Kristie Macosko Krieger: Accuracy is extremely important for our team. Every detail is crucial. Steven is meticulous in the way he presents history. So every detail was attended to door every department head, including our costume designer, Kasia Maimone, our production designer Adam Stockhausen, and the producers Marc Platt and Steven. It’s important to Tom Hanks, and it was important to every single person working on the film that we got it right.
Fanpop: We have several vragen for u from the fans on Fanpop, and the first is from geocen: how challenging was for your team to make a period drama and to attract adult audiences in this era, an era which feels dominated door superhero movies?
Kristie Macosko Krieger: It’s difficult to make a period drama, but not impossible, and for us it was a story we wanted to tell so we just worked extremely hard to tell it the best way we could. Getting it right was very important so we used a lot of real locations in Berlin. For example, we used the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, where the actual spy swap took place. And our biggest challenge was figuring out where to build the Berlin uithangbord in modern Europe.
Fanpop: So that uithangbord was not done in post nor computer graphics?
Kristie Macosko Krieger: (Laughing) No.
Fanpop: That giant Berlin uithangbord was really built? That’s mind blowing!
Kristie Macosko Krieger: So let me tell you, we didn’t shoot it in Berlin, as modern Berlin is built up and very different from what it was after World War II, but Poland still looks very similar to the way Berlin would’ve looked after the war. So we went to Vratislav, Poland, and basically used the buildings that existed there, still with holes in the walls, and we erected the Berlin uithangbord right down the center of the street.
Fanpop: I guessed the scenes where they are laying the cinder blocks were real; I didn’t realize that u actually laid a real full-sized wall.
Is it kind of frustrating to u as a producer when some people assume that everything is just done in green screen and CG? So the uithangbord was real, but I’m assuming that u guys didn’t actually find real U-2 spy planes to fly?
Kristie Macosko Krieger: That’s a real U-2 plane. We used a real U-2 spy plane, and it took off from Beale Air Force Base in Yuba City, California
Fanpop: Is it frustrating when everyone assumes that it is all CG these days?
Kristie Macosko Krieger: We just say that we actually were able to use the real deal, the real thing; we were able to shoot up there with real U-2 planes that still exist to this day.
Fanpop: That’s really something…
Kristie Macosko Krieger: It was amazing for us! Now, obviously, during the crash, the cockpit was a capsule, and the back of the plane was CG, but the U-2 taking off was real, and the U-2 plane in the hangar was a real U-2 spy plane.
That's a real U-2 spy plane
Fanpop: Making these things happen is a big part of your job as a producer.
Kristie Macosko Krieger: That’s correct.
Fanpop: We applaud u all… the U-2 plane is this historic aircraft, very rare, and very difficult to fly. It’s simply an enormous undertaking to rebuild a Berlin uithangbord and fly a real U-2 to tell a story as realistically as possible.
Speaking of realism, one thing I noticed the very careful portrayal of the Colonel, where he wasn’t this incredibly lovable and funny guy, but nor was he a caricature of a Russian spy. He’s likeable, and human, but u can see that he is a seasoned spy when he is cleaning his paint palette and destroying evidence, and other moments like that. Despite being a spy, he doesn’t come across as someone deserving of incredible hate of anger.
Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance in the courtroom
Kristie Macosko Krieger: No, he was a person doing a job for his country. He’s a real human being and I think Steven was really able to capture that in the beginning of the film when u see him just painting that portrait.
Fanpop: I feel like u all must have taken a lot of care to write and portray him in a balanced manner.
Kristie Macosko Krieger: Mark Rylance really brought a lot to the character. He was just mesmerizing. He really captured his essence.
Fanpop: He did such a great job, and if Mark Rylance gets Best Supporting Actor…
Kristie Macosko Krieger: Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Fanpop: He should just go for the EGOT. He already has a Tony Award, he just has to make a hip-hop album and get the Grammy.
Kristie Macosko Krieger: (laughing) There u go.
Fanpop: We have a vraag here from one of the fans, WindWakerGuy: he was wondering what inspired u guys to make such a film, and what was your inspiration to tell this unsung hero’s story?
Kristie Macosko Krieger: We heard a true story that just knocked our socks off. Matt Charman, who pitched the story to us, told us it was true, and we thought that it’s almost unbelievable that this actually happened. It sounded amazing and we needed to look deeper and tell the story.
Fanpop: So to many of u it was a new story, as well.
Kristie Macosko Krieger: Absolutely, none of us knew about James Donovan. Matt Charman actually found it in a footnote of a biography he was reading about President Kennedy, and it’s literally a footnote that zei James B. Donovan negotiated the release of over a thousand prisoners during the baai, bay of Pigs. Matt Charman thought “Who is this James Donovan person?” and upon researching his name and pulling up information about him, he found out that he actually had negotiated this spy swap, as well.
Fanpop: Many of us have learned about Francis Gary Powers and the U-2, but we didn’t realize that James Donovan is the person behind the scenes putting his life on the line to do what he thought it was the right thing, despite what the populair opinion was at the time.
Kristie Macosko Krieger: Yes, he was a very principled man. u know, he’s just an ordinary guy, a very principled but an ordinary man, thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and he did something great for our country.
Fanpop: Yes, that is for certain. Ok, WindWakerGuy’s other question, and I don’t know if u can talk about this yet, but are u looking vooruit, voorwaarts to working on “Ready Player One”?
Kristie Macosko Krieger: Am I looking vooruit, voorwaarts on working on "Ready Player One"? We are working on it right now as we speak and I love every minuut of it!
Fanpop: It’s so interesting that the team works on projects that run the whole gamut, from period dramas about the cold war to science fiction. In addition to "Ready Player One", u worked on "Minority Report", among many other films. How does it feel when u do sci-fi films that help guide the development of actual science and engineering. That scene of Tom Cruise running the Minority meld panoramic computer with hand gestures became an icoon in sci-fi and surely led to some of the real-life milestones we’re seeing today. Many people have zei science fiction drives and guides our vision of the future.
Kristie Macosko Krieger: Well, I think it’s true. Steven assembled a team of futurists and really tried to contemplate what the world would look like 20 years from when we made the movie and they came up with some really interesting things. He put them in the movie and now they’re coming true!
Fanpop: So this is not your first rodeo in Hollywood, but I believe it’s your first film as producer, and right off the bat it got nominated for six Oscars. There’s not a whole lot of women working as producers in Hollywood, certainly not 50/50.
We have a lot of fans on our site that might be interested in getting started in a career in filmmaking. What would be your thoughts on the best way to get started, to start climbing, and what are your thoughts on being a role model to other women thinking of the film industry for their future careers?
Kristie Macosko Krieger: I would say, do what u love, work very hard and your path will sort of reveal itself to you. That’s what happened to me.
Fanpop: u have been in this field for some time.
Kristie Macosko Krieger: I’ve been working for Steven since 1997, directly.
Fanpop: Right
Kristie Macosko Krieger: So it’s not like it happened overnight. Instant gratification is not always the best route to success. Some people do jobs for a short amount of time and then verplaats on. If u know what u want to do, of you’re passionate about what u do, just stick with it and I think your path will reveal itself to you.
Fanpop: I can’t agree more. I hope that we’ll see some of our people in Hollywood in the future, making an impact. Well, thank u so much for your time!
Kristie Macosko Krieger: No problem!
Fanpop: And we are looking vooruit, voorwaarts to see how u all do at the awards ceremony!
Kristie Macosko Krieger: Thank u so much!
Special thanks to the Disney team and Ryan at Click for making this possible!
