By RAY KELLY
Two years after plans to complete the late Orson Welles’ unfinished The Other Side of the Wind were trumpeted on the front page of The New York Times, the film’s negative remains unedited and locked away in a laboratory outside Paris.
Complex negotiations to overcome obstacles/challenges that emerged after that announcement have continued to drag on. The parties involved have been tight-lipped about those talks, which involve the global streaming giant Netflix.
Producer Filip Jan Rymsza did not respond to requests for comment on the ongoing talks with Netflix and Welles’ companion Oja Kodar, who co-owns the rights to the film.
Asked for a progress report, Sasha Welles, Kodar’s nephew and representative in the negotiations, merely confirmed that talks are ongoing, saying “I will continue and try to get this film released.”
Silence, rather than finger-pointing over delays, may be a sign that an agreement is near – or at the very least both sides are fully immersed in serious negotiations.
A quick recap for those who came in late:
- On Oct. 29, 2014, Rymsza revealed he had seemingly done the impossible: He acquired the partial ownership rights once held by Mehdi Boushehri; reached an agreement with Kodar, the other rights holder; secured the blessing of the Welles estate, headed by the late director’s youngest daughter, Beatrice; and partnered with blockbuster producer Frank Marshall, who worked as a line producer on the original shoot 40 years ago. The completed film would debut the following year.
- But, the relationship between Rymsza and Kodar soon soured. Kodar reportedly balked at having the negative inspected by a third party, a condition that had to be met in order to trigger her payment. Her camp disputes that account and viewed Rymsza’s non-payment as a breach of contract. Furthermore, Rymsza and Marshall could not find a suitable distributor to raise the balance of the financing for the film’s completion.
- The producers launched an ill-fated crowdfunding campaign in May 2015 to raise money to edit the footage. While it failed to meet its $2 million goal, the Indiegogo campaign did reap $406,405 in donations from fans.
- Last April, Wellesnet broke the news that Netflix was interested in distributing the film worldwide. Netflix had partnered with Marshall and Rymsza in the summer of 2015. With Netflix onboard, fans logically assumed that things would now go rather smoothly. After all, Netflix not only has deep pockets but a track record of hammering out far bigger deals than this over lunch. Sadly, for reasons not fully known, that has not been the case with The Other Side of the Wind.
While Wellesians have waited with bated breath for The Other Side of the Wind., neither Marshall nor Rymsza has put his life on hold during contract talks. Marshall has reveled in the success of Jurassic World, Jason Bourne and Sully, while Rymsza is producing Valley of the Gods starring Josh Hartnett, John Malkovich and Charlotte Rampling.
A veteran Wellesnetter, disgusted with the lack of progress, recently quipped that a Donald Trump presidency was more probable than the completion of The Other Side of the Wind. The disappointment and resentment among fans is understandable.
As for me, I struggle to remain optimistic that Rymsza, Marshall, Netflix and Kodar can work together to bring Welles’ film to completion.
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