Mark Herzog is Executive Producer of the Oscar® winning film, and Herzog Cowen Entertainment lent post-production services.
"It tickles me that the year the iPod generation meets the virtual Ed Murrow could be the same year that it meets the real Norman Corwin. When 'Good Night, and Good Luck' comes out on DVD, Warner Independent Pictures should make it a boxed set with 'A Note of Triumph.' I'm sure George Clooney would be pleased to share the DVD shelf with Norman Corwin." - Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times (Feb 2, 2006)
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A Short Spotlight: "A Note of Triumph"
Written by:
Eric Simonson (of the LA Times)
Eric Simonson isn't new to the Oscar experience — he was nominated five years ago for "On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom," a documentary short about the musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. This time around, though, the director of "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin" says things are different."Last time, we assumed that the nomination would open doors and there'd be a lot more interest in the film, but it didn't really happen," says Simonson. "This year, we've had offers from five different distributors, and every week we keep hearing from new people who want to screen all four nominees or put us in a festival."
His second nomination, he summarizes, is "a little more stressful, but a hell of a lot more fun."
Simonson, 45, a member of the Chicago-based Steppenwolf Theatre Company but an eight-year resident of Los Angeles, has been interested in doing a Corwin film for more than a decade, ever since he listened to a National Public Radio special on the poet and broadcaster's famous program the day Germany surrendered to end World War II in Europe. He didn't begin work for many years — but when he did, he won quick cooperation from the likes of Studs Terkel, Walter Cronkite, Norman Lear and Robert Altman.
"The people who know Norman revere him," he says, "and they all thought what I thought: this man's words should not be lost. But it was still hard work to convince anybody that there should be a film documentary about radio plays."
Even after Simonson and his producing partner Corinne Marrinan made the movie, their worries didn't end. "We had no money from broadcasters or distributors," Simonson says. "We did it all on faith, and the only way I could think of for the film to get the attention it needed was through the film festival circuit, or the awards circuit."
Enter the Oscars, where "A Note of Triumph" stands out as the most rhapsodic and uplifting entry in a category full of darkness and tragedy. "With the nomination and all the attention we're getting this time around," he says, "I can't think of a better scenario for the film than this one."
See the LAtimes.com Article by Eric Simonson 
Read the Oscars Acceptance Speech
Hear Some of Corwin's Recordings (RAM) |
