Damon Cardasis Has a lot on his plate today.
A musical adaptation of his film 2017 ”Saturday church“Is in the middle of his off-Broadway run, while“ Mr. Scorsese, ”director Rebecca MillerS Apple TV+ Docuseries about Martin Scorsese He produced, will premiere later today at New York Movie Festival before his streaming debut on October 17.
“I write the musical and make lyrics for the musical and then change my brain and am a leading producer on a five-part DOC series at Scorsese,” Cardasis says during a zoom interview from his apartment in New York City. “It’s crazy, but I think that’s what I love and what I enjoy.”
And then he adds with a laugh, “It is also careful what you want.”
“Saturday Church”, which plays at the New York Theater Workshop through October 24, follows a teens from New York City who struggles with his gender and sexual identity when he becomes friends with a group of LGBTQ+ young people. Directed by Whitney White, the show contains a book by Cardasis and Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames (“Fat Ham”) and music and lyrics by Sia.
How do you even start producing a document on Martin Scorsese?
It’s like, how do you eat an elephant? One bit at a time. It started as a single movie. I produced “Arthur Miller: Writer”, Rebecca’s movie about his father. It was nominated for an Emmy and we had all kinds of people who reach out with ideas. Rebecca was like, “Well, Marty would be incredible.” But we thought that 1,000 people probably asked him to do it. Then we found out that we were right. People always asked him to make a documentary about his life, but he always said no. I was like, “Let’s just ask.” Rebecca came into contact with Margaret, who is his producing partner for his documents and runs his film Foundation. She was like, “I think it’s a good idea. Why don’t you write him a letter explaining why?” Rebecca did, and he said yes.
What was it like to shoot with him?
It started during the pandemic. He is so busy and he does so many things, it was a bit advantageous that everything was closed. It allowed us to somehow take advantage of the moment where he had a free slate because no movies were shot. The interview started outside with a minimal crew. As we got deeper and deeper into it, Rebecca came to me at one time and said, “This is not a movie.” For starters, we are, “Oh, maybe there are two parts.” But then it grew to five parts. Thankfully, because of who he is, so many wanted to be part of it. It wasn’t just famous people talking. We got his family. We got his childhood friends, we got his closest collaborators. So I think it’s really a three -dimensional portrait of him.
Was it ever a time when he asked to stop shooting because it was something he would not talk about?
No, never. Rebecca is also brilliant. I’m not just saying that because I’m her producing partner and friend, but it was her ability to keep up with his mind. He is so intelligent. Rebecca would be like, “Let’s talk about Italian movie from 1960” or “Oh, my God, did you see the opera of this or that?” She can go toe-to to him because she is so brilliant. We also found out that the time was that it was fantastic to just have the two lonely, only those in a room with two cameras that were set up and a boom. People will see in the doctor that he is very open. He is very honest about things.
When did you decide to customize “Saturday Church” to a stage music?
My agent at Caa, Kevin Lin, was on one of Q & as I did for the movie when someone asked if I wanted to do it as a stakes musical, and he called me and said, “Would you consider it?” I was like, “Yes, that’s the dream.” And then he asked who I would like to make the music if I could choose someone. I knew Sia had seen the movie because she tweeted about it. She said: “Everyone goes and sees” Saturday Church. “Well done, Damon Cardasis.” I told Kevin that Sia was my dream. He was like, “I ask.” Two weeks later he came back and said, “She will do it.” It was seven years ago.
Are you now considering adapting the stage musical to a movie?
I would love to make this a great budget film music. A dream for me is to make a great movie music like “Chicago.” I talked to a great theater producer who is known for her directness, and she said: “I haven’t seen an audience like the one in a show because I don’t know when.” She said it was the most versatile. You get a 70-year-old white theater-goer, and then there are young queer young people and a straight guy. She said: “This plays so well in a 200-place theater, but it can also play arenas.” We get videos from people dancing to the songs at nightclubs. I think that as a big movie it would be incredible.
When you first wrote “Saturday Church”, could you have imagined how much it would reason in such a way today because of the political attacks against the queer and trans societies?
It is scary that we are back at this stage. All this hatred. It’s infinite. It’s scary. But I hope this will go too. I hope to “pose”, “Saturday Church” and all the work that has been done will help to have the back of society and be a source of inspiration or be a source of love, and that society does not feel alone and that there is a real alliation.
This question and answers were edited for length and clarity.
