It is Tuesday afternoon around 12:30 PM, I log onto the AOL's Instant Message System and ping Robert Foreman for an internet interview of sorts. Mr. Foreman had contacted us at Einsiders curious whether we would check out a film he starred in last year called "The Prodigy." We were very excited about his inquiry and asked him to give us an interview. To our delight, he agreed.

I wait for Mr. Foreman's instant message. Seconds pass, there is a noise and a response--text magically appears on the screen. I learn that Mr. Foreman, Robert I will call him, is also seated before his computer in his high-rise Chicago apartment on Lake Michigan where it is not yet noon his time. Cryptically, we will communicate, a telephone and a tape recording device would have been superior. Still, we are in the digital age. Smiley faces and various chat room shorthand were scattered throughout our interview.

By way of background, Robert Foreman is the President of Performance Pictures, Inc. He produces, writes, directs, and acts, all while paying the bills. His bio appears at performancepictures.com and boasts a starring role in last year's nationally distributed "The Prodigy" (see your local Blockbuster), and production work on television and in feature film.

Robert was candid, easy to talk to, and giving of his time. The interview lasted over and hour and half (my time would have clocked at around $200.00, his maybe more, you decide). Between phone calls from clients and interruptions associated with our various jobs, the following conversation transpired:

einsiders: We have your bio, tell us something not on your bio, anything interesting will do? For example, is your name really "Robert Foreman?"

Robert Foreman: Yes, that is my real name. Well, because of the recent activity with Confidence Game, I have sold another script, or rather was commissioned to write a script for an independent film Company. The film currently entitled "Four Walls" and should go into production next Spring.

einsiders: Tell us about "Four Walls" if you can.

Robert Foreman: Essentially, Four Walls was the first script I have ever sold or received money up front for. It has been unusual writing it as well because this is also the first time I have written a script that was not originally my concept. The producer gave me a fairly vague concept, and it was my job to expand upon it, and create a feature length script based on his original concept.

einsiders: Are there really ever any original concepts in your business?

Robert Foreman: It depends upon whether or not original is defined by what has been written period, or what has been written and distributed in such a fashion that a large audience is aware of the material. There are plenty of good writers who will never see their work produced or published unfortunately.

einsiders: Shakespeare wasn't even original, some say. The art of retelling the story is important don't you think?

Robert Foreman: Absolutely, in fact, Performance Pictures is currently Executive Producing a very low budget film using that exact principal. We are financing a production company who's doing a Post Apocalyptic version of Macbeth. Sort of a Mad Max meets Gladiator, following the play Macbeth.

einsiders: Wow, how did you get involved with that project? It sounds very 1980s/2000.

Robert Foreman: A few years ago, I put together a crew who helped me produce an action trailer entitled F.G.I. That crew has since branched off and created their own film company. They recently produced a low budget film entitled Sacrifices for $6,000. It was never distributed, but it was very ambitious making a feature with basically no money. They looked at it as a learning experience and are now producing more films.

Scene from the trailer for the unmade Foreman film "F.G.I."

einsiders: Money vs. Art, tug of war or what?

Robert Foreman: Definitely, especially when it comes to movies. They are so costly to make. A painter can do his/her art at virtually no cost. A filmmaker needs a lot of capital. Although, with the invention of digital filmmaking techniques, and home editing systems, and now the web for distribution, it is becoming less and less expensive to make films. Virtually anyone can make a movie if they have a savings account, some home bought equipment, and some really dedicated friends. :-)

einsiders: Did you see "Timecode?"

Robert Foreman: No, I did not.

einsiders: Wasn't it all digital?

Robert Foreman: I think so. There are tons of digital films being made and now distributed these days. Even the major festivals are now equipped to show "digital movies."

einsiders: Aren't they shown on special digital projectors? What do you think of the projection techniques?

Robert Foreman: Yes, or they are transferred to film and then projected. The transfer process is very costly, often more than the cost of the low budget film itself. Therefore, it is usually best to not transfer the video/digital to film unless you have a buyer willing to pick up the cost. I don't really know much about projection techniques. I know that the new HD technology is pretty much the highest grade digital recording and projection system on the market.

einsiders: So for distribution, you find digital films going straight to video.

