“It’s been…long-assed. But fun. I think the project may be a bit dead in the water at this point, but it was fun anyway. Ben is a nice guy and a terrific editor. I learned a lot from him about structure, and about what is cinematic and what isn’t. Through this project and a couple others I’ve been involved with, I’ve also had a nice chance to see the inner workings of that Hollywood world, which was interesting and not irrelevant, I think, to someone trying to understand American culture: this big storytelling machine, that employs some of the most talented/beautiful/energetic people in the world, and has complicated financial/corporate constraints, but still manages, sometimes, to make something wonderful and yet, on the other hand, is pretty much totally misrepresenting life on earth, except when it isn’t.”
— From an interview with George Saunders, in response to: “I recently heard an interview with Ben Stiller where he talks about his long-ass trek towards turning CivilWarLand in Bad Decline into a film… what’s that process been like for you?”
