Transformers - Tom DeSanto (producer) interview

TOM DeSanto, co-producer of Transformers talks about his hopes for the movie, working with Michael Bay and working in the sci-fi genre in general… He was speaking at a Saturday morning round table of European journalists. I was the only UK journalist in attendance.

Q. Are you also a big fan of Transformers?
A: I’m sort of like a Peter Pan that way. Between X-Men and Battlestar Galactica and Transformers I refuse to let my childhood die. So, it’s been great. I’m the luckiest kid in the candy store because I’m a kid from New Jersey who dreamed of going to Hollywood and making movies. I ended up driving across the country with my best friend and moved out there. All my action figures have become real now.

What’s important for me is that there’s a lot of properties from 20 or 25 years ago that don’t have that emotional resonance. With X-Men or Transformers, they have characters that you care about. And that’s the key to them. Effects are great, they bring the film alive, but our mantra from the beginning was that if you don’t care about these characters at the end of the movie then we failed as filmmakers.

Q. Was Bryan Singer ever in the running to direct Transformers?
A: Well, the funny thing was after X-Men 2, I was leaving to do Transformers and Bryan was doing Logan’s Run so we were going to move back for X-Men 3. But then Bryan got offered Superman and he went off to do that. Transformers took about a year longer because we wanted to get the script right. The great thing about the studio was that often things are rushed but this was one of those special properties where we were encouraged to take our time, get it right and potentially build a franchise.

Q. Will you return to X-Men eventually?
A: It’s interesting, I brought Bryan in on the project. He had never read comic books and I was the kid who came home from football practise to play Dungeons & Dragons. So, we were a good combination. When he left, I left. But I think there’s a lot of potential left in X-Men and it’s got a great cast. Just like this, we became a big family. These movies are so hard to do that you bond in a very boot camp sort of way [laughs] by the end of it all.

Q. Was it always the plan to bring back Famke Janssen?
A: It was the plan all along but I didn’t do the third one. We planted those seeds in the first movie but they went in a different direction with the character in the third one. Our plan was to bring her back but more as a human being.

Q. You obviously liaised with the military a lot in making Transformers, so tell us is there a plan for tackling a real-life alien attack?
A: [Laughs] You know, I would hope so! I would hope that there’s someone thinking about it.

Q. A lot of this summer’s movies have been sequels. Transformers obviously has a diehard fanbase. But how do you reach everyone you’re hoping to?
A: Our whole approach going in was that Shia LaBoeuf’s character is the audience. So as Shia is experiencing everything and asking: “Ok, so you were sent down here to protect me and you’re the good guys?” The audience is learning about it at the same time. So, you don’t need to be a fan going into the movie. The best thing that we heard again and again – whether it’s from North America, Europe or Korea – was: “Oh my God, I was not expecting that! I had such a good time.” If you’re not a fan going into the theatre, I think you’ll be a fan coming out.

Q. What was your typical day as a producer?
A: The key was staying on track with development. If you don’t build a solid foundation for the house, the house is going to collapse. And that’s why in pre-production we were able to save so much money, because everyone did their homework. I’m proud of the fact we brought this movie in at a responsible budget so that it’s not that scary for the studio.

During production, the great thing about Michael Bay is that he’s such a fast shooter. He’ll get out there and he’s like a drill sergeant. He was this force of nature. And in post production it was all about the magic of seeing it come together and the first time you see the finished effects. At first, when you’re looking at the conceptual art it’s kind of like watching a sonogram of your child going. Finally, when it’s born and you’re sitting in the theatre… it made me feel like I was 10 again.

Q. What are you most proud of with Transformers?
A: In every movie there’s usually a few clunky shots where you’re like: “Oooh, how did that get past!” In this movie, I think the bar as far as the effects are concerned has been raised to the next level.

Q. If given the opportunity where would you like to take the franchise next?
A: We definitely planted seeds in this movie and hopefully we’ll be able to make more. But that’s up the audience. However, they are such great characters and there’s such a great Arthurian type mythology that there’s a bunch of different directions we could go in. But there are definitely seeds planted that if we get lucky enough to do it, we all have great ideas.1

Q. How easy was it to get Steven Spielberg involved?
A: He’s such a child of pop culture that he knew what it was and understood what made it tick. That was a huge part of getting the movie made. Whether you’re eight, 18 or 68 you can walk into the theatre with Transformers and have a good time. It has that old school Spielberg sensibility.

Q. Was he ever tempted to direct?
A: He was busy developing Indiana Jones IV and I don’t think he felt right. He had been working with Michael Bay on The Island and he felt that Michael was the perfect match and that Michael would knock it out of the park. And the audience seem to be feeling that was a good choice too.