Robert Foreman: There are a quite a few digital films or videos that are being released straight to video. Others are being bought by studios, then transferred to film and released in the theaters. The mainstream theater companies are not equipped, or simply not ready to project digital movies yet.

einsiders: What about being shown on the Internet?

Robert Foreman: I don't think the internet is quite ready for "full length" projects yet. It can be done, but we have to let the technology catch up. Otherwise, you have to wait 10 hours for a movie to download. There is also a lot of oversaturation.

einsiders: Other than "Four Walls," tell us about other projects, what is "The Confidence Game?"

"The Confidence Game," a $2 million project currently being produced by Performance Pictures and Condne Films.

Robert Foreman: The Confidence Game is a dramatic thriller that Performance Pictures, which consists of myself and my business partner James Vallo, and Condne Films are producing together.

einsiders: I noticed on your website "performancepictures.com" that some heavy-hitters are associated with "The Confidence Game." How did you land such talent?

Robert Foreman: Through years of persistence and playing the numbers game. It started with Ed Asner. My partner Vallo knew him. So we all flew out to Los Angeles and met him, asked him to star and help produce the movie in the capacity that he would help bring on more talent. He wasn't successful with bringing on talent directly, but indirectly he has opened many doors just by lending his name to the project, which lends respectability.

einsiders: How about Mr. Sheen?

Robert Foreman: Martin Sheen is a friend of Asner. We asked Ed if he could contact Sheen and ask if he would consider playing a part. He turned the part down but agreed to play a part, provided that I write him in as a new character that appears with Anser in the scene. This is what I did. Of course, all this was prior to West Wing. Now that he has a hit TV show, it might change things a little. I guess it will really depend on his availability when we go into production.

Robert Foreman and business partner James Vallo with television icon, Ed Asner, one of the stars of the upcoming "The Confidence Game."

einsiders: How did Michael Madsen get involved? He is such a badass is all of his films; where are you going to work him in?

Robert Foreman: We sent the script to his mother. She forwarded it along to his people. He is a lead. He plays the main con artist who masterminds the whole scheme in the movie. Since I wrote the part with him in mind for the role, there isn't any "working" involved as far as making him right for the character.

einsiders: And veteran actor Charles Durning? By my count, he is set to play a role in around 7 films this year (see IMDB). Will it be difficult keeping him on board?

Robert Foreman: He is a friend of Asner.

einsiders: Neat pipeline, do your parents give you insight on your scripts?

Robert Foreman: Yes, my mom reads my stuff from time to time, she helps here and there with ideas or what not.

einsiders: Is there someone else or something else that inspires your work?

Robert Foreman: Novels. I read a lot of novels. Often, I'll come up with a story simply by reading a novel. I might take a minor concept, or even a sentence that sparks an idea. I then develop that one idea into an entirely different, yet, similar feeling concept. That's as far as writing is concerned. As an actor, I was inspired by imagination as a child. I moved around a lot and often didn't have many friends, so I created stories and scenarios that I acted out on a constant basis. That brought me into acting in the theater, and eventually films. I was inspired to direct and produce by my stepmother really. She and my father wanted me to go to college. I was only an actor at the time and didn't really know there were colleges that taught you how to make movies. So, I went to film school.

einsiders: Tell us about film school, and why the windy city instead of the sunny one?

Robert Foreman: Ironically, I was living in a "sunny city," but on the other coast, Orlando Florida. I was very young, and living on my own, and having a tough time. I had dropped out of high school. My father wanted me to move up to Chicago with him and continue with my education. It sounded a hell of a lot better than working as a line-cook at Olive Garden down in Orlando.

einsiders: More glamorous anyway.

