
A: The professionalism and camaraderie of the entire cast and crew. Nuff said.

Q: What was it like to work with Jeff Stewart?
A: Jeff Stewart (Jakob) is a seasoned pro! I learned so much from him. I still marvel at his ability to be completely silly and goofy off camera and then elicit tears in a scene of great depth and drama.

Q: What about working with Robert and/or Mann?
A: Robert and Mann are real directors! Not just in the technical sense, but in knowing how to work with actors and how to direct actors. They understand the whole acting process and respect their artists and know how to get a truthful and honest performance from them. They know how to shoot a scene and have an excellent sense of story structure and continuity. They will also praise you and let you know you are doing a good job. That goes a very long way when you are responsible for handing in believable performance.

Q: What was the most challenging scene for you?
A: The scene where I discover the that camp guards have taken Jakob's coat from the escape hole that I am digging and trying to hide was pretty challenging. It's a very emotional moment where I realize they are going to take Jakob and punish HIM for MY hole digging! I needed to go Method for that one. On stage, you have momentum to propel yourself into the moment. On film, you have to be able to turn it on and off between set-ups. The camera sees EVERYTHING, especially what's inside. So it better be real.

Q: How did you get your start in film?
A: I had friends (that I still keep in touch with) who were horror movie directors. They knew me from community theatre and cast me in their early films Igor and the Lunatics, Spookies, and Killer Dead. I love all acting, but I fell in love with "camera acting" from that first day till now.

Q: Who are your influences as an actor?
A: My favorites actors are those that I share some aspect of their character type with. They are Zero Mostel, Vincent Schiavelli, Vincent Price, Timothy Carey, Geoffrey Rush and Clancy Brown. If you don't know who any of them are, I invite you to look them up on the Internet.