The last time Roger Ebert and I talked, which as at Sundance, we didn’t talk about movies… and of course we didn’t talk.
Since cancer took the lower part of his jaw, Roger couldn’t talk, but he wrote incessantly. Our “talk” was done by emails and tweets, and Roger’s written voice was so much a part of him it was just like we were talking.
I’d met Roger at Sundance ten years earlier, in a press screening, tiny flashlight in his hand, as he scribbled away at his notepad. No one wrote more joyously about movies, or understood film in greater depth. Roger’s great gift was to bring a film geek’s passion to the populist audience.
Despite his illness, Roger was endlessly upbeat, and he never stopped going to the movies. Up until last year he was a regular fixture at film festivals, accompanied by his wife Chaz, flashing enthusiastic thumbs up or scribbling notes to share his thoughts.
What did we talk about the last time? Books. My book had just been published, and Dolly’s Bookstore, the independent bookseller on Park City’s Main St., had placed it on the movie table, right next to Roger Ebert’s Movie Yearbook 2013. I told Roger I was honored to have our books side-by-side.
“Dolly’s Bookstore,” said Roger. “The Penguin paperback of P. G. Wodehouse’s three Blandings Castle novels that I bought there changed my life. I had to tear myself away from my room to see movies.”
Which he did, and we’re all the richer for it.
In 2011 Roger gave a TED Talk about remaking his voice. It captures his triumphant spirit, and is a great way to remember him.
Top image: Roger Ebert in screening room for photo shoot for People Weekly, June 13, 1984; Chicago. Courtesy Sundance Institute.
- film, movies, TED, Roger Ebert
Adam Leipzig is the founder and CEO of MediaU, online career acceleration. MediaU opens the doors of access for content creation, filmmaking and television. Adam, Cultural Daily’s founder and publisher, has worked with more than 10,000 creatives in film, theatre, television, music, dance, poetry, literature, performance, photography, and design. He has been a producer, distributor or supervising executive on more than 30 films that have disrupted expectations, including A Plastic Ocean, March of the Penguins, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Dead Poets Society, Titus and A Plastic Ocean. His movies have won or been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, 11 BAFTA Awards, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Emmys, 2 Directors Guild Awards, 4 Sundance Awards and 4 Independent Spirit Awards. Adam teaches at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Adam began his career in theatre; he was the first professional dramaturg in the United States outside of New York City, and he was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where he produced more than 300 plays, music, dance, and other events. Adam is CEO of Entertainment Media Partners, a company that navigates creative entrepreneurs through the Hollywood system and beyond, and a keynote speaker. Adam is the former president of National Geographic Films and senior Walt Disney Studios executive. He has also served in senior capacities at CreativeFuture, a non-profit organization that advocates for the creative community. Adam is is the author of ‘Inside Track for Independent Filmmakers ’ and co-author of the all-in-one resource for college students and emerging filmmakers 'Filmmaking in Action: Your Guide to the Skills and Craft' (Macmillan). (Photo by Jordan Ancel)