Today, it was reported that Hollywood legend, actor James Caan has died. He was 82 years old. Mr. Caan is most known for his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather.

In 2010, James Caan was a guest on CYInterview. Mr. Caan talked about a variety of topics including The Godfather with Marlin Brando, Funny Lady with Barbra Streisand and his thoughts on where Hollywood was at that time.

We at CYInterview extend our condolences and prayers to the family and friends of James Caan. He will be remembered for a long time.

You can read the entire transcript or listen to the entire CYInterview below:

Listen to the James Caan CYInterview:

James Caan CYInterview Transcript from 2010:

Chris Yandek: Before we get talk about Open Film, what’s going on in your life? What’s new in the world of James Caan?

James Caan: “What’s new in the world of James Caan?”

CY: “Sure. Yup. Absolutely.”

JC: “Well, my back hurts, my ankle, my shoulders. I’ve had 12 operations. I get up in sections now. Let’s see, yeah, pretty much like if you look at the little pinky, the nail on your right hand, that little pinky nail, that’s the only thing on my body that don’t hurt. So basically that’s what’s going on.

On a serious note, I finished a picture in New York called Henry’s Crime. I just got home I guess the beginning of February, a picture with Keanu Reeves and Vera Farmiga and you know, kind of a fun little picture. Right now just talking to different people to see who might give me a job.”

CY: With Open Film I’d love to know, being from that earlier Era of Hollywood, how do you think and what do you think about how the filmmaking, the production and everything else has changed compared to those earlier decades that you worked in? How Open Film using the online distribution and the online technology?

JC: “I think, you know, years ago when the studios were run by filmmakers whether they were bastards or not was not relevant, but that’s what they did for a living. They made films. I mean Jack Warner, Cohen, Disney all the guys. That was their business. Today we’re dealing with guys who really aren’t filmmakers. They’re corporate heads and they only care about how many butts are in the seats at the end of the day.

So I think that the whole outlook and quality of films are all and all the plots and all this CGI stuff, and the digital is all aimed at an audience that is at least 20 years younger by far than they were 20 years ago. Everything is sort of aimed from to the 14 to the 21 or 23 year old you know. Whereas I believe in the late 70s or through the 70s I think that the scope of all the pictures were just more character driven, more story driven.

Like my parents used to go to the movies. It was a hobby. They’d go Tuesdays and Saturdays or whatever and then go to Chinese food or whatever. It was just a hobby, which a lot of the baby boomers did as well and today they don’t do that. Today they go to a movie. They don’t go to the movies cause the movies, all the movies were pretty good. I think the talent in general was on a whole a little richer – actors, directors, producers and certainly writers.

Today anymore, these, a writer whose in his 50s doesn’t get to work because he’s 50. I found that out when I was talking to a couple of these guys who write for television. They told they’re writing under pseudonyms. I go, what are you talking about? They said, ‘Well, you know, if you’re not 30 they don’t even read your stuff cause they don’t think you connect with the people who are viewing these shows. So I said, ‘You’re telling me a guy like Bill Goldman who whatever he is, 80 something isn’t better than some 25 year old guy that just graduated college?’ I mean, it’s just insane.”

CY: Yeah.

JC: “And the same goes with the directors. So this is sort of a long winded thing, but it’s basically, it’s a great first question because I tried to start something a while ago called Boomer Films and I’m not much of a producer. I like to stay in my trailer, say my lines, go back to my trailer because I realized that the baby boomer market is the largest market out there and I also realize it’s the market with the most disposable income you know, but nothing is made for them. And the only things that are made for them are the independent films.

So now in the full circle I know my son who’s on our board has made some, couple great little films for a million bucks, for two million bucks. One which I think was called Dallas 362. I don’t know if you guys saw it or not. It won the grand prize, but then you gotta deal with distribution. I mean there’s a monopoly on that. So this whole question leads me to why I’m so involved or why I got involved with Open Film. From my perspective, I have these geniuses and I don’t know anything about. That’s the nicest thing I’ll ever say about you Dimitri [Kozko], you geek.

But I have an unbelievable team of technicians who can come up with anything. The quality that they can reproduce on your computer is the exact quality that you shot it in and our launch pad and all our programming material and I mean it’s just mind boggling to me because basically I just learned how to play solitaire on the computer and I thought I was pretty smart.

So in this long winded answer, it’s a goon because it actually defines my kind of lust for this whole operation as to try to find or get back to finding the best talent because I believe this business has nothing but. There is so much luck involved. Too much of a percentage of luck is involved. I’ve met too many talented young people who never had a shot and were never at the right place at the right time. So I don’t know if I answered any of your questions.”

CY: I think you pretty much summed up Open Film in a nutshell.

JC: “Yeah. It was a good first question as I started getting into it because I know one of your questions is why did you get involved.”

CY: Yeah.

JC: “I watched my son go through trying just to make films. Bobby Duval and I are always looking for films and some of the scripts I get like just insane. I mean they’re insane. I mean I’d rather sell pencils.”

CY: So is your motivation in a sense because many of the big studios are looking at the bottom line maybe to hope make some independent films that big studios just wouldn’t invest in? Is that possibly a motivation also?

JC: “Well, look, there’s a huge gap between for example those huge movies the studios are making Avatar, etc, etc. All of these green screen things and by the way, I’m not knocking them. Some of them are fantastic and they’re great and then there’s the home videos and that gap in between. By the way, all our guys who submit to us, they have to meet a certain standard.

That’s a rule with our contest and giving money away and finding maybe if we find two to three great directors a year or two or three great actors then we’ve done something well and when we have a sister company called Open Film Studios, which will co-finance along with they get prize money toward their next project.

And if our boss Mike who runs Open Film Studios likes it, will produce it and hopefully have a good as we go along get, make great relationships with distributors and obviously have a great relationship with all the film festivals which basically is terribly important to independent films you know.”

CY: What do you think about all this digital stuff today that they’re using just to make films?

JC: “I’m an idiot, I mean when it comes to that. I don’t want to be like – there’s some of it that I really enjoy, but it’s just too much of it. I like sometimes to sit back and watch some great performances and watch a great story and the only place I find it now unfortunately except for something like The Hurt Locker or something all of a sudden.”

CY: Well. With Kathryn Bigelow. Well done.

JC: “Just a fantastic film. Excuse me. Whoever that is Honey just tell them will call back. Someone took it. I was talking to my honey.”

CY: Yes. As you were talking about The Hurt Locker.

JC: “Yeah. I’m was saying look, I don’t know how many films are made and to get one or two of those kind of pictures found. Even I thought Jeff [Bridges] was great. I’m not that nuts about the picture, but I thought Jeff was great in Crazy Heart. That started as an independent and those are the ones that get through, but there is a lot more out there that never gets seen.

So at least with us if I’m a filmmaker, a young filmmaker and the reason I can relate to is because like I said, my son writes great, but he’s also a working actor and a director, but I know so many of them who just have great ideas. I’ve seen great short films that they’ve made. They don’t have the ability to get it out there. Now we also have a fan base, not so much a fan base, but a distribution network so to speak of like about 12 million right now around the world.

And if I’m a filmmaker, forget the little bit of money I can make. I think, I believe the most important thing is to get it seen because that’s what you make it for, you know, to get it seen and that’s expanding on a daily basis. We hope that through these contests and will get people involved to see some of the pictures that we select, some of the pictures that Mark Ryde