With Ben Affleck's great movie The Town getting released this weekend, I was able to sit down with producer Basil Iwanyk at TIFF to discuss not only making the film, but how he got into producing.  He explained that he was originally an executive that helped decide what projects got made.  However, upon realizing that he was more interested in making movies, he changed careers.  It's an interesting story as most would be happy as an executive.

Anyway, during the interview we also discussed the challenges of making The Town, and Iwanyk revealed the editing process on the film was challenging and there are plenty of deleted scenes.  In fact, so much was cut, he revealed we'll be getting an extended cut on DVD/Blu-ray with 15 to 20 minutes of additional footage.  Also, if you're a fan of alternate endings, we'll be getting one of those as well.  Hit the jump for a lot more:

Before watching the interview, know that towards the very end of the interview we discuss the ending of The Town.  Just know before you get to the 9:30 mark you might want to be careful…

Finally, if you missed what Iwanyk said about Clash of the Titans 2 and the remake of A Star is Born, click here.

Basil Iwanyk

  • How did he get into producing. Explains how he used to be an executive and how he switched into being a producer
  • 2:40 - How by being an executive he can help a project move along as he knows their concerns and fears
  • 4:10 - How challenging was it to make The Town for the money they had
  • 6:30 - Deleted scenes talk. Reveals Ben Affleck's first assembly was 4 hrs. Affleck then cut it down to 2 hr 50 min almost immediately. They then cut it again to get it to 2 hr 18 min then to 2hr 8 min and they were still having an issue with pacing being too slow. Then talks about what else they had to do to make it work.
  • 9:00 - Explains how it took awhile the find the balance between the action, the friendships and the bank robbery stuff
  • 9:40 - What deleted scenes will be on the DVD/Blu-ray? Says they are doing an extended cut with 15 to 20 minutes added in and it was also have a different ending included for people to watch. He also says there will be deleted scenes included on the discs that don't fit into the extended cut.