Hampton Style - October 10, 2008

Shortly after The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou made its debut in 2004, Wes Anderson approached producer Andrew Lauren with a proposition-a screenplay by his Aquatic co-writer, Noah Baumbach. Based largely on Baumbach's own experience growing up in mid the 1980s and living through the messy divorce of his parents, it was a quiet topic compared to the stylish, jaunty hit he currently had on his hands. It took the right producer to see the possibilities. "The script really spoke to me," Lauren says. "I didn't come from a dysfunctional family, but growing up in the 80s, divorce was a theme throughout high school-my friends were spending one night with one parent, the next with another parent... yeah, I got it. It was a powerfully written story and it's rare to see the story of divorce told though a kid's eyes." Of course, The Squid and the Whale, which starred Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels, would go on to win important prizes at the Toronto and Sundance Film festivals, as well as being nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. It was an important gamble for the producer who had long lived under the shadow of his famous name and family-his father is fashion impresario and billionaire Ralph Lauren.

Andrew Lauren, now 39, has spent the past decade building up Andrew Lauren Productions (ALP), a company set on giving alternatives to the "forgettable blockbusters" that rely on fast cars and cleavage to sell tickets. He's convinced that films can still be both commercially and artistically successful, and cites Brokeback Mountain as a good example of it.

Andrew grew up watching films in Montauk with his family on weekends: "We've always had Friday and Saturday night screenings-we all sit in front of a big movie screen with a bunch of popcorn, and we discuss the film afterward. It's a great way to get close to your family. I'd run the projector, and the projector would invariably break, and there would be film all over the floor, I'd be laughing..."

"My parents have always mandated that we be creative," he says, "and find our own way." Andrew's sister Dylan owns the Dylan's Candy Bar chain of stores; his brother David serves as SVP of Advertising, Marketing, and Corporate Communications at Polo Ralph Lauren. "Growing up, it was never about going to big parties and trying to hobnob. It was always about the work." He confides that having a famous last name is both a help and a hindrance. "I think that people are more likely to take my calls because of who I am; I sometimes gain entrée to places that not everyone can go, but at the same time, there have also been a lot of blocks and knocks. People think it's an easy ride just because Andrew is 'Andrew.' He's got money, he's got this and that, but it's not true. It's complicated. There's a lot that comes along with privilege. I've never wanted to be a dilettante" he says.

Andrew divides his time between his apartment in New York and his family's longtime home in Montauk. "I'm pretty low-key when I'm here. I'll spend time with my family, take my dog to the beach. If I go out, it's to Jonie's or the Surf Lodge. I enjoy biking and jogging and the surfing is great...it's incredibly peaceful. I love the ruggedness of Montauk; there's something about the fisherman's lifestyle that I really like."

Andrew makes the jump to how films can also have tremendous impact on your state of mind, transporting you for two hours, and, ideally, leaving a lasting impression. "When I see a good movie, it makes me think differently. And there doesn't need to be an obvious political statement; sometimes there are more subtle ways of putting it, so that you don't feel you're being hit over the head with something. I want to affect people with my films, I want them to be inspired or to question things they do...to get them to really look at themselves."

A compelling story and strong characters are what Andrew looks for when developing projects; it's a role that few people outside the industry give producers credit for, assuming that their only stake in the film is the financing. "Producers are like parents to a little baby," says Andrew, setting the record straight. "They birth it, raise it, send it to college. Actors and directors are more like the doting uncles who come in with candy, and say, 'Yes, yes, great!' and then leave. The producers are the creative engines running the whole journey," continues Andrew, describing his own emotional and artistic investment in the process. "We're the ones pounding the pavement, hoping the crucial players will say yes. We work with the writers, and find great scripts and books to develop; we find new talented actors and directors. Most people don't understand the enormity of our role."

ALP is currently "raising" a number of children. Among them are a documentary based on the late J.L. "Red" Roundtree, a former civillian-turned-debauchee who began robbing banks in his late 80s (This is Not a Robbery); a horror film based on the twisted life of gun-heiress Sarah Winchester (yet-untitled); a film he describes as a modern day Blow Up which will be co-produced with New Market (Year of Fog); and a classic spy thriller set in Guatemala which will be co-produced with 2929 (A Forest of Mirrors). In addition to film making, ALP will produce a television series for American Movie Classics, which ALP president Jennifer Dana sums up as "extreme doctors in extreme times. Think Children of Men mixed with a little bit of M*A*S*H*."

Anand Tucker, who directed Shop Girl and Hilary and Jackie, will direct A Forest of Mirrors, and he has glowing things to say about working with ALP: "It was one of the best scripts I've read in many a long year," said Tucker. "Andrew has exceptional taste, so I'm very happy we partnered up on it." When asked what attracted him to the story, Tucker explains: "It's in the classic mode of a great spy thriller, but it's also a very emotional story about two brothers who sort of lose each other and then find each other again.

It manages to weave together a really fantastic complex le Carré-style spy plot with an incredibly powerful family story at the heart of it."

Andrew is similarly excited about the yet untitled Sarah Winchester project. "Here was a woman who had everything," he says. She was the belle of the ball, married into this prestigious family but sort felt she had blood money on her hands; the Winchester gun was considered "the gun that won the west." Sarah's husband and daughter both died at an early age-and in her grief she went to a medium who told her to go out West and start building a house. She was to have construction going 24/7, and was warned that if she ever stopped building this house, that would be the moment she died. I just couldn't pass this up; it was such a unique story, such a unique character."

"The projects we look for are ones we hope will have broad appeal. We've been very lucky," Andrew continues. "Even the small films we've made have opened up to a wider audience. The documentary we just did on the oldest bank robber is a compelling piece. It's full of Americana. It's inspiring and he's an odd character-definitely one that people will take notice of."

The hip-hop tale G, which draws reference from The Great Gatsby, was shot in the Hamptons. When asked if he would ever film out here again, he replies: "I had a terrific experience filming G. Everyone in the

towns of Amagansett and Montauk were obliging and supportive. It's just hard to travel with the unions and to get them from New York to the Hamptons." That said, he adds that he's committed to returning. "It's such a beautiful place. You can't replicate it; there's no other place like it... the sounds, the smells, and the sea air, you can almost feel it when you watch the movie."