Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir Bar

Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir Bar

Postby admin » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:04 pm

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Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir Bar-Lev

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Do you want to do some painting or no?

[Marla] No.

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Well, Daddy will set ... I'll set everything up. If you don't want to paint, you don't have to. Or you can do it, if you want to.

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We need to get your little outfit.

Where did we put your little denim dress?
[Marla] I don't know.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] You can do whatever you want with those paints.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] She's an uncomfortable kid, in general, and a sensitive kid. Her teachers told me she's the quietest one in the class. She doesn't loosen up very easily. You know, she's just a little introverted.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] That's a lot of paint.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] When she paints is maybe one of the only times when you just see her fully release herself.

[Marla] What color did it make? Is it green?

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Looks green to me.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] She's at her most natural when there's no camera, and she's not the center of the attention. Once you measure something, you alter it. And this is true, in a really big way, with a 4-year-old painting.

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[Marla] Is it green enough now?

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Oh, that's nice.

This is what happened last time we shot.

[Marla] Here!

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] This is not ... no, this is not normal. Oh, man.

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You guys are killing me.

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[Amir Bar-Lev] I'm sorry.

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] No, that's all right. I get frustrated when she does it, because the only time she reacts ...

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differently is when the camera is in front of her.

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The first time, actually, was at Inside Edition, where they all just ... She did exactly the same thing.

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She poured paint on top of paint, on top of paint, which she does, but usually she goes at it with a spatula or whatever.

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Right, baby? She's still oblivious to it, doesn't care. And you know what? She'll go back at it and make ... She'll just go over it and make it nice, in all likelihood. At least, that's what I've seen.

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[Marla] I'm still messy, I'm still messy.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] But it's rare that she gets to the mud point.
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Re: Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir

Postby admin » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:06 pm

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[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] I was pretty shocked.

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It was really ugly journalism. To think that Charlie Rose would spend a hour on network television undoing someone who is 4 years old, and her family.

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You've got nothing better to put on a primetime news show?

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] You know, when she says, "Your kid's not a prodigy," and I was like, "Thank God."

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[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] What kind of thing is this for a family to go through?

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] But it is what it is.

[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] They really were in over their heads.

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And I'm sure they must feel a little nervous, now, about you. You know? I mean, it's kind of similar.

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[Elizabeth Cohen, in different dress, different location] I don't think anybody really knows what you're going to do with the story.
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Re: Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir

Postby admin » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:07 pm

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[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] From the very beginning, you were kind of a wild card. because you weren't from a network.

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You weren't going to be putting them on the evening news. You were a guy who just wanted to make his own film.

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What attracted you to it?

[Amir Bar-Lev] I saw it as a film about modern art. 60 Minutes took me completely by surprise.

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I had totally accepted that Marla was doing the paintings.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] This is where the camera was, up here. And they had it wired so that, in the laundry room, you could turn it on and off.

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And then the painting had to be stationary.

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There's one of Mark's paintings.

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[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] They trust you. Obviously they do, or they wouldn't be letting you do it at this point.

[Amir Bar-Lev] They're expecting that this film is going to exonerate them.

[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] Redemption factor.

[Amir Bar-Lev] Yeah, and 60 Minutes raised some doubts in my mind. And I haven't been 100% honest about having these doubts. So now, yeah, they think that this film is going to clear their names.

[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] They want you to film a painting from start to finish.

[Amir Bar-Lev] Yeah.

[Elizabeth Cohen, Columnist -- The Press & Sun Bulletin] Of course they do. And put it on TV.

[Amir Bar-Lev] And I'm ready to do it. I need that for my film, too.
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Re: Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir

Postby admin » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:08 pm

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] I wanna clear the air. I don't want to hear any more about what a bad person I am, what bad parents we are. Because it's so inaccurate. And that's why I'm saying, "Film her." Let's do it the right way.

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If you can't get it, let Laura get it, or myself.

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Let's do it the right way, if that's what it takes to make people happy.

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but you guys should sleep over some night. And just be ... We wake up and we have breakfast. That's how it goes. We wake up. We have breakfast. We hang out in our jammies.

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She doesn't get dressed because she's going to get messy, and she gets in her underwear, and she paints.

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[Marla] I'm not gonna paint.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] I feel pretty good about working with you.

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It will be a gift for Marla, because we've been portrayed in the media so many crazy ways, and I think this will show her a more accurate representation of what was going on, what our thought processes were, and we really did have her best interests in mind, and we just love her so much.

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And I hope it comes across. Because I don't remember that much from when I was four or five. You could tell me all kinds of things, and I would believe you. Even though I do have good feelings about you, I still have moments where I'm like, "Wait a minute. Does he have some kind of ulterior motive?" I opened myself up to you.

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You know, I choose to trust you. So ...

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[Marla] Zane. Do you want to paint?

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] You want me to get Zane a canvas?

[Marla] Yeah.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Okay, then you can both do your own.

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[Marla] Well, Zane's won't be in the art show.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] That's true, it won't be in the art show.

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[Marla] I'm done with the painting, Daddy.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Okay.

[Marla] You can put those back in the pile.

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***

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[Amir Ben-Lev] I just spent the day with the Olmsteads ...

trying to get the footage of Marla painting one of her paintings, beginning to end. This documentary has become something different, and I've been telling everybody how great it is for the film, that this potential scandal has come up. And right now, driving back, I'm not feeling that way. I'm feeling sad and conflicted. If they're lying, they're lying incredibly well. It's such a sad thing, if it exists, and I really, really hope it doesn't. I'd rather be stupid and not know about this kind of stuff. And it was only tonight that I realized ...

