(right to left) George Feltenstein poses with Michael Feinstein, and
Roddy McDowall in front of a re-creation of Rick’s cafe for the 1992
VSDA trade show.
BY LEE PFEIFFER
Film historian Tim Millard has launched an addictive new blog titled "The Extras" in which he interviews various people in the movie industry. Millard is a former Warner Brothers Home Entertainment veteran who went on to create many of the "extras" (i.e bonus content) found on popular home video releases, hence the title of the podcast. For a high profile launch for the podcast, Millard turned to an appropriate interview subject: George Feltenstein, with whom he worked with for many years at WB. The average retro movie fan may not know Feltenstein by name, although he is a legend in the home video industry, but anyone who appreciates how classic and cult movies are made available to the general public owes him a debt of gratitude. Feltenstein was in charge of home video originally at MGM before moving to WB. I first met him in 1994 when he was still at MGM. At a meeting in his office in L.A., my partners John Cork and Mark Cerulli and I pitched the idea that we should be given a contract to create original "making of" retrospective documentaries about the James Bond films for laser disc release. After less arguing than we anticipated, Feltenstein gave us the go-ahead in spite of our reed-thin credentials to carry off such an expensive and high profile project. During the months of madcap production, he never once interfered with us as long as we continued to promise to deliver the goods on the agreed-upon date. They were successful and were expanded into VHS release in conjunction with a boxed set. Feltenstein's laid-back approach to doing business belies his passion and enthusiasm for the film industry itself. He loves and reveres movies and his life's mission has been to make films accessible to the general public in the most impressive way the current medium will allow. He pioneered the release of widescreen versions of movies, for example, so that they could finally be seen again in their original aspect ratios. George Feltenstein's remarkable career continues to this day and he shares with Tim Millard some marvelous stories that any classic movie lover will want to here. The multi-part podcast can be heard by clicking here.