Q&A with David Anspaugh

Born in Decatur, Ind., director David Anspaugh is a Hoosier to the core.  ¶ After graduating from IU in 1970, Anspaugh moved to the West Coast to dedicate his life to filmmaking. After honing his skills on shows such as “Hill Street Blues” and “Miami Vice,” Anspaugh came home to direct two of our most beloved sports movies, “Hoosiers” and “Rudy.” ¶ Anspaugh chatted with WEEKEND about life at IU, what it means to be a Hoosier filmmaker, working with Sean Astin and, unfortunately, not working with Bobby Knight.

WEEKEND: Were there any moments at IU that pushed you to film?
DAVID ANSPAUGH: My first introduction academically to film was at IU. They offered a course in comparative literature — I think called film in society. In addition to the class, they screened a lot of movies, at least once a week. We were also encouraged to go to screenings outside of class. I was introduced to a lot of foreign films that I had never seen growing up in Decatur.
The Von Lee was really the first art/film house that I had ever really been to. Also, my first legitimate movie camera was bought on Kirkwood at the camera store. I made my first two real movies at IU. It all began right there in Bloomington.
WK: What was your experience like working on “Hill Street Blues?”
DA: Hill Street gave us all careers, whether we were writers, directors, actors or producers. I mean, we took home every prize for, like, three years in a row. We all took off from there. But I never ever could have made Hoosiers without having worked on those shows because it was really, really hard work. You really had to learn to think on your feet and improvise.
WK: After working so hard on television, why switch to a feature-length sports movie back in your home state?
DA: Why not? (laughs) Are you kidding? That was a dream of ours. The whole idea, the seed of that movie, was planted at IU. Angelo (Pizzo, writer) and I were housemates and sitting around late one night like college kids do, waxing on about “Wouldn’t it be cool if we made a movie about Milan High School?” And 18 years later, we did it.
WK: How important was it to you to shoot “Hoosiers” in Indiana?
DA: The company wanted to shoot “Hoosiers” in Canada, something I obviously was able to fight back. It was the faces in the crowd and the way the people reacted to basketball that is part of their DNA. You capture that on film, and film doesn’t lie. Those people weren’t acting. Whether it was the high school kids or the adults, the way they were cheering and reacting to what was going on down on the floor, they’d been doing that their whole lives.
WK: What was it like shooting a movie in your home state?
DA: For Angelo and I both, we were most concerned with the film being embraced by the people of Indiana because we made it with all the love and respect and our own personal experiences, and we just hoped that it translated. Fortunately, it did, and it had so much to do with the people that worked on the movie for the love of it and the pride. And it was a real special experience.
WK: How quickly did you decide after “Hoosiers” to come back and make “Rudy,” another sports film in Indiana?
DA: After “Hoosiers,” I did a movie called “Fresh Horses,” and that was (pause) not successful at the box office. That was a bitter pill to have a movie as successful as “Hoosiers,” then get hit with the sophomore jinx. I needed something to get me back in the saddle again, and so the third movie was “Rudy.”
WK: People like Coach Dan Devine and Joe Montana have said the scene in which the players lay their jerseys across the coach’s desk so Rudy can play was fabricated. Why did you include it in the movie?
DA: The thing about “Rudy,” and with all movies based on true stories, I don’t care who it is or what the subject matter is; when you’re doing a true story, you are also making a movie, and a certain percentage of it has to be embellished. Otherwise, you’re just making a documentary. We wrote the scene in the spirit of the truth.
WK: How did you prepare to make to make the game footage look as authentic as possible?
DA: We rehearsed for weeks so we could shoot all that at half-time of a Notre Dame game. I looked at old photographs. I even had Rudy take me out on (the) field and walk through everything. Then I watched old game footage to make sure everything was right.
You see Rudy line up and make that tackle exactly the way Sean (Astin) did in the movie. I mean, you literally could overlay those two pieces of film, and they are almost identical. I was really proud of that.
WK: What kind of dedication did Sean Astin bring to portraying Rudy?
DA: Completely and totally. Sean is an amazing actor and just a wonderful human being. We’re still good friends today, and our kids even go to the same school.
WK: I’ll let you go after this question: Would you ever consider making a Bobby Knight movie?
DA: (laughs) First of all, he would never allow it, I don’t believe. You know, there are certain people who just didn’t face many obstacles. Coach Knight has always been a brilliant basketball coach, and stuff that movies are made of are against-all-odds stories. He’s left such a great legacy; he doesn’t need a movie about him.
WK: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us here at
WEEKEND.
DA: Give my best to everyone in Bloomington. I miss it, and I love coming there in the fall, so I’m hoping to make it to a football game this season. It’s my favorite place on the planet.