Starman is a 90-minute documentary about legendary NASA robotics engineer and best-selling science fiction author Gentry Lee. He recounts his considerable body of work in a fascinating and probing documentary about his quest to answer the ultimate cosmic question: Are we alone in the universe? The entire film builds up to the answer that he has arrived at as an 82-year-old man looking back on his achievements.
Documentarian Robert Stone has a 40+ year career of making thought-provoking and inquisitive films like Chasing the Moon, Pandora’s Promise, and Earth Days. Stone recently spoke with Immersive via Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length]
What inspired the making of this film?
I had done a six-hour documentary called Chasing the Moon, and one of the producers discussed maybe doing something about what happened with our exploration of space after Apollo. He introduced me to Gentry Lee. When I met Gentry, we immediately connected.
I love how he sees space on a spectrum of human thought, from robotic missions to the actual science that we do, telescopes, observations, and leaping into the imagination. He can discuss all this and reveal his passion for it. He sees our fascination with space and what it means to us on a larger scale, and I thought I could make a movie about this guy.
I think he’s very engaging, interesting, and smart. Essentially, you’re anchoring the whole movie around his persona. How many hours did you have him for?
We had about 11 hours. We recorded Gentry over several days on a sound stage in Los Angeles about three years ago. I went back and did some audio-only follow-ups with him after that. He never says anything that’s not interesting. They’re all perfectly formulated thoughts like intellectual bombs he’s throwing at you. I’ve never done an interview like that where I literally had 11 hours of gold.
How did you frame what you wanted to say with this piece? How long did it take you to find that aspect?
After his interview, I was floored by it and thought to myself, “How do I turn this into a 90-minute film?” It took me about a year to cut the interview and structure the story. The whole interview had to be thoroughly reimagined to allow Gentry to communicate the subjects that he was talking about.
I also wanted to find areas that would illuminate him as a person so the audience could bond with him on an emotional level. I also wanted to level the film because he has big cosmic thoughts that take a little while to settle in.
It’s very stream-of-consciousness, and where it leads off is unexpected.
Yeah, there’s a big twist.
What documentaries inspired you?
I wanted to make a film about one person, just as an autobiography. Some of the films that have inspired me… I love The Kid Stays In The Picture, one of my favorite documentaries. The Fog of War is one of my favorite documentaries. So those two were certainly inspiring to me, I would say. I thought if I’m ever gonna do a film like this in this style, just one person.
What was your setup like? Did you have much of a crew?
I had a wonderful DP to shoot the interview—Tom Hurwitz is one of the best in the business—and I shot a lot of the rest of the stuff myself. I had a great archive producer. I edited with Lindy Jankura, whom I have worked with before. She’s great. Skip Lievsay was our sound mixer. He did Gravity and GoodFellas.
Sound is so important. That’s good that you had Skip. How about the music? You had a score and some big music clearances like David Bowie…
Gary Lionelli did our score. We had a rights clearance person, but I went straight to the family myself, did the estate and appeal to them, and showed them the film. David Bowie wrote the song ‘Starman’, he was inspired by Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and 2001: A Space Odyssey was his favorite movie.
How did you come up with the title Starman? I assume it was because of the song…
The song was so perfect. I don’t know; titles are funny. They rattle around in your head, and then suddenly they come, and you go, that’s it. It can’t be anything else.
Well, there is certainly more interest in space exploration now than 20 years ago. What is the afterglow like after premiering at South by Southwest?
It’s always wonderful to show a film to an audience. I’ve been doing long-form television for the last 10 years, so I haven’t had that experience in a while. South By Southwest was wonderful.
We went in there, and nobody knew anything about it before. At the last screening we had, the lines were around the block. It was a sold-out show. We got some fantastic reviews. I think we’re in a really good place. A lot of festivals around the world are inviting the film to be screened. I think we’re as well positioned as we could be, so I’m really happy.
Starman is currently screening at festivals.
