Pop Musical ‘Juliet & Romeo' Starring Jason Isaacs, Rebel Wilson Is A Family Affair For Father-Daughter Directing Duo Timothy & Quinn Bogart
Rebel Wilson as Lady Capulet in 'Juliet & Romeo'
It seems Timothy Bogart was always destined to make a musical.
After all, his father, Neil Bogart, was a legend in the music industry. Aside from the fact that he founded a pair of record labels (Casablanca and Buddha), Neil also helped launch such iconic acts as KISS, Donna Summer, and The Village People. One could call it a professional journey worthy of the silver screen and indeed, his life and career took center stage in Tim's 2023 tribute biopic, Spinning Gold. But while movie took place squarely in the realm of music, it wasn't necessarily a musical in the traditional sense.
Tim has finally crossed the lyrical genre off his bucket list with Juliet & Romeo (now playing in theaters nationwide; click here for tickets).
Written and directed by Tim — and featuring original songs by Justin Gray and Tim's Grammy Award-winning brother, Evan Kidd Bogart (Beyonce's 'HALO' and Rhianna's 'SOS') — the film delivers a pop-inspired take on the perennial Shakespeare classic, with heavy hitters like Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus), Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect), Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Rupert Everett (Shrek 2), and Derek Jacobi (The Crown) making up the core cast.
What's more Bogart brought his daughter, aspiring producer/filmmaker Quinn, along for the ride as his second unit director, convincing her to temporarily drop out of NYU's prestigious Tisch program for the Italian shoot (don't worry, she went back to school afterwards!). The rationale for what Tim jokingly describes as 'the worst parenting move in history' was simple. "What better education for a young filmmaker than literally coming to Italy and being there through the entire pre-production process?" the director muses over Zoom.
'I would argue [it was] a pretty good parenting move,' counters Quinn on the same call. 'The education that I received is unlike anything else.' Nevertheless, the offer came as quite a shock. 'I kind of froze," she admits. "I was unsure if he was kidding. It's not something he would joke about, but I couldn't fully process it."
For Tim, however, this wasn't some average bring-your-daughter-to-work-day scenario. It was a chance to pass down some of the same professional wisdom his father once gave him. Since the dawn of Hollywood, the children of successful actors, directors, and producers have almost always followed in their parents' footsteps; entering the family business, keeping the dynasty alive. Sofia Coppola, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jason Reitman, Brandon Cronenberg, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jeff Bridges, Anjelica Houston, Josh Brolin, Sosie Bacon, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Margaret Qualley, Lewis Pullman, and Maya Hawke are just a few notable examples out of dozens.
'There was no line between work and family, it was all just one thing,' Tim says of his "weird 1970s" upbringing that made him fall in love with the entertainment industry. An industry like no other, perhaps, but an industry all the same. 'As soon as my kid was old enough to walk, I did the same to her, dragging her on sets, making her sit around when I was writing, working, and editing.'
'I was watching my dad and shadowing him for a large majority of my childhood as soon as I was old enough to be on-set,' echoes Quinn, remembering how her father gradually began to give her odd jobs here and there. On Spinning Gold, for instance, she was put in charge of filming close-ups of albums. While not as exciting as directing a major dramatic sequence with A-listers, these seemingly miscellaneous tasks added up to a valuable store of moviemaking knowledge. 'I've gotten far more experience than I would have without him,' she adds. 'The goal is essentially to take everything I can from it and then use it to continue telling the same kind of stories that my family has been telling for quite a while — whether it's through music or through film.'
Tim Bogart on the set of 'Juliet & Romeo'
Going from insert shots to overseeing an entire second unit of an international film production comprising hundreds of crew members and globally-known actors an ocean away is one hell of a promotion, Tim knew that Quinn — more than anyone else — could be trusted to help realize his vision. 'I had spoken to a couple people in the past trying to find someone, and it was always really challenging,' he says. 'I remember sitting there going, 'I just wish there was someone who knew this movie as well as I do.' And it was such a silly epiphany. I was like, 'This may be crazy, but gosh, if anybody knows why I wanted to do this, it's my daughter."
