This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

43
2664

I was a PA on Blue Valentine, blogged about my experience, and was almost sued. AMA. (self.movies)

submitted by thereddestshoes

Hey guys! After posting in this thread a lot of you wanted to know more about my experience, why I shut down my blog, etc. So I talked to the mods about it and they let me do this AMA.

A quick run down of events.

In 2009 I was a PA on the set of Blue Valentine, Francis Lyon's first film. Filmmaking wise it was a great experience. I learned how to block a scene in under fifteen minutes because we were losing light. I learned the many, many uses of baby wipes and vaseline. And I learned everything there is to know focal points and bokeh and lenses, oh my!

Anyway, if you've ever been a PA before you know that with any set there are going to be downsides, but Lyon was the absolute worst. I've been on sets before with directors with HUGE egos, but normally they have the filmography to back it up. This was Lyon's first film and he was acting like he was Terrence Malick. He wouldn't talk to any of the PAs, except to bark out orders, and he was incapable of listening to anyone he deemed "lesser" than him.

I'll never forget when we literally caused an entire block to go black because Lyon didn't want to listen to the electrician. (Sidenote: Who do you think paid for the damage? Lyon's daddy).

But that wasn't even the worst of it. His relationships with Mackenna Cleary and James Wardlaw were terrible. Lyon would corner Mackenna after a scene and scream at her until she was red in the face. I swear, almost every day she was in her trailer crying because he'd said something to her. And James? Don't even get me started. He wouldn't take Lyon's shit so they were constantly at each other's throats. Twice they were physically fighting one another and the crew had to pull them apart.

My friends were the ones who convinced me to blog about the experience, and I did because literally no one else was talking about that shit show of a set. I thought the world needed to know what an asshole Lyon is, instead of kissing it because he made a competent film. I did not expect the blog to blow up. And I certainly didn't expect word to get back to Lyon.

The blog was up for a good six months before I recieved an infringement letter from Lyon's lawyers and had to take down the blog. I know a lot of people commented there and I didn't get a chance to speak with everyone, so I'm hoping I can provide more insight with this AMA!

Edit: Before taking down the blog, I did speak with a lawyer. I could've kept the blog up if I revealed my name to prove I was on set. I didn't feel comfortable with that option and that blog wasn't worth my career.

Edit-2: Lol, I love how you guys are so convinced I'm a woman like a man can't be outraged about this.

Edit-3: The Red Shoes is where my username is from. It's one of Martin Scorcese's favorite movies so, yeah. Still doesn't prove I'm female.

top 200 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]Mwahaaaa_The_French 18 points1031 points  (10 children)

I like how, in an attempt to come across as sympathetic as possible, you conveniently left out the reason you were almost sued.

Edit - I should've explained. /u/thereddestshoes was almost sued for slander when she published a blog post claiming that because of his behavior on set, and that Francis Lyon has cited a past relationship as inspiration for Blue Valentine, that he must've been physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive towards his ex-girlfriend.

[–]notdanaykroyd 29 points1798 points  (8 child)

wtf? he should've sued her ass and had her blacklisted her from hollywood. what sane person would claim something like that with no evidence?

[–]coolbuns 18 points600 points  (0 children)

Feminists.

[–]ravenstone15 2 points104 points  (0 children)

Oh bullshit. I'm not saying that what /u/thereddestshoes wrote was right, but if a man is manipulative and abusive towards his staff, it's not a reach to assume he's the same way at home. Plus I swear I read somewhere that his grandfather used to beat women and you know what they say about apples and trees.

[–]lame_corpus 18 points19 points  (0 children)

You're thinking of Gerard Depardieu. Francis' grandfather is Geraud Lyon.

[–]WutUtalkingBoutWill 5 points5 points  (0 children)

I would beat my wife too if I looked like this.

[–]dietTwinkies 26 points365 points  (3 children)

And this is where feminism loses me every time. You can most definintly be an asshole in your professional life and not have that bleed into your personal one. Hell, my boss treats me and my coworkers like shit but he loves the hell out of his family and they love the hell out of him.

I know several women who are huge cunts. Should I assume they also beat and rape their husbands? Oops, I forgot the first rule of feminism, men don't get raped.

