Paul Lewis
Producer and production manager Paul Lewis hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was a labor union organizer and his mother was a housewife. Following graduation from Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, Paul went to New York and became a member of Actors' Equity. He acted in some summer stock and Off-Broadway theatre before s...
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Producer and production manager Paul Lewis hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was a labor union organizer and his mother was a housewife. Following graduation from Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, Paul went to New York and became a member of Actors' Equity. He acted in some summer stock and Off-Broadway theatre before switching to being a stage manager. Lewis ran the Actor's Playhouse in New York City for a while. Lewis then moved to California in order to break into the motion picture business and continued to work as a stage manager prior to snagging his first film gig as the associate producer of the low-budget drama "Walk the Angry Beach" in 1960. Paul frequently collaborated with Dennis Hopper on a handful of features that include "Easy Rider," "The Last Movie," "Out of the Blue," "Colors," and "The Hot Spot." Among the other directors Lewis worked with are Richard Rush, Peter Bogdanovich, Monte Hellman, Jack Starrett, and Tom Laughlin. Paul retired from the film industry in the mid 90s. Show less «
[on making low-budget independent films in the late 60s and early 70s] It was a wonderful period. We just wanted to make films, so we went o...Show more »
[on making low-budget independent films in the late 60s and early 70s] It was a wonderful period. We just wanted to make films, so we went out and figured out the best way to do it. How can you make a film for a limited amount of money? You learn your craft working with Joe Solomon or Roger Corman or doing things for AIP. We didn't want to be dominated by the studios. We wanted to control our films. We were all really taken up with what the French were doing at that point, the whole New Wave. The freedom that the filmmakers were experiencing in Europe was what we really wanted. We wanted Cannes; we didn't want Oscars. To get to Cannes was the great dream. To win an Oscar didn't mean anything in those days to us. Show less «
[Talking about working with Boris Karloff on the film "Targets"] Karloff was a very sweet man, and he was very happy with what he was doing....Show more »
[Talking about working with Boris Karloff on the film "Targets"] Karloff was a very sweet man, and he was very happy with what he was doing. He really wanted to do the picture, he really liked Peter (Bogdanovich), and he was wonderfully easy to work with. He was just a gentleman. There was never any trouble at all. He was old and he was tired, but was never any problem. Show less «