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I'm going to have to call some people liars, who, on the face of it, are, like, the nicest people. What's my investment in it? So people will think I'm a great filmmaker, or whatever. You know? Why do I care?
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Re: Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir

Postby admin » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:10 pm

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[Anthony Brunelli, Gallery Owner] They've opened their lives. I've opened my life. We're an open slate to you. What, specifically, are you looking for now? That's kind of where I'm at a loss because ... Is it ... Where are you going with it now? What is it? If you were to walk out of here today, and the Olmsteads called you up and said, "Whatever you want. What is it that you want? Let's do it." What is that?

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[Amir Bar-Lev] I want footage of Marla painting. That will put my doubts to rest.

[Anthony Brunelli, Gallery Owner] Yeah, yeah. It's, you know ... The problem that we have here ...

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and it's happening with you now, which I didn't think it was going to happen, is that I think that ... Everybody's trying to shape the story into something that they want it to be. And not letting the story be what it is.
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Re: Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir

Postby admin » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:10 pm

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] That's like your wand, isn't it?

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[Marla] Your turn to do it.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] No.

[Marla] You, paint a face. I'll tell you what to do.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] You'll tell me? You'll coach me? I'll have to get my own to do that.

[Marla] Then go get one. All right, just help me dude. Or tell me to be done or help. What one? Pick.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Marla.

[Marla] I'm only going to do one of those things.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] You do what you want, sweetheart.

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[Marla] You have to tell me what to do right now.

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] You see, here's a good comment for this is, you see when she knows what's going on. You can get a sense of what's happening, like compared to what Laura shot. And when she starts talking and says, "You do it. You make a face." That's exactly what 60 Minutes decided to air. So ... And that's never the way she paints. Well, excuse me, that is the way she paints when she's playing and having her way with me. So it's kind of funny. She says funny things all the time, but when you're on camera, forget about it.

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For all we know, it's true, but it's not. So it's kind of funny. But that's ... I don't want this documentary to be about 60 Minutes. Although it seems like everybody wants to talk about 60 Minutes. But I'm not.

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Because I don't talk about it ever until you guys are around.

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[To Laura on the phone] They got the footage they needed. She's telling me to do a face on it, and telling me to paint on the painting and stuff like that. All the stuff you love. She was just saying, "You do it." But I wasn't asking her to do anything. She was just being silly.
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Re: Excerpt from "My Kid Could Paint That," directed by Amir

Postby admin » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:11 pm

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[Amir Bar-Lev] I have something I want to say, first of all, which is this. Putting you guys in this situation is painful for me. But, okay, basically what it comes down to, just to be 100% candid, is that, to me, if Mark helped a little bit here and there, in some way, I could see that explaining what really went on, if you had to explain the complexity of just like ... Yeah, occasionally, like, I'll say, "Hey, how about a little bit over here?" Or whatever. I'm not putting words in your mouth, but it would be really hard to explain on the stage of The Jane Pauley Show. "Do you help her at all?" Whatever, it's easier to just say no. And I mean, I don't know. Am I completely off base?

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] I think so. I mean, I think it's wrong.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] I mean, all I can think about is when she started. You know? And this was a lot of the interviews in the beginning, "Did you have any real help or influence?" I said, "I'm pretty much her assistant." I used to tell her not to push the brush, but to pull it. So I mean, was that the type of stuff that had happened.

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There's that small element, but from a direction standpoint, how do you direct a child to make a crazy abstract painting? You can't really do it. You know? Had I had some kind of influence, all the paintings would go pretty quickly, but there are some that just sit there.

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] What do you mean?

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Like the painting that she has in there. If she wants to do it, she'll do it.

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] I didn't know quite what you meant by, "All the paintings would go pretty quickly."
[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] If I said, "Marla, why don't you do this?" Or, "Marla, this is a great idea," then, first of all, she probably wouldn't ...

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] I would never, ever, I mean especially ... At the beginning it wasn't even in our thoughts or in our minds. But I would never, ever, ever ...

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allow him to influence her. You know what I mean? [To Mark] What?

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] That's very true. You can only get a glimpse of that, but there's no ... Laura has been adamant about that.

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She's been adamant about that prior, well prior, to any of this becoming the deal that it is.

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[Amir Bar-Lev] I guess I feel as though some of the paintings seem to have big ideas. You know, big, kind of, adult-type ideas. And then, the footage that we've gotten, it just doesn't make it seem like that's how she paints.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] We did that one. Ocean is start to finish.

[Amir Bar-Lev] I think the feeling I had is that Ocean, and the other one that was done on 60 Minutes, that some of them look like they have more polish than others.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] I don't think Ocean shows less polish. But I don't know what polish is, either.

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] I thought Ocean, some of the things she did in Ocean, were really, really great. Some of the ways she did. And I'm naive or I'm just ... I don't know. I'm not an art expert, by any means.

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] It's not about art to me, though. It's about my family's reputation.

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I need you to believe me. I mean, that's what I'm after. I want to take a polygraph.

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I do. I want to get this done. I never want to revisit it again in my life. And I don't think I would ever allow someone ...

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to come in and dissect us again. I really don't. It's just not fair to ... You know what? It was ... Mark and I are adults and we can handle it. It's so unfair of us to put our family, as a whole, up to this. What have I done to my children? Putting them through this?

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What kills me is we put ourselves here. You know?

[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] We did it again.

[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] It's so stupid.

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] Right.

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I don't think we're stupid. A bit naive.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] [Crying] I never cry.

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[Mark Olmstead, Marla's father] I know.

[Amir Bar-Lev] I'm sorry that I brought this into your house.

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[Laura Olmstead, Marla's mother] It's documentary gold.

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