[–]theotterone -5 points-4 points  (2 children)

*definitely

If you're going to be an asshole on the internet, at least learn how to spell.

[–]dietTwinkies 3 points28 points  (1 child)

Spell this: Suck-My-Fucking-Cock-You-Frigid-Bitch

[–]AliveProbably 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sesame Street is always looking for Word of the Day suggestions. I'm going to submit this one.

[–]MokkieTheTruth 10 points11 points  (0 children)

as someone who identifies as a feminist, i hate when we prove reddit trolls right.

[–]thereddestshoes 29 points30 points  (8 child)

I'm not trying to gain sympathy from anyone. That was not my intention with the blog and it's certainly not my intention now. I just thought that people should be aware of what goes on behind the scenes with these overpowered (and undeserving) directors.

I'm big enough to acknowledge that I made a mistake in posting about how Lyon was maybe abusive to his ex-girlfriend. However, does it not strike anyone as odd that his team threatened legal action? Journalists write speculative posts all the time, and they're not always flattering.

[–]captain_william 29 points1208 points  (8 child)

So, because everyone does it you should be absolved of trying to sabatoge someone's career?

How does this sound? I don't believe that the only reason Lyon tried to sue you was because of that one post. I think you made the whole thing up, Lyon found out, asked you to take it down and threatened legal action when you wouldn't. I think you're a sad little girl who spends the majority of her time creating lies about people on the internet, because you don't want to face the sad reality of your own ridiculously empty life.

[–]AdamWestsBomb 29 points435 points  (8 child)

Francis, go to bed.

[–]theotterone 29 points222 points  (8 child)

Are you kidding me? Have you any of read Mackenna Cleary's Esquire interview where she pretty much confirms that Lyon is psycho:

When asked about being on set of Blue Valentine, Mackenna Cleary had this to say, "It was probably the most visceral and raw experience on set of any film i've ever been a part of. And that's probably what made being on set so.. Intense, I'll call it. There were breaking points for every person who was a part of this film, it's evident in the product. Would I have done things similarly? Absolutely not. But we got the end result we wanted, so I suppose it was worth it."

When we probed further to see if the claims director Francis Lyon caused her to break down on set, the lead actress explained, "The line between character and actor was so blurred, and the level of dedication from everyone on set was evident, that I think we forgot where and who we were sometimes. Things tend to get carried away." Weeks after filming finished, Cleary was photographed in Aruba with fans, and hasn't answered questions about Lyon's methods since.

[–]ThatsMyHoverboard 29 points6 points  (8 child)

According to reddit!logic, because she's a woman she must be a lying bitch!

[–]Doctor_Philgood 29 points89 points  (8 child)

Here we go...

[–]jaheiner 29 points183 points  (8 child)

i don't see any confirmation that lyon is psycho. in fact, it sounds like cleary knew exactly the kind of environment she was getting into and it wasn't that bad. actresses cry all the time, especially when you're emotionally invested.

now, don't take this as me saying absolutely nothing was amiss on that set. but at least cleary wasn't physically assaulted. lyon and wardlaw came to blows a couple of times and they're still cool. so i'm not understanding what the problem is.

[–]BuckTheFast 29 points1005 points  (8 child)

Things are different between dudes. We can knock each other out and go get a drink afterwards. I doubt Wardlaw gave two shits about a few minor scuffles, especially against Lyon.

Can you imagine this trying to beat up this? Wardlaw had nothing to worry about.

[–]cinemadness 29 points860 points  (8 child)

Like a Toy Poodle trying to take down a Great Dane.

[–]bushysmalls 29 points769 points  (8 child)

Once again r/movies prove they don't know anything about Hollywood. Francis Lyon's career isn't going to be ruined. In a few years, no one will be talking about this. He's a Lyon, the ultimate product of the "N" word. He could be a pedophile and his career would flourish.

[–][deleted] 29 points0 points  (8 child)

I DELETED THE FUCKING COMMENT LEAVE ME ALONE.

[–]bushysmalls 29 points10 points  (8 child)

Sigh.

[–]ravenstone15 29 points30 points  (8 child)

That was completely fucking unneccessary.