Tom talks to Jon B. Cooke, who, in addition to editing Comic Book Artist, has made a documentary film about Will Eisner, which will be shown this week at the Tribeca Film Festival:
Our general idea to start regarding length was 53 minutes or so, enough to fill up an hour on, well, American Masters or the Biography Channel. But we soon discovered that Will’s diverse and fascinating career was just too big for a single hour. Try as we might, there’s just too much story to tell.
Frankly, upon viewing the various cuts, my opinion is that the production started out as a documentary worthy of television. This is not to disparage the work or the medium, mind you… Ken Burns is on TV, after all! But it did truly grow into a feature perfect for the big screen, because it became infused with more and more meaning. I knew the bare bones of the “Eisner story” for a good deal of my life, and it may be hard for some folks to imagine it contains profound meaning, but in being involved in this production, has shown me — and hopefully the audience, as well — a depth I hadn’t previously considered.
