AOL Chat Transcript -- March 2001<P>
************************************

Ben Affleck & Matt Damon chatted with AOL members about their Project
Greenlight contest. See what they had to say below.


Ben Affleck:  Hello? Anyone there? This is me -- any questions?

LiveMCTracy