BECOMING
BOND
Production Notes
Canadian Distribution
filmswelike
Bookings and Inquires: [email protected]
Publicity and Media: [email protected]
Logline:
A unique documentary/narrative hybrid chronicling the stranger-than-fiction true story of George Lazenby,
a poor Australian car mechanic who, through an unbelievable set of circumstances, landed the role of
James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), despite having never acted a day in his life. Then
after being offered the next six Bond films and a $1 million signing bonus, he turned it all down…
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
As I was driving in to have lunch with George Lazenby, I had mixed emotions. On the one hand, having
been a Bond fan since a young age, I was excited to meet one of the few to ever play the role. On the
other, as a documentary filmmaker, I was trepidatious. I wasn’t sure what to expect and had a sinking
sensation that perhaps this character wouldn’t pan out to be worthy of a film. So many of the stories from
his life that I could find online seemed just too absurd, too bizarre. I had made up my mind that no one’s
life could be this crazy…
But I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I sat listening to him recount one incredible story after another
(we only got to about age 18 in our two and half hours), I was captivated by a man who, in the simplest
terms, had lived a truly full and original life.
This one man’s life story has it all: There is love. Heartbreak. There are fist fights. Jail time. There is sex.
A lot of sex. There’s money. Briefcases full of cash. There is alcohol and drugs of all kinds. Jealousy.
Feuds. Stolen cars. Life changing LSD trips. There is incredibly real drama and very high stakes,
alongside twists and turns you could never see coming. And at the center of it all, a surprisingly relatable
and lovable everyman. An underdog. A poor used car salesman from a small town in Australia.
So what do you need for a great biopic? Well, first off you need a great story, which this has in spades.
But you also need a great storyteller. And I’m not sure I’ve sat with a more gifted storyteller in my life.
George tells his own life story in such a way that I laughed so hard (and so frequently) during our lunch
that the hostess had to ask us to quiet down. And as I drove home from our meeting, I was inspired by his
storytelling with an idea that I think can elevate this beyond the traditional documentary…
A UNIQUE APPROACH
I see the potential of filming a traditional documentary but with a new style of reenactments. We’ve seen
dramatic reenactments in all sorts of docs, from Nanook of the North through Man On Wire but we’ve
never seen the comedic and entertaining reenactments that have been done more recently in shows like
Drunk History.
George’s stories are larger than life (I kept thinking of BIG FISH and FORREST GUMP as I sat with him),
and he tells them in a such an entertaining way, that reenacting them with his voice dubbed over the
scenes (a la Drunk History) with a young, talented and well-suited actor to play him, will make for a
hilarious and unique fresh style to a documentary.
IN SHORT, I went from being trepidatious about this project to insuppressible excitement, all within a
span of just two hours having had lunch with the man. I know I can translate that feeling on the big
screen and can bring the film to life in a way never before seen in a documentary.
-Josh Greenbaum
Filmmakers:
Josh Greenbaum – director
Josh Greenbaum is an Emmy award-winning writer/director. His feature documentary THE SHORT
GAME won the Audience Award at SXSW Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix to launch their
Originals film division. Greenbaum is the creator, Executive Producer, and Director of the Emmy
nominated Hulu Original series “Behind the Mask” now in its second season. On the film side,
Greenbaum is attached to direct an adaptation of the bestselling children’s book FLAT STANLEY for
Twentieth Century Fox and BAD COUPLES for Universal with Elizabeth Banks attached to star.
Greenbaum is a graduate of Cornell and Oxford Universities and received his MFA in film from the
graduate program at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Christopher Leggett – producer
Christopher Leggett is a an award-winning, commercial, film and television producer and partner at Delirio
Films. In his former position as a producer at NBC/Universal Sports, Leggett created and produced the
docu-series AGAINST THE TIDE. He broke into the indie world with the Webby Award-winning music
video for Icelandic band Sigur Rós directed by Alma Har’el and starring Shia LaBeouf. Leggett then
partnered with Academy Award winner John Battsek and Emmy award winning director Josh Greenbaum
for the 2013 SXSW Audience Award-winning documentary THE SHORT GAME, which followed the
greatest 7-and-8 year-old golfers as they competed in the World Championships of Junior Golf. This film
was picked up by Netflix as their first original title. In 2015, Leggett partnered with executive producer and
Academy Award winner John Legend to produce CAN YOU DIG THIS (2015), a portrait of four "gangster
gardeners" pioneering the urban gardening movement in notoriously dangerous South Los Angeles. 2016
marked the return of the early collaboration by Leggett, Har’el and Labeouf for Harel’s sophomore feature
film LOVETRUE, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the jury award for Best
Documentary at Karlovy Vary later that year. Currently, Chris is in production on two Hulu-orginal
documentaries, BECOMING BOND and TOO FUNNY TO FAIL.
