Mathew Kaufman
by Ali
Filmmaker
Director and producer of "American Swing"
1-What lead you to the provocative subject matter in "American Swing"?
I had just come off another documentary on teenage evangelical preachers for ABC News Nightline and was looking for another project. Through a very close friend I met Jon Hart, who had done a bunch of research on Plato’s Retreat and its illustrious owner Larry Levenson. It was simply a great untold story of New York's hedonistic dirty heyday that begged to be told.
2- Since we're talking about pleasure, what makes you happy?
What really makes me happy: my family, fishing, and working on interesting documentaries.
3-What's your next bold moving making plan or gamble?
Professionally, I have always taken risks. Some have worked out and some have definitely not. I will most likely start another documentary project with my own money prior to securing financing...which I always have said I would not do again.
4-I've known you since NYU Film School days many years ago when everyone relied on unknown talent for actors and your fellow students to help as your crew. Inevitably someone usually bailed. What have you learned and how do you create a good crew today?
I only work with people whom I respect and trust and who are also incredibly talented. I have also been lucky to have been surrounded with friends and family who have been supportive and helped me succeed.
5-What would you tell an aspiring film student to never forget and what would you tell them to ignore?
I would tell them never forget to be patient. I have not always followed my own advice and it has definitely been an Achilles heel at times.
6-At 18 you........ and now at 40?......
At 18 I was a mess – a complete mess. I had the drive but not the direction. As for now, it took me longer than most to get my act together (still a work in progress), but I am happy none-the-less.
7-While I know you're in a committed relationship with your lovely girlfriend and have a child, just a quick thought, who would you have liked to run into back then at Plato's Retreat?
At Plato’s Retreat you did not have to engage in sex but sex was available if you wanted it. I don’t know if I would have jumped in the mat room and dug into the orgy. Don’t get me wrong, I am as horny as the next guy but as a filmmaker, I'm basically a voyeur at heart (or vice versa).
I had just come off another documentary on teenage evangelical preachers for ABC News Nightline and was looking for another project. Through a very close friend I met Jon Hart, who had done a bunch of research on Plato’s Retreat and its illustrious owner Larry Levenson. It was simply a great untold story of New York's hedonistic dirty heyday that begged to be told.
2- Since we're talking about pleasure, what makes you happy?
What really makes me happy: my family, fishing, and working on interesting documentaries.
3-What's your next bold moving making plan or gamble?
Professionally, I have always taken risks. Some have worked out and some have definitely not. I will most likely start another documentary project with my own money prior to securing financing...which I always have said I would not do again.
4-I've known you since NYU Film School days many years ago when everyone relied on unknown talent for actors and your fellow students to help as your crew. Inevitably someone usually bailed. What have you learned and how do you create a good crew today?
I only work with people whom I respect and trust and who are also incredibly talented. I have also been lucky to have been surrounded with friends and family who have been supportive and helped me succeed.
5-What would you tell an aspiring film student to never forget and what would you tell them to ignore?
I would tell them never forget to be patient. I have not always followed my own advice and it has definitely been an Achilles heel at times.
6-At 18 you........ and now at 40?......
At 18 I was a mess – a complete mess. I had the drive but not the direction. As for now, it took me longer than most to get my act together (still a work in progress), but I am happy none-the-less.
7-While I know you're in a committed relationship with your lovely girlfriend and have a child, just a quick thought, who would you have liked to run into back then at Plato's Retreat?
At Plato’s Retreat you did not have to engage in sex but sex was available if you wanted it. I don’t know if I would have jumped in the mat room and dug into the orgy. Don’t get me wrong, I am as horny as the next guy but as a filmmaker, I'm basically a voyeur at heart (or vice versa).
"American Swing" opened in NYC on March 27th and opens in Los Angeles on April 3rd. And hopefully, nationwide to follow.
The year was 1977 and New York City burned. As the metropolis hurtled into bankruptcy, the city's nightlife hit unprecedented heights. In midtown, the ultra-exclusive Studio 54 was a cocaine-fueled celebrity playhouse. Downtown, at the spartan CBGB's, punk rockers set out to destroy everything Pop. Meanwhile, in the basement of the prestigious Ansonia building on the conservative Upper West Side, Plato's Retreat opened its doors to ordinary couples who came to dance, to swim, and...to swap.
It was the start of a revolution. The brainchild of former wholesale meat purveyor Larry Levenson, Plato's Retreat quickly emerged as the epicenter of public sex for the "me" generation. Previously, swinging was mostly an underground activity, engaged in primarily by the attractive and well-to-do. But Plato's welcomed anyone and everyone. For a mere $35, couples checked their judgments and pedigrees at the door at this clothing-optioned Disneyland. Debutantes got it on next to bus drivers, as movie stars gave secretaries the "starlet treatment". For Levenson and others, Plato's was utopia. For all, it was an unforgettable time capsule.
Utilizing exclusive interviews with former patrons, employees, and family members, intercut with riveting, rare never-before-seen archival materials, American Swing brings this epic of excess to the big screen for the first time.
It was the start of a revolution. The brainchild of former wholesale meat purveyor Larry Levenson, Plato's Retreat quickly emerged as the epicenter of public sex for the "me" generation. Previously, swinging was mostly an underground activity, engaged in primarily by the attractive and well-to-do. But Plato's welcomed anyone and everyone. For a mere $35, couples checked their judgments and pedigrees at the door at this clothing-optioned Disneyland. Debutantes got it on next to bus drivers, as movie stars gave secretaries the "starlet treatment". For Levenson and others, Plato's was utopia. For all, it was an unforgettable time capsule.
Utilizing exclusive interviews with former patrons, employees, and family members, intercut with riveting, rare never-before-seen archival materials, American Swing brings this epic of excess to the big screen for the first time.
Comments