At 86, Roger Corman is Still Making Movies

Death race!

[Announcer] You finish first,

or not at all!

(explosions)

Death Race 2000.

I've been making films for over 50 years.

[Announcer] Women In Cages,

the sensational new motion picture

that rips the veil off the dirtiest racket

ever conceived by the minds of vicious men.

Directed 58 or 59.

I'm not certain but I know it's a fraction under 60.

She'll tear up the whole town until she finds Harry!

The Attack of the 50-Foot Cheerleader

is maybe our 351st

or 352nd film.

It's our first film in 3D.

We shot at an East Los Angeles college

with Jana and Olivia playing cheerleaders

and they look better than any cheerleaders

I've ever seen.

Aww!

(laughs)

It starts, as many films of this type do,

with an experiment gone wrong.

So the two of them become 50 feet tall

and the picture ends with the two of them

in a huge fight in a football stadium,

nude from the waist up.

We believe that a number of people will want to see

that scene.

They're better looking than Godzilla.

Ha!

Even though you're tired you're still a little bitch!

Ah!

There's no secret to making a film.

To me,

it's fairly straight forward

and I'm startled about how many people don't follow it.

For me,

it is true production,

particularly if you're shooting on a low budget,

you want to have everything planned

as well as you possibly can before shooting,

knowing that no picture ever goes exactly how you plan it,

but at least you have a framework to deal with.

The most difficult thing about making films

is not the actual shooting of the film.

As a matter of fact,

the shooting of a film today is easier than it was

because the equipment is better.

It's wider,

it's more affordable,

it's easier to use.

The most difficult thing is getting distribution.

When I first started,

every picture I made, no matter how low the budget,

we got a full theatrical distribution.

Today,

very few low budget pictures

get the theatrical distribution.

(ominous music)

Roger Commons,

Mutant.

If I had one thing to say to young filmmakers,

it would be to persevere.

It is very difficult

and it's too easy to give up.

If you really want to be a filmmaker,

you must stay there and do it.

(romantic music)

Anything is possible.

Do whatever you want!

(drum beats)

(crowd screams)

♫ Do you want to dance and hold my hand?

♫ Tell me baby I'm your lover man

♫ Oh baby, do you want to dance?

Because I'm an American, sir,

and I love my country.

♫ Well do you want to dance under the moonlight?

♫ Squeeze me baby all through the night

♫ Oh baby, do you want to dance?

Could your school be next?