Robert Foreman: Plus, it gave me an opportunity to develop more of a relationship with my father. Yes, more glamorous. As far as the West Coast is concerned, I had wanted to move there for several years, but financially, and now in hindsight emotionally, I was unprepared. I continued working in the business here in Chicago, and I got myself to a point where it was like, "Hey, I can do this now." The West Coast became not immediately necessary. We are producing Confidence Game from 2000 miles away via telephone and are in much better shape than most who are living there and struggling to do the same thing, on our level anyway. From an acting stand point, I will eventually need to move. But that will come at a time when I am even more financially prepared and have a movie or two under my belt as a producer. That helps tremendously.

einsiders: Acting, writing, producing, directing is it too much?

Robert Foreman: No, one feeds off the other and I have advanced my career in each area by using the area. As a producer, I can call a casting director and get them on the phone, I can't do that as an actor. As a writer, I can write myself into small parts of the script, etc. I don't try to do it all at the same time.

einsiders: You are a jack of all trades, a master of any?

Robert Foreman: Storytelling. In essence, it all boils down to how good of a story you can tell, whether it be the story you tell to an agent as a producer, the story you put on the page as a writer, the story you tell with your body and with words as an actor, and the story you tell visually as a director. It's all storytelling.

einsiders: Can we read anything by you on the net?

Robert Foreman: Other than maybe a synopsis, no. I generally don't put stories on the net because it's too easy for someone to come along and take your idea and sell it to someone else. You can't hide your work under a bush either. It has to be seen or read, but I prefer to show my work people I can trust, and for the ones I don't, I take my chances.

einsiders: Talking about chances, have you seen "Being John Malkovich?" What story was trying to be told there?

Robert Foreman: Loved it. I think it was a story about living inside someone else's shoes, seeing what they see, "Being them," but with a twist because the person they were being was someone famous. People don't line up and pay $200 bucks to see through the eyes of Joe Shmoe the carpenter.

einsiders: Wouldn't someone famous pay anything to be Joe, at least, temporarily?

Robert Foreman: They all say that, but I don't buy it. Just about anyone who is famous can fade away if they want, not completely, but it can be done. It happens to actors all the time. They become very famous, and then something happens to their career, and boom, nobody cares anymore. Even OJ can walk around now a days without cameras following him. :-)

einsiders: Did "Blair Witch" hurt or help independent film?

Robert Foreman: I think it helped in the sense that it forced Hollywood to take ultra-low budget independent movies more seriously. And it helped new filmmakers realize that even "they" have a shot if there is something about their film which is marketable. I think it confused a lot of indi filmmakers because they forget that it was the marketing (internet) that created the hype behind that movie. Not the movie itself. When it premiered at Sundance, executives were walking out, people were saying the only thing scary thing about Blair Witch was that Artisan paid a million dollars for it. But Artisan had discovered something they didn't, they recognized the power behind the internet. If the movie helped anything, it helped filmmakers and media related newcomers realize the vast potential of the internet. The world has seen a storm of media related films, songs, etc, on the web since that movie.

einsiders: Tell us about Performance Pictures and Condne Films.

Robert Foreman: What would you like to know.

einsiders: How did you become involved with the two companies?

Robert Foreman: James Vallo and I joined Condne Films two years ago to make Confidence Game (CG). Since, I formed Performance Pictures, Inc., with my partner Vallo, after I started making some money from industry related venues.

einsiders: Is it a living?

Robert Foreman: Yes, this is the first time in my life that I have been able to live the lifestyle I am living from an income which has been obtained solely through the business. However, even now, it will only sustain me for maybe six months max. After that, who knows. I've heard from other producers that that never changes. :-) You make more, you spend more, you never know exactly where or when your next buck is gonna' roll in.

einsiders: Phone Call, hang on.

Robert Foreman: K

einsiders: Being a little hungry helps though, right?

Robert Foreman: Of course. But if your goal oriented, as opposed to money oriented, you'll always be hungry because there will always be someone bigger, better, faster or who simply has achieved a goal you haven't. That makes it fun. :-)

einsiders: Feast or Famine, its the famine makes for the best stories, though, right?

Robert Foreman: So does losing the "feast." Channel E thrives on that subject.

einsiders: Sounds like you have a touch of Tony Robbins in your blood, ambition harnessed, is that the theory?

