Our Oscar connection: 'Average kid from Belleville' is executive producer of 'The Kids Are All Right' |
| Posted: 28 Feb 2011 09:58 AM PST Science fiction and action movies and John Wayne westerns. "When I was older, we'd go to the drive-in, the Skyview. Half of us were probably in the trunk of the car sneaking in." The Belleville native is executive producer of "The Kids Are All Right," a film nominated for four Academy Awards. He heard the news last month while staying at his parents' home in Waterloo. He was visiting his mom, Norma, and dad, Ira, who is ill. "Early in the morning, a distributor in Poland e-mailed congratulations," he said. "I figured it was nominated." Steven, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Hollywood Studios International, lives a life that's hard to imagine - sometimes even to himself. He has been knighted by a prince and blessed by Pope John Paul II. His conversation is peppered with terms such as "creative financial models" and "international distribution." One minute he's talking about attending Camp Ondessonk as a grade-schooler, the next about having Saudi princes as financial backers. "As a kid, I probably knew that Hollywood was in California," said Steven, who grew up mostly on Belleville's 17th Street. "California and the movies were way beyond any dreams I had." He attended St. Mary's Grade School, played Little League baseball and Little Devils football, rode dirt bikes and raced motorcycles at Belle-Clair Fairgrounds. "I had to go every Sunday and watch him," said his sister, Karen Saxton, three years young. Their father was a blue-collar Chrysler worker. "I used to go fishing with my dad to all of the little local lakes and strip mines," said Steven. "There was a power plant on one of them, Glendale Lake in southern Illinois." After a year at Althoff Catholic High School, Steven switched to Belleville West. "I didn't have a car," he said, "and Althoff was a long, cold bus ride away." Soon after graduating, he moved away. "Part of the reason I left Belleville (after high school) was I was about to get a job at a coal mine," he said. "I am extremely claustrophobic." He took off for Houston where he worked as a motorcycle mechanic, then moved to New York City where he got a job selling motorcycles and cars. He sold a car to the president of a brokerage firm who sponsored Steven to get his brokerage license. He was a broker in Dallas, and became president of a small oil company. He got interested in the movie business more than 20 years ago after brokering a deal to finance a movie for a Hollywood producer. "Hollywood has red carpets and premieres," he said. "In Texas, we had barbecue sandwiches. It was hot. The movie business was much more exciting, the creative aspects of it all." Now, Steven rubs shoulders with directors, writers, stars and money men around the world. "We did a movie (`Beyond A Reasonable Doubt') last year with Michael Douglas," he said, "It was fun to meet him. ... Some stars have that special it factor." Steven lives in Sunset Plaza, near Beverly Hills, with his girlfriend, Katherine Guevara, 21, who accompanied him to Belleville. "The last two years, my parents have spent Christmas at my house," he said. "I have an amazing swimming pool. We have nice weather 300 days a year in California." But he's not always there to enjoy it. Steven travels the world, drumming up financing, checking out potential movie locations and networking at film festivals. "In the last five years, I've made 40 to 50 international trips," he said, ticking off Qatar, Kuwait and Costa Rica, Singapore, London and Paris. "It's the most competitive business in the world. It's a very difficult business, very serious business, too, We're structuring the financing of a movie." A movie can cost $40 million or more to make. "To put together that capital is quite difficult," he said. "It's great when it happens like this and your little movie goes from being a little movie to the biggest thing at Sundance." His little movie was produced for $4.4 million. Released last summer, it grossed just over $20 million at U.S. box offices. The film, directed by Lisa Cholodenko, is about a lesbian couple whose two children, conceived by artificial insemination, bring their birth father into the family, changing its dynamics. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play the couple. Mark Ruffalo is the birth father. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress (Annette Bening) and Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo). "For me and for this company, this is actually the first film we have produced," said Steven, whose company integrates distribution, production and artist management. "It's a very good start for a new company." Joel Newton, his vice president and right-hand man, described the film's success as a combination of extreme luck and the educated wisdom to choose the right project. "We are making art," said Joel. "You cannot predict or have a formula to know what's going to be successful ... We decided out of a thousand scripts. That's the one we took the risk with and got behind ... It's an intelligent process." Joel and Steven have worked together for seven years. "Steven's one of the most tenacious, persistent people I have ever met," said Joel. "Nobody has the patience and drive he has." A week ago, Steven was trying to arrange tickets to attend the Oscars. If he couldn't, he planned to go to Oscar parties the night before. "As a child growing up, Hollywood was inconceivable," said Steven. "At some point, it became my dream." 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