Moreover, she would bring a crucial female viewpoint to a story involving a pair of star-crossed lovers (played by Clara Rugaard and Jamie Ward) on opposite sides of the gender spectrum. 'We have a very different approach to our Juliet in this [movie] and frankly, all the women [characters]," Tim continues. 'To say that was, in large part, inspired by my kid would be an understatement. It was a constant kind of compass where she just kept going, 'That that's not what I would do. That's what my friends would do. That's not what we would do.' In my personal search for material, it's always about humanity. That was one of the things my daughter kept me on track [with regards to], 'What is authenticity for this group of characters dealing with these themes that are relevant today?'"
With Quinn on board as second unit director, principal photography for Juliet & Romeo kicked off in November 2022 and spanned nearly five months on location in Italy, eventually concluding in March 2023. Tim characterizes the arduous shoot as one of the difficult, yet rewarding, experiences of his career thus far.
'My [guiding light] from day one was, 'You cannot make this movie without being there, without feeling it,'' he explains. 'Because we were going to be taking such an enormous leap with people singing, I knew that I had to make sure the authenticity of everything else was so grounded … Going from a 100-person crew on a sound stage [for Spinning Gold] to over 400 people [for Juliet & Romeo], literally on mountaintops all night, shooting for months and months and months in the rain and snow, it couldn't have been more challenging.'
As Quinn puts it, the whole adventure represented 'a trial by literal fire" that required her to jump into the deep end of the pool. 'I was dealing with more elements than I probably ever [will] in my own independent directing, writing, and producing career at the moment," she says. "So getting to experience that, as well as being on location in these massive castles, learning how to use my performers in the spaces … was something I don't think you can experience unless you're on that scale.'
From beginning to end, though, Juliet & Romeo was very much a family affair, albeit one of a much more genial nature when compared to the bad blood between the Montagues and Capulets. As the old saying goes, blood — and directorial instincts — are thicker than water. 'Maybe another second unit director might have done it," Tim muses. "I just know every frame that Quinn was working on was coming right out of my head. And it was glorious.'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 29: (L-R) Winslow Fegley, Jason Isaacs, a guest, Ledisi, Jeremy ... More Jordan, Timothy Bogart, Tayla Parx, Casey Likes and Wiz Khalifa attend the World Premiere Of "Spinning Gold" at Directors Guild Of America on March 29, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by)
Juliet & Romeo is now playing in theaters everywhere.
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Acting allows you to do that momentarily, but I think like every other job that you can do on a film is much longer lasting, and I think that's something I was truly seeking." For Crano, he also grew up as a theatre kid, moving on to writing plays in college. "The first time I got laughs for jokes I was like, 'Oh, this is it. Let's figure out how to do this,'" he said. "I was playwriting in London, my mom got sick in the States, so I came back, and I started writing a movie, because I was living in [Los Angeles] and I thought, well there are no playwrights in L.A., I better write a movie.'" That's when Crano found a mentor in Peter Friedlander, who's currently the head of scripted series, U.S. and Canada, at Netflix. "I had written this feature and ... we met with a bunch of directors, great directors, directors I truly admire, and they would be like, 'It should be like this.' And I'd be like, 'Yeah, that's fine, but maybe it's more like this.' And after about five of those Peter was like, 'You're going to direct it. We'll make some shorts. We'll see if you can do it.' He just sort of saw it," Crano recalled. "It's nice to be seen in any capacity for your ability, but [I started to realize] this is not so different from writing, it's just sort of writing and physical space and storytelling, and I love to do it. ... It is a very difficult job, because it requires so much money to test the theory, to even see if you can." But being able to work together on I Don't Understand You, the couple were able to learn things about and from each other through the filmmaking process. "David is lovely to everyone," Crano said. "He is much nicer than I am at a sort of base level, and makes everyone feel that they can perform at the best of their ability. And that's a really good lesson." "Brian literally doesn't take anything personally," Craig added. "Almost to a fault." 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