Rafael Marmor – producer
Rafael Marmor is the founder of Delirio Films, a boutique production company focusing on feature
documentaries, docu series and commercials. His first feature documentary Blue Blood, about an
underground boxing club at Oxford University, was released theatrically by Warner UK before it’s
broadcast premiere on BBC’s Storyville. After a short digression producing on two scripted projects, Boaz
Yakin’s Death in Love and HDNet’s comedy series Svetlana, Rafael returned to the documentary world
as a producer on Alma Har’el’s Bombay Beach, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Tribeca Film
Festival. His next film, No Place on Earth, premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival and was later
released in theaters nationwide by Magnolia Pictures. He followed quickly with The Short Game, which
won the audience award at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival and was picked up by Netflix as their first
original documentary. His last film Can You Dig This, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 LA Film Fest.
He has three new feature docs slated for release in 2017 as well as a 6-episode docuseries currently in
production. Marmor is a graduate of Cornell University.
CREDITS
Director: Josh Greenbaum
Producer: Rafael Marmor, Christopher Leggett, Josh Greenbaum
Screenwriter: Josh Greenbaum
Cinematographer: John Rutland
Editor: Billy McMillin
Production Designer: Caity Birmingham
Music: John Piscitello
Principal Cast: George Lazenby, Josh Lawson, Kassandra Clementi, Jeff Garlin, Jake Johnson, Jane
Seymour, Dana Carvey
Additional Credits: Line Producer: Kourtney Gleason, Casting By: Angela Demo, C.S.A., Associate Editor:
Terry Yates
BECOMING BOND
End Credits
WRITTEN DIRECTED & PRODUCED
BY
Josh Greenbaum
PRODUCED BY Christopher Leggett, Rafael Marmor
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David De Rothschild
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY John Rutland
PRODUCTION DESIGNER Caity Birmingham
EDITOR Billy McMillin
ORIGINAL SCORE BY John Piscitello
LINE PRODUCER Kourtney Gleason
CASTING BY Angela Demo, C.S.A.
JOSH LAWSON
KASSANDRA CLEMENTI
JANE SEYMOUR
JEFF GARLIN
DANA CARVEY
Associate Editor Terry Yates
FILM UNIT, REENACTMENTS
PRODUCTION MANAGER Lindsay Rodger
1ST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR John Mattingly
2ND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Kerry Carter
CAST (in order of appearance)
GEORGE Josh Lawson
BELINDA Kassandra Clementi
HARRY Jeff Garlin
KEN Landon Ashworth
MAGGIE Jane Seymour
PETER HUNT Adamo Palladino
GUNDLE Sofia Mattsson
AMELIA Karian Deyko
DYSON LOVELL Jonathan Slavin
JOHNNY CARSON Dana Carvey
YOUNG GEORGE Jason Maybaum
BELINDA’S FATHER John A. McKenna
BELINDA’S MOTHER Ros Gentle
BELINDA’S BROTHER Charlie Hopkins
OXFORD BOYFRIEND Jon Walburg
CHARLES JENKINS Beeny Royston
CO-WORKER Mike Erwin
RECEPTIONIST Julianna Guill
OTHER CO-WORKER Mike Nelson
TEENAGE GEORGE Matthew Josten
JUNE GREEN Teressa Liane
CHOOK WARNER Nathan Lovejoy
TEACHER Kelly Lester
YOUNG MAN NOT BUYING Brendan Kaufman
RICHARD BLOQUE Mercer Boffey
FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHER Christopher Le Crenn
AUSTRALIAN FRIEND Ben Seton
PARISIAN GIRL Alexa Bondar
VOCAL COACH Karen Teliha
CUSTOMER BUYING CAR Ben Bowen
JOHNNY HORTON Monty Franklin
ODD MAN Jake Johnson
TAILOR Noel Schwabb
GIRL IN CLASS Savannah Judy
