Q&A: Dana Brown, Director "On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter"
November 07, 2014 | By John Schwarb
In 1971, the movie "On Any Sunday" offered a new look into motorcycling, sharing inside stories of riders and earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature in the process. The movie, directed by Bruce Brown, helped put bikers and racers into a new light in the much the same way that his 1966 film "The Endless Summer" did for surfers.
Opening today in theatres nationwide is Red Bull Media House's "On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter," directed by Dana Brown, Bruce's son. The sequel shows how the sport and culture of motorcycles have grown in four decades since the original, and the action shot in 4K Ultra HD takes viewers even closer to the racing and the personalities. Among the subjects that Dana Brown shadowed is MotoGP rider Marc Marquez, the winner of the 2013 and 2014 Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
While visiting IMS prior to a premiere screening of his film in Carmel, Brown took a few minutes to discuss the project.
Q: The film's website says the movie delves "deeper into the humanity and excitement of motorcycle culture." What was the biggest surprise to you in making the film?
A: Probably not much has changed as far as the way racers are, it's still a community connected by the passion of riding. Motorcycle people are some of the nicest, most welcoming people you can imagine. I don't know if it’s a surprise, but that was a great thing to discover – that the themes, the stuff dad touched on in the original, still exist today.
And the ability of these guys – it's so much more than being ballsy. The reflexes, the concentration, the focus, the commitment to what they do is constantly surprising me.
Q: Is the daredevil factor the same from 1971 to now, just with different kinds of stuff?
A: The bikes are so much better. The athletes, I don’t know if they're better, but there’s probably more money in the sport, there's more diversity. All that's changed. Visually, the way we can present it with the cameras have evolved. But at its heart, I hope the film has the same spirit. People united by a passion and enjoying life through this vehicle.
Q: How old were you when your dad's film came out? What do you remember about it?
A: 11. I remember seeing that movie and saying "this is what I want to do, I want to make films." I never thought in a million years I'd make another "On Any Sunday." I kind of wanted them to call it something else, in the motorcycle world it’s a little like "I have a New Testament." But with the opportunity to do it, I didn't mind the name. Dad’s going to be 77, I figured I might as well continue the legacy.
Q: How much input did you get from him on the project?
A: He's 76, so we didn't take him on the shoots, but when we were mapping out the ideas – because there's so many things you could do, and each segment is kind of its own movie, so you're kind of trying to show this cornucopia of stuff quickly – I ran all that by him. As we were cutting the film, we’d send him rough cuts to see what he thought.
Q: Good feedback, I'm guessing?
A: He's an old-school guy, so "OK" means "great." If he ever said "that's great," I’d be floored. I called him towards the end, we were trying to lock the picture, I go, "you've gotta give me all your notes now." He said, "I've got nothing because I had to watch it in front of the stupid computer with these stupid ear things on – and I didn't get bored, so that’s a good sign." (Laughs.) But if you had a resource like that, you’d be an idiot not to rely on it.
And the fact that it's the sequel to his movie, you want to make a movie that stands alone if people hadn't seen the original, like that's entertaining, but by the same token you don't want to make a movie that's a completely different kind of film. We were always juggling that thought, so his input was important. It's gotta be what it said it is – the next chapter.
Q: Here at IMS in 1971 there was no motorcycle race, yet so much of our heritage is motorcycle racing. So you make this movie now and we've got a MotoGP race.
A: There's so many similarities between four wheels and two wheels – the love of the machine, the many different aspects, the team aspect of the racing. I think it's a lot closer than people from the outside might think. Having done "Dust to Glory" about the Baja (1000), we featured all the different motorcycle guys and million-dollar trophy trucks and you notice that they're united by that race. It’s the simplest thought in the world – you have a machine, let's see who wins if we race these. Which is a simplicity that’s beautiful, then the machines themselves are so complicated. It's an interesting juxtaposition.
Q: What about working with Marc Marquez? He's so talented at 21.
A: He was a great young man. When we first conceived of the idea we knew we wanted MotoGP because that represents the most glamorous, most evolved form of motorcycle competition, and would show people in the U.S. that this side exists. The idea was, we'll follow (Valentino) Rossi around, and no matter what he does, it's the winner, he's so charismatic. The guy that helped me put the ideas together goes, "there's this kid, Marc Marquez, super-nice, he might do something." We thought we'd follow him, at least we could tell it from the rookie perspective, win, lose or draw. And then he goes out and wins the thing (the 2013 championship).
What you see with Marc is what you get – he's a very upbeat, smiling, gracious young man. His best friend's his younger brother, his dad's always there. As amazing as his ability is, it's amazing how positive and giving of his time he is. I saw him this year in Spain, he had pretty much wrapped up this year's championship, he hadn't changed a lick. Still had that big grin, hugs you. Marc, he's a special guy. MotoGP's fortunate to have him. Valentino won’t last forever but to have that kind of representative that's crowd-friendly. You don't have to be, you could be a quiet guy, but he's got a lot of charisma. And he's a kid.
Q: And the way he rides, he doesn't finish third a lot. He either wins or he's out 10 laps ago.
A: We touched on that in the movie. You hear Kenny Roberts, it was early in the season and he goes, "well, we'll see. It's easy to go fast, it's when you fall off." And he falls off a bit, but he keeps bouncing back up. Even his own team's like, "Marc, take it easy," but he says in the movie, "if I go slow, I might fall off." His concept is he’s gotta be there to focus, the minute he backs off, maybe his mind starts wandering.
Q: Who are the greatest daredevils today in the sport? Is it those guys doing 210 mph here down the frontstretch or the guy jumping over a building?
A: There's a segment in the movie where we profile Robbie Maddison. Robbie jumped off the Olympic ski jump in Park City, Utah. To delineate between what Robbie does and what Travis Pastrana does and what Marc does, I’m certainly not a big enough expert. They'd all scare the hell out of me. But I think there's a real mutual respect among those guys that they appreciate what the other guy's doing. It’s all different shades of crazy.
Q: What makes the best visual?
A: That depends on the audience. We're fortunate to make a film that you can just show all these visuals. To me the best visuals are the smiles on the faces of the guys. I keep using this word, but the passion shows through. In this day and age, everybody's an expert, everybody's a little bit disinterested in everything – to see people united by a common thing, that glint in their eye. I’m sure you see that all the time here, so-and-so’s car, people of different generations, religions, colors, united by a single thing, that gives you hope.
Q: During MotoGP, we have "Motorcycles on Meridian," where the public gathers downtown. It's just enormous.
A: It's because they love to get together, swap stories, share. There's something – I mean, I'm no social scientist, but there seems to be something so necessary in that, in a world where you can just sit and stare at your phone for 20 hours. The fact people can get together and share something, on the one hand maybe's not important, but on the other hand it is important. That to me is super-redeeming.
Q: What do you ride in your spare time?
A: I have a KTM 450. I don’t ride in the streets, it's too dangerous – I don't trust people in cars, texting. But my father has a bunch of old bikes, so we'll go riding.