Curly Howard
01-13-2005, 12:54 PM
Tomorrow, January 14 at 9pm ****e TV airs a show called "untold". They will be airing the documentary on Mark Kerr called "Smashing Machine." It aired on HBO recently and tomorrow it airs on ****e TV who really seems to be embracing MMA.
Speaking of HBO, there was an interview with Mark Kerr that didn't get a ton of ink in MMA. Here was part of the interview off the HBO website.
HBO: Why did you make this film?
As a wrestler myself I have always been interested in combat sports. I found it odd that mixed martial arts fighting was wildly popular throughout the world, yet so little was known about it in the U.S. where the majority of fighters live. Our subjects would fly to Japan to fight, where they are huge superstars, and when the fight is over they return home where they remain completely anonomys. I was intrigued with the type of mercenary lifestyle they lead. We were very careful not to make judgements about these peoples lives and profession, we attempted to take a completely objective look into this outlaw world giving the viewer the neccesary information to make their own judgements.
HBO: Why did you select Mark Kerr as the person you would follow?
I've known Mark Kerr for many years, he is soft spoken, intelligent, and articulate. I knew that his inherent contradictions would blow apart the stereotypes that have been formed regarding fighters.
HBO: Mark Kerr gave you guys extraordinary access to his life and thoughts, did he ever express regret about this?
The most amazing part of my filmmakking experience was renting a theatre in Los Angeles and watching the film with Mark for the very first time. At that time we had been finished filming for about two years and he had yet to see even one single frame. I could not imagine seeing a year and a half of my life played back for me in a 90 minute format. Needless to say he was very emotional and completely blown away. Mark has never expressed any regret about the content of the film. I feel there is something very noble in opening yourself up to the extent that Mark did, he is truly an amazing person.
HBO: Did you learn something from Mark Kerr's story?
You can have the world at your finger tips, but if you are not emotionally equipped to deal with that success the results can be devastating. And I also learned that there are alot of people out there that can kick my ass!
HBO: Some people detest "no-holds barred" fighting, calling it barbaric and inhumane, how do you respond?
Barbaric, certainly. Inhumane I would not agree with. Nobody is forcing these guys to do what they do for a living, they do it because they want to. Mixed martial arts received a bad reputation early on because of poor marketing in early promotions. To draw viewers they played up the blood and guts, and portrayed the sport as a bar room brawl, this is something that fight promoters in this country are still trying to rectify. If you look at statistics both football and boxing are far more dangerous than mixed martial arts. There have been many attempts to squash this type of fighting in the past and they all have been unsuccessful. I believe there is a large group of people out there that feel the need to embrace the darker side of human nature, and personally I feel they have every right to do that.
HBO: What was the most difficult part of the filmmaking process?
Our largest hurdle was in the editing room. For starters the sheer mass of footage was quite overwhelming. We shot nearly five hundred hours over a year and a half, and whittling that down to 90 minutes proved to be the equivalent of climbing mount Everest. As far as content we battled with finding the right mixture of infomation and verite to allow the viewer to follow the story without boring them with tons of exposition.
HBO: What was your experience in film before this project?
I had done some acting in films awhile back, but I was always looking for the opportunity to jump to the other side. When I came up with the idea and began developing this project I felt confident that this was the vehicle that would take me to the next level. It was a long hard road, but I am thrilled with the final product.
HBO: What is Mark up to now?
Mark is currently living in Scottsdale, Arizona and has officially retired from the world of mixed martial arts competition.
Speaking of HBO, there was an interview with Mark Kerr that didn't get a ton of ink in MMA. Here was part of the interview off the HBO website.
HBO: Why did you make this film?
As a wrestler myself I have always been interested in combat sports. I found it odd that mixed martial arts fighting was wildly popular throughout the world, yet so little was known about it in the U.S. where the majority of fighters live. Our subjects would fly to Japan to fight, where they are huge superstars, and when the fight is over they return home where they remain completely anonomys. I was intrigued with the type of mercenary lifestyle they lead. We were very careful not to make judgements about these peoples lives and profession, we attempted to take a completely objective look into this outlaw world giving the viewer the neccesary information to make their own judgements.
HBO: Why did you select Mark Kerr as the person you would follow?
I've known Mark Kerr for many years, he is soft spoken, intelligent, and articulate. I knew that his inherent contradictions would blow apart the stereotypes that have been formed regarding fighters.
HBO: Mark Kerr gave you guys extraordinary access to his life and thoughts, did he ever express regret about this?
The most amazing part of my filmmakking experience was renting a theatre in Los Angeles and watching the film with Mark for the very first time. At that time we had been finished filming for about two years and he had yet to see even one single frame. I could not imagine seeing a year and a half of my life played back for me in a 90 minute format. Needless to say he was very emotional and completely blown away. Mark has never expressed any regret about the content of the film. I feel there is something very noble in opening yourself up to the extent that Mark did, he is truly an amazing person.
HBO: Did you learn something from Mark Kerr's story?
You can have the world at your finger tips, but if you are not emotionally equipped to deal with that success the results can be devastating. And I also learned that there are alot of people out there that can kick my ass!
HBO: Some people detest "no-holds barred" fighting, calling it barbaric and inhumane, how do you respond?
Barbaric, certainly. Inhumane I would not agree with. Nobody is forcing these guys to do what they do for a living, they do it because they want to. Mixed martial arts received a bad reputation early on because of poor marketing in early promotions. To draw viewers they played up the blood and guts, and portrayed the sport as a bar room brawl, this is something that fight promoters in this country are still trying to rectify. If you look at statistics both football and boxing are far more dangerous than mixed martial arts. There have been many attempts to squash this type of fighting in the past and they all have been unsuccessful. I believe there is a large group of people out there that feel the need to embrace the darker side of human nature, and personally I feel they have every right to do that.
HBO: What was the most difficult part of the filmmaking process?
Our largest hurdle was in the editing room. For starters the sheer mass of footage was quite overwhelming. We shot nearly five hundred hours over a year and a half, and whittling that down to 90 minutes proved to be the equivalent of climbing mount Everest. As far as content we battled with finding the right mixture of infomation and verite to allow the viewer to follow the story without boring them with tons of exposition.
HBO: What was your experience in film before this project?
I had done some acting in films awhile back, but I was always looking for the opportunity to jump to the other side. When I came up with the idea and began developing this project I felt confident that this was the vehicle that would take me to the next level. It was a long hard road, but I am thrilled with the final product.
HBO: What is Mark up to now?
Mark is currently living in Scottsdale, Arizona and has officially retired from the world of mixed martial arts competition.