--------------END OF EDDIE INTERVIEW-----------------------------------------------

JR: Saying "I like elders," as you have, is almost a culturally subversive thing to say.

Ted Bonnitt: Well in a culture that worships youth like ours, it is a little unusual. But most cultures do at least honor the elderly. One of Dan's great gifts is he had this great life and got to a point where he could look back on it. The charm of this was it was two old guys recalling their careers and we could illustrate it with footage to back it up. One of the reasons this country is as twisted as it is right now, is that it's upside down. it's letting inexperienced children rule the media. Where's the balance and grounding right now?

JR: According to "The New York Times," Dave Friedman said, with a "hint of disappointment," that the film is more of a character study and less about the business. What do you think of Friedman being disappointed that it was a character study?

Ted Bonnitt: These guys aren't terribly comfortable being examined. Dave is a showman. He likes to examine people. He doesn't like to be examined. Through the process of making the movie, they never understood what the hell we were doing. When I was shooting footage of Dan around the house, he kept saying, "What the hell are you doing this for? Who the hell wants to see a goddamn old man?" I'd say "Dan, it's the ultimate home movie. Don't worry about it." The reason we did that footage of him doing the laundry and the dishes was to show how one guy was the ultimate family man, and the other guy was the ultimate dog.

JR: What would you have done if Dan and Dave hadn't been likeable characters?

TB: I would have moved on to another project. I met those guys before I saw any of their films. They did a tribute down at the New Art Theater here in LA for Dave in honor of Eddie's book "Grindhouse." And they screened She Freak. Like most of the movies, it was really a chore to get through.

I like elders and Dave was very amusing. Then I read his book "A Youth in Babylon," and it was hilarious. I come from a radio background. I've been doing producing, and hosting a comedy show in NY for 10 years The comedy show I did in New York was on a Pacifica station. It was a character improv show and I was the host, and played an unscrupulous talent agent "Bernie Fleshkin, agent to the stars." It was sort of a situational, surrealist, political comedy show. Bernie basically handled anybody whose phone number he could get a hold of. I did the character for about 15 years, and he was a scam artist.