 Mike Kaplan, producer of The Whales of August, is in Maine to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film, which was filmed on Cliff Island. Leslie had a chance to talk with Mike about the film and the celebration. So Mike, I've seen The Whales of August twice, once when it first came out and once a couple of years ago, a little more since I started spending a lot of time on Cliff Island. It's an interesting movie. I really like the movie. And it's not just because it was filmed in Maine. But what got you involved in it? Why did you decide this was a film you had to work on? Well, the genesis of it was really meeting Lillian Gish, and I had met her in 1968, and I think I always loved to work, although I wasn't always aware of it. And I met her, and she was the most amazing human being. She was just enchanting and intellectually stimulating and curious. And cute as a button. Cute as a button. And whenever I left having lunch with her, meeting with her, I always felt high. And I wanted her persona to be presented to a contemporary audience, because she hadn't really made a major sound film since Night of the Hunter. And so I kept on searching for a property. I talked to her about it, and she said, well, if there's something that comes along that works, you know what, I'll do it. And there were various projects that didn't take, and then I saw this play, The Whales of August, in Providence, at the Trinity Square Playhouse, where I'm from, visiting my parents. It was the last weekend. There was a little piece about it in the newspaper. I read it, went to see the play, and I said, this is it. I mean, this is the perfect role for her, and actually for Betty Davis as well. And even though it was a play, I could see how it could be visually beautiful because of me. And I met David Berry, the writer, who summited Peaks Island, and that's how it happened. And then, seven years later, I got the money, and from Alive, and we were able to make the film. And of course, it's set here in Casca Bay and on the coast. Now, the writer is from Peaks Island, so he knew of Casca Bay, and you decided Maine would be the place. Well, we went to the location where it was set. We did a location scout. We stayed over David's parents, how they had passed away on Peaks. Looked at Peaks. Peaks wasn't right because it was too crowded, and you needed enough of a surround to get it to be visually beautiful. And so we took a boat trip. We went to, I think, Shabig first, and then we were great diamond, and then we went around the islands, and we were coming up to Cliff. And I wanted the house in my mind to always be as distinctive. What I had in mind was a house in Giant. I don't know if people remember Giant, the great George Stevens movie. And the house pops to mind when you… Popped right out of the desert, making a film about that subject right now. And then I saw the house, and that's exactly what I thought of. And we went around to the Cove. I think Chester drove us to the house, and we met the Pitkins. And you knew this was the spot. And this was it. It's ideal. It is ideal. And it gives you that sense of isolation and remoteness that the people are different. This is going too fast, but how were you received by the island people? How did it change their lives? How did it change your life? Well, the movies changed my life because it's kind of like my childhood movie. And the people on the island were extremely receptive. I think they were a little wary in the beginning, even Carolyn Pitkin and Frank had told people about it. And he said, who's going to make a movie with Betty Davis and Lillian Gish now? I mean, they're pulling your leg. But Carolyn and I in particular had a lot of things in common. And there were books that we both knew about which were kind of a little esoteric. So we hit it off right away. And the people on the island were terrific. And I remember I came back. Everything was set. And they had to have one final vote in the town hall, which had flew in from New York and told them what was going to happen. And they all participated. And I wanted to bring the community into the movie. And so they were all invited to dailies. Whoever wanted to see the dailies every night could come to the town hall and see it, which is something that I learned from Robert Altman, who I worked with for many years. And who created a fantastic atmosphere. And every night was sort of a party after shooting, after the vigorous taxing days of shooting. You went to dailies and there was a spread out there and everyone could see their work. It's so cool. Well, I know that it's so important to the island that that movie was there. It did change many things. And Maine is now becoming more of a place to shoot films. Good. But back then it wasn't so. So for us it's a very important film, those of us in the state. And I wish you well with reintroducing it on the 25th anniversary to the rest of the world. All right, well, thank you. Well, maybe I'll tell us all the story next. Well, thank you for being here today. My pleasure.