Robert Foreman: Sorry, I am not familiar with Tony Robbins.

einsiders: He is a motivational speaker (think Personal Power System) that always seemed a bit spooky to me, sort of like the fellow with Einstein's brain in a Tupperware container. Tell us about James Vallo.

Robert Foreman: If the words motivation and/or persistence had a picture next to it in the dictionary, it would be a picture of James Vallo. He has struggled as an actor for years and years without much of a break at all. I met him when he was starring in a low-budget movie that he was helping produce. A few years later, I cast him in my action trailer. He gets shot in it, blood explodes from his chest, that kind of thing. He had all but maybe 2 seconds of screen time. But he called me, and called me, and called me every week for over a year politely harassing me about when I was going to finish this trailer. I was petrified of him. Then I began to think, man, if someone can be this persistent over a stupid trailer, just imagine how persistent he could be on something bigger.

The tenaciously persistent James Vallo, business associate of Robert Foreman. An unusual suspect?

Robert Foreman: I am a firm believer in persistence and numbers. So I finally showed him the trailer and he absolutely loved it. He immediately wanted to show it to Anser and get involved with the production of Confidence Game. He put his motivation where his mouth was and made things happen. He will always be able to make things happen, as long as he has people backing him. He has since let acting take a back seat. I think he found his niche as a producer.

einsiders: What is your favorite film, (and don't say you don't have one, if it is "The Matrix" I might just lose my cookies)?

Robert Foreman: I really don't think I have a favorite, I'm sorry. Everytime I see a great movie, I'm like "That's one of my favorite movies!!" But I can give you a favorite for different periods of my life. Empire Strikes Back (definitely) was one of the first movies I remember seeing and absolutely loving. I saw it probably 12 times. Titanic is one of my favorites. Before it was a hit, I was a very big James Cameron fan. I loved a Simple Plan. I would like to make a movie like that. Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, two more favorites. A movie with Danny Glover, but the name slips my mind...Grand Canyon, that was a favorite.

einsiders: "Empire" was the dark sequel. Do you think that "Menace" was too soft?

Robert Foreman: Absolutely, I didn't even like it that much. Maybe it's just cause I was older. But I hated that Jar-Jar thing. I like dark movies though. I seem to like movies that are really dark and depressing, or really uplifting and spiritual. Funny extreme, I know. Maybe that's why I liked Titanic so much.

einsiders: Last weekend, the director's cut of "Blood Simple" came out, what do you think of modern film noir, like say "One False Move?"

Robert Foreman: Loved it. I rented that, and R. Dogs one weekend before too many people knew about them. My friends were like, what the hell's wrong with you sicko? Sorry to say but Matrix was a favorite as well. Believe it or not, it gave me a spiritual reminder of how I use to believe when I was very young, why I got into the business to begin with.

einsiders: Oh, I liked "The Matrix" but thought more of "Existenz" which came out about the same time.

Robert Foreman: Didn't see it, I'll have to check it out.

einsiders: Do you find yourself writing catchy dialogue or realspeak? "Let's get a taco," sometime by the way.

Robert Foreman: I start with real dialogue, but I'm getting better with the catchy stuff. It sometimes seems it's necessary for the type of films I like to write, which are mostly all thrillers.

einsiders: Isn't it true that if writers wrote like people speak that we would all be bored to death?

Robert Foreman: With out a doubt.

The Instant Message System disengaged. I suppose that Robert went back to a phone call or a cigarette on the balcony of his apartment in the windy city with a view of the great Lake Michigan. For me, it was back to negotiating child support payments and DUI fines. For a moment, I was doing something I love, sort of what Robert does everyday.

Thanks for the interview Robert. Good luck on "The Confidence Game." If it sucks, my review will be kind, sort of like Ebert's review of anything starring Mira Sorvino. I have ethics, but I'm a part-timer not interested in alienation. Stephen will chart the box office and Ken will spew out the buzz, and sometime, I'll quit working my day job.

Jonathan W. Hickman