GRACIE OTTO: ON THE LAST IMPRESARIO

December 23, 2015

The Ottos seem to have more talent spread between them than seems fair for an entire family. Having grown up watching generations of them bringing life to some of Australia’s best loved film and television characters, their name is both hugely familiar but has so far remained beautifully untainted by tabloid celebrity.

Gracie Otto is one of the youngest in the clan and (having spent many years earning critical acclaim for her work as a director and editor) now seems to be gaining the kind of widespread attention that will introduce a new generation to Otto expertise.

We were lucky enough to spend some time with the her after a mutual friend put us in touch. We spent a Saturday just playing with her look (thanks to Lauren McCowan from Cloud Nine), taking her photo and generally just talking about the business of creating.

There’s was no pretense or media trained dulling making things all awkward. She happily shared anecdotes from email exchanges with legendary directors, to down-to-earth stories of crowd-funding initiatives to help finish her latest project.

We imagine that this is thanks to her growing up traversing the cultural landscapes of Sydney’s somewhat gritty inner west as well as the more art directed sidewalks of Paris. But that’s just a really long way of saying she’s stylish but very easy going.

At the time we were discussing the music for her highly anticipated documentary, THE LAST IMPRESARIO, about British film producer Michael ‘Chalky’ White. Michael is arguably responsible for the career breakthroughs of Hollywood’s biggest names (including interviews with longtime friends Naomi Watts, Anna Wintour and Kate Moss) and Gracie spent the last two years interviewing an assembly of Hollywood heavyweights in order to shine a light on his incredible work. It looks to be a very moving story and one we can’t wait to see.

“I first met (producer) Michael White at a party at Cannes. At the time I had no idea of the importance of his legacy, he was just the coolest 75 year old I’d ever met.”

“He invited me to a dinner where the other guests were Mick Jagger, Colin Firth, Naomi Watts and Dennis Hopper. I Googled him and realised he was the producer of Rocky Horror and Monty Python but it was mainly through my family’s theatre background that I finally understood what an amazing impresario he has been over the past half century.”

“I believe it is important that my generation understand and appreciate his work.”

“The biggest challenge was my own lack of understanding of Michael’s place in history – I think I was out of my depth at some of the early interviews. The fact that I was a 22 year old Australian blonde also wasn’t great for my credibility. But after I got a few “big names” involved I became more confident.”

“People like Naomi Watts and Robert Fox have been incredibly supportive and helped with introductions to Kate Moss and Anna Wintour. Once the momentum gathered then I had people approaching me wanting to be part of it.”