The Producer
In a separate interview, producer Thom Mount discussed his role with "Soul Code" and his relationship with Steve Lisberger, which dates back to Mount's days as head of Universal Studios in the early 80s.
David Konow: How did you and Steven Lisberger get together for "Soul Code"?
THOM MOUNT: Many years ago, when I was running Universal, another lifetime, Steven brought "Tron" to me in its very early stages. I very much wanted to make the picture, but I was a young executive at the time at the studio, and I could not get my guys lined up to get the picture done. Steve ultimately made a deal with Disney, and the rest is history. "Tron" became not just a kind of landmark movie in its way, but a video game of historic importance, one that continues to be Disney's biggest selling game piece to this day. "Tron" was not the biggest hit of the year, but "Tron" was a movie everybody paid attention to in terms of raising the threshold for a way we viewed filmmaking that year. As a result, not only was its evolution to the video game world very successful, it became a film everybody in the filmmaking community remembers fondly. So I'm delighted that Steve Lisberger has completed his journey back to a moment where he's ready to make another picture, and I'm very excited about it.
David Konow: Was Lisberger someone you kept in mind as someone you wanted to work with?
THOM MOUNT: Absolutely. We stayed loosely in touch over the years, and at a certain point, Steve called me and said, "I've got a new project. It's not done yet, it needs some financial and producing support, I'd like to come talk to you about it. And I don't want to do it with a big studio, because the spot I ended up at in Disney was not a good spot from a business point of view." I can understand that. So we sat down, I loved the basic concept of "Soul Code," and I have great faith in Steve and Jessica Chabot, who's working closely with him. We made a deal, and they wrote a script.
David Konow: Lisberger has been away for a while as a filmmaker. Do you feel he can still deliver a strong movie? Do you feel "Soul Code" will be a big movie?
THOM MOUNT: Oh yeah, I don't have any doubt. I'm a huge believer in Steve Lisberger. His journey away from the movie business was a journey into areas of effects, the digital universe, and a lot of other places where interesting and cutting edge things are happening. I think it's a huge plus for him that hasn't had to grind out "studio quality movies," and I use that term advisedly! During the interim he's stayed fresh, his ideas are sharp as hell, his attitude is wonderful and funny, and we're really looking forward to doing this movie.
