Journalist: What can you say about the new habits in relation to cinema and theatre?
Carlos Mentasti: Theater has grown tremendously while cinema has not. I put it down to habit, and by that I mean, historically audiences went on Thursdays to see previews, Saturdays were their main outing with friends, and I don’t say Lavalle, I mean shopping, and Sundays were ladies’ days having tea and watching movies with girlfriends. This defined the week. And there were half-price Wednesdays that didn’t involve financial gain but did involve large audiences and word of mouth. The public has stopped going to see a certain film, has begun to be guided by going to the mall: to eat and see what’s on. Everything getting used to including watching on a giant screen with others laughing or scared to death has been cut short with covid and hasn’t picked up, the theater has. The public chose to stay at home, not risk it, save money and what was happening before the pandemic ended up killing cinema. I’ve lived all the moments, VHS, Betamax, Blueray and all formats, even if nothing compares to that experience of darkness, sound and a movie like “Titanic” on a giant screen. After the Covid it was done uphill, added to a value of 1,200 pesos for entry and an exit, it turns out to be a silver fortune, compared to seeing it at home for less cost. However, I insist that there are films that must be seen in the cinema, such as children’s animated films that are wonderful.
D.: The theatre, on the other hand, has been revitalized…
CM: I learned that the wonderful thing about the theater is that every time there is a show dedicated to that audience present that evening, whether they are 70 or 500 spectators. Every day the actors perform exactly the same or better. If I was talking about the magic of watching a movie with others, that magic is double when you see the actors live and not on TV.
D.: You produce with Valentina Berger, how do you find yourself with the new generations?
CM: I have to update myself, I’ve made 70 films and they tell me about my successes but I say that success is being around people who are more capable of improving than me. Valentina called me and I didn’t understand her until her mother told me who she was. I knew her mother because she had a travel agency and she got me stays and the boat for “Dad is an idol”. Valentina came by boat and took pictures with Francella. I realized who she was then, I took care of her and she offered me this job. I don’t read books, the author or director reads them to me, I need to see their eyes and their intensity when they read, and if I see that it excites or amuses me, I do it.
D.: You usually produce popular movies, what can you say about comedies?
CM: We made “An Enemy of the People” with Juan Leyrado after seeing how impressive he was when he left the official theater. We toured later, with this I say I go with work or film wherever it is, when I connect with the audience because I need the people. My latest film, “A Masterpiece”, which is one of the best I’ve ever made, has a neutral audience, combines the popular with the intellectual.
D.: Are you a producer present on the set or in the halls, how did the directors take it? Is there an offer between producer and artist?
CM: After ten days the director or the author already knows me and from that moment he knows that I am next to them, that I speak to their ears, and I learned this from my father. What is filmed today in the cinema remains for life, so there is no better way than to film several shots, those of the director and those that seem to me, or the one suggested by the assistant or the illuminator. Everything works then see what’s left. Many times there were definite titles on set. I have to convince myself of the title, the ten-line synopsis and the rest, if I can’t sell it with that basic but essential data, I won’t. The most important thing is to know how I reach the audience. Later I can be wrong but there were times when I saw the trailer, the audience didn’t laugh, I threw it away and made another one.
Q.: What are you projecting for 2023 in terms of cinema and theatre?
CM.: We just finished another broadway show with Valentina Berger for 2024, there it’s a hit so it comes with that basis and then it has to be adapted locally, I’m also working on a children’s project for the winter holidays and a film for America Latina and three series we are working on.
D.: How has the business changed in recent years?
CM: Cinema has had a radical change because today we work for platforms, we have to talk to the CEO and that’s another story. The theater however remains the same, we work with the rooms.
