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| Theatrical Poster for the movie 'Fitzgerald Family Christmas' |
So Ascending Butterfly finally gets invited to a Page Six worthy event, and she couldn't attend! What's a Butterfly to do? Research Last Minute Cloning Options, Make a rally cry to the heavens? Never to fear, Mama Butterfly is always near and she stepped in for me and covered a very special
Mamarazzi event for the movie screening of Ed Burns latest movie release The Fitzgerald Family Christmas which he also wrote the screenplay for AND directed!
Synopsis/About Fitzgerald Family Christmas:
With The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, Ed Burns returns to the working-class, Irish-American roots of The Brothers McMullen. Reuniting with McMullen co-stars Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), and Mike McGlone, along with Noah Emmerich (Little Children, Beautiful Girls) and Kerry Bishé (Newlyweds, Red State), Burns seamlessly weaves an ensemble story of adult siblings dealing with the desire of their estranged father (Ed Lauter, The Artist, The Longest Yard) to return home for Christmas for the first time since he walked out on his family 20 years ago. Family rifts emerge, and like with any family, Christmas brings a mixed bag of complicated emotions and dynamics. Alliances form, old wounds are reopened or glossed over, and the possibility for a new hope and forgiveness emerges.
Con la Navidad de la familia de Fitzgerald, quemaduras vuelve a las clase trabajadora, raices de irlandes-estadounidense de los hermanos McMullen. Reencuentro con co-estrellas McMullen Connie Britton (de Friday Night Lights) y Mike McGlone, junto con Noah Emmerich (ninos pequenos, las chicas guapas) y Kerry Bishe recien casados (rojo), quemaduras perfectamente teje una historia de conjunto de hermanos adultos relacionados con el deseo de su padre (Ed Lauter, el artista, The Longest Yard) para regresar a casa para la Navidad por primera vez desde que salio de su familia hace 20 anos. Surgen divisiones familiares, y como con cualquier familia, la Navidad trae un grup heterogeneo de emociones complejas y dinamicas. Formulario de alianzas, reabrio viejas heridas o alto, y surge la posibilidad de una nueva esperanza y perdon.
Pre Screening Excitement:
We got the chance to try out some awesome teas and got bags of very delicious popcorn! Cheese flavored, Salt and Vinegar Flavored and Wasabi!
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| Left: Melissa Gerstein Right: Denise Albert |
The Questions and Answers:
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| Left: Melissa Gerstein, Center: Ed Burns, Right: Denise Albert |
One of my favorite parts of Mamarazzi movie Screenings with
The Moms is the opportunity the bloggers in attendance get to ask questions of one of the film's stars! It reminds me of my 'pro' film critic days on Press Junkets, but thankfully with much less travel because the screenings are much closer to home! It's definitely been a month of 'hollywood hunks' here at Ascending Butterfly this month, first getting to interview
Gerard Butler regarding his new movie Playing for Keeps and now getting the chance to ask Ed Burns questions about The Fitzgerald Family Christmas!
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. What did you draw upon in your own personal life that came out on film and in the writing of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas?
Ed Burns: "A lot of people think these films, especially “The Brothers McMullen” are autobiographical. It is in fact that the Fitzgerald family comes from the exact same place that I came from — working class, Long Island, Irish-Catholic from that neighborhood. So certainly, who I am, how I was raised and the people I was friends with are a big part of who these people are. That said, any of the major plot points I never pull from my family's experience for the simple reason that I don't want a Christmas like this one!"
There are some little things that I pulled from my family and extended family. For example, my wife's tradition, which I never heard of before, is to all wear matching pajamas on Christmas Eve. So I was like all right, I'm going to steal this for the film. And it's something we do now with our kids.
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. Would you ever put Christy in your movies?
Ed Burns: Christy said on our very first date: 'Look, for the last 10 years I've been offered dozens of parts in movies. I don't want to be an actress so if you want a second date promise me you won't ever ask.' So I never have.
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. Is it true that you're going to do a 20th reunion of “The Brothers McMullen?
Ed Burns: We're going to do a sequel, I just started writing the script. The plan is that the first movie came out in 1995 and ideally we'd like to get it out by 2015. It's going to be a good one.
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. What inspires you to write your films?
Ed Burns: They come from different places. I acted in a movie last year with Tyler Perry called “Alex Cross” and he had just re-watched 'The Brothers McMullen.“ And he said your first two movies were so successful that had to do with these Irish-Catholic families and you haven't gone back there in 15 years. Take a look at what I'm doing, the empire I'm building. You have to super serve your niche. Your audience loved those two movies, give them another one. The minute he said it I knew he was right so I started writing the screenplay for “The Fitzgerald Family Christmas.“
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. Do you think your focus has changed making movies, writing since having kids?
Ed Burns: To be quite honest, I've never sat down and thought about myself as a husband and a father when I was writing a screenplay. So now my oldest is 9 years old, so this will be the first script that I'm really looking at fatherhood, marriage, child-rearing. That said, there's no way that being a father and a husband hasn't changed the way I thought about my parents, my friends' parents and the challenges they must have experienced and what all parents must deal with. That definitely shaped the writing in this but it wasn't something that I consciously sat down to do.
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. How do you balance it all?
Ed Burns: Both of our jobs require us to travel. And I made a decision at a certain point that if I want to be the dad I want to be that means I have to stay in New York. So that means I have to focus more on my filmmaking, which I can control and keeps me in town. But I sort of said, I won't go take an acting part that will take me to Australia for four months. And I'm lucky that I'm not just an actor because having to make those decisions would be difficult
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. When you're on the set and your kids have something and you're late, do you ever feel guilty as a working dad?
Ed Burns: All parents these days feel guilt. When you're the director, you call the shots, so if there is something that is very important that I need to be at, we schedule around it. I also think you have to have the healthy perspective that kids want to see their parents work, be engaged, happy and satisfied, even little kids. We don't need to be there as much as we think we need to. They're OK.
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| Ed Burns being interviewed during a Questions and Answers Sessions post film screening of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas in New York City |
Q. Would you let your two children follow in your footsteps?
Ed Burns: The rule is after 18 we'll help them do what they want to do. Get through high school, get into college. While you're in school, if you want to pursue acting or modeling or photography, we'll help you. But nothing until 18.
Check Out The Video Here:
Fitzgerald Family Christmas is available on Video on Demand and in theaters starting December 7th!
If you want to get Social about The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, you can follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #fitzmas
Special Thanks to Mama Butterfly for covering for me! Here is a picture of my mom with Ed Burns (Cool right?) I think my fellow Beauty Mavens will understand when I post about exactly where I was instead! ;-)
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| Left: Mama Butterfly! Right: Ed Burns! |
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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post, no monetary compensation has been received by Ascending Butterfly to share our recap of the movie or our experience, we attended a private Press screening and had the opportunity to interview Ed Burns at that time.