DOCTOR James Walsh
ADDITIONAL CASTING BY Michael Beaudry
2ND 2ND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR John Clarkson, Chris Cook
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Sandra K. Chavez
PRODUCTION OFFICE COORDINATOR Erin Sanderson
ART DIRECTOR Charles Swazey
SET DECORATOR Rachael Ferrara
LEADMAN John Gombas
SET DRESSERS Kevin Bici, Grant Cdebaca, Caleb Dawson, Michael Lopez, Stephen McGlade, Richard
Theisen, Lilia Yanow
ON-SET DRESSER Jen Herrig
SCRIPT SUPERVISORS Joshua Gannon, Alyssa Perper
1ST ASSISTANT CAMERA Jason Gonzalez, Chris Guekins, Cameron Riddles
2ND ASSISTANT CAMERA Dan Marino, Chess Pettengill
SOUND MIXER Chris Trueman, Oscar Grau Martin
GAFFER Billy Coleman
BEST BOY ELECTRIC Johnathan Huggins
LIGHTING TECHNICIANS Zane Blanchard, Chad Cohlmia, Daryl Gilmore, Ivan Herrara, Laura Pearson,
Tom Platt, Harry Schroder, Andrew Simone, Paul Tackett, Joey Warning
KEY GRIP Joe Hernadaz, AJ Soiza
BEST BOY GRIP Doug Sampson, RJ Saraza
GRIPS
Justin Bernard
Steven Bueler
Andy Carazo
Yohan Herman
Ryan Hueter
Chris Martin
Christopher Montgomery
Kristian Ostergaard
Sean Talbott
Victor Wang
PROPERTY MASTER Paul McCaffery
ASSISTANT PROPERTY MASTER Shannon Pollack
HAIR DEPARTMENT HEADS Monte Haught, Lorna Reid
MAKEUP DEPARTMENT HEAD Shari Hoover
HAIR & MAKEUP FOR MR. CARVEY Kevin Yagher
HAIR & MAKEUP ARTISTS Alexa Colman, Laura Liferring
MAKEUP ARTISTS Leslie Devlin, Brielle McKenna, Katie Vernon
HAIR & MAKEUP ASSISTANT Jill Cowell
COSTUME SUPERVISOR Brianna Murphy
SET COSTUMER Minnie Garcia
COSTUMERS Junlyn Delas Atlas, Christy Hauptman, Kaden O’Keefe, Ishtar Montes De Oca
LOCATION MANAGERS Brandon Barter, Carrie L.A.
LOCATION SCOUT Dan Milner
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
Vin Arfuso
Norman Galeas
Joel Gary
Andrew Greenbaum
Mitch Harrington
Germano Kuerten
Darren Masters
Lucio Michael
Tim Munoz
Justin Pittman
Julian Quinonez
Toby Russ
John Sharkey
Zach Spilkoman
Julian Stephens
Chris Theabo
John P. Uranowski
Paul White
Lacy Zellmer
EXTRAS CASTING Central Casting, Dawn Nygren, Mindy Rengrudkij
ON SITE SECURITY MBS Security, Silverwolf Security
FILM UNIT, INTERVIEWS
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Katherine Montgomery, Erin Sanderson
ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY Jamie Urman
1ST ASSISTANT CAMERA Charles Bae, Cameron Riddles
INTERROTRON OPERATOR Davis Fairthing
SOUND MIXER Chris Trueman
GAFFER Jim Plannette
ELECTRIC David Cronin
KEY GRIP Al LaVerde
GRIP Steele Hunter
WARDROBE Paula Tabalipa
HAIR & MAKEUP Aura Schwartz, Shelly Rickman
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Austin Bardowell, Andrew Greenbaum
POST PRODUCTION
Assistant Editor Carrie Schreck
POST PRODUCTION SOUND SERVICES BY MONKEYLAND
SOUND DESIGNER AND
RE-RECORDING MIXER
SOUND EFFECTS EDITORS
SUPERVISING FOLEY EDITOR
SOUND INTERN Coty Barnhart
Motion & Titles Designer Joe Vaccarino
COLOR GRADE BY LIGHT IRON
COLORIST
COLOR ASSIST
PRODUCER
VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR
VISUAL EFFECTS BY BEMO
VISUAL EFFECTS PRODUCER
VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST
MUSIC
MATERIALS COURTESY OF
PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING Sher Gelb
PRODUCTION INSURANCE
Truman Van Dyke
LEGAL SERVICES Gray Krauss Stratford Sandler Des Rochers LLP
Jonathan Gray
Fair Use
SPECIAL THANKS
To all you fine people and establishments who made this film come true.