Interview: Chad Taylor

In this first Season 14 edition of Interview, Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan sits down with writer Chad Taylor (Blind Faith, The Young Pretender) to discuss his latest film, The Fall Guy, and his recent experiences collaborating with other writers.

PD: The Fall Guy is something of a forgotten television series from the early 1980's, what inspired you to bring it to the big screen?
CT: I'd say there are multiple aspects to this project coming to life. The first is that I have always wanted to work with Dwayne (being a huge wrestling fan obviously plays a part in that). Not many people may know this but the second or third film I ever pitched to the studio was set for him to star in but it fell apart in the pre-production process and never came to fruition. After that point, I tried to find projects we could work together on but things never quite worked until he brought The Fall Guy to me, a property he had been involved with for 7 or 8 years now. I jumped at the opportunity because I've gotten a bit tired of the usual serious Chad Taylor dramas. I wanted to do a big dumb Chad Taylor action movie! I haven't seen much of the original show but there was something so pure about the concept - bounty hunter stuntman in Hollywood - that just seemed like a perfect canvas. And, as a result, it was the most fun I've had in a while.

PD: With the Booster Gold and Scion series seemingly wrapped up, do you hope that The Fall Guy leads to a film series?

CT: I certainly hope so! Box office permitting, of course. I've missed blockbuster series writing a bit so this was definitely meant to dip the toes back in those waters a bit. I'm an admirer of things like Mission: Impossible, Splinter Cell, Fast and the Furious, etc. and I wouldn't mind if The Fall Guy falls into a similar category one day (which is obviously a high bar, I know). I think you all will enjoy some of the action set pieces I have come up with this for this film, an area that was admittedly a bit of a blindspot for the Booster Gold series at times. And if this does become a series, I would hope to keep upping the ante with each subsequent film.

PD: Looking at the release schedule, you have a handful of films coming up over the next few seasons that you co-wrote with other writers. What do you like about that particular process?

CT: I think I speak for most writers here at LRF when I say that it is extremely rare to ever feel wholly satisfied with a script. I feel co-writing is a certain work around for that, to a degree. Collective writing can bring out different parts of the story that one writer may not be able to on his or her own, because we all have our own unique sensibilities. I think this worked particularly well on 'Showtime', once Mo and I found our groove with the show. Plus, life has been busier as of late so co-writing is a nice crutch to ease the workload a bit. And unlike earlier in my career, now it is mostly others coming to me instead of the other way around!

PD: The Powerpuff Girls was a rare misfire for you as a writer (mixed reviews and a box office loss), what do you think went wrong?

CT: You know, I'm not entirely sure. I said last answer that it is hard to feel wholly satisfied with a script and this is definitely one of those cases. This is something that I wrote and then went through multiple re-writes and re-casting (including being taken off of the release schedule completely at one point). Ultimately, the tone was very hard to pin down and this then had an effect on who the audience would be. It probably would have been best to leave it as a cartoon but oh well. When you're one of the most prolific writers in the game, you're bound to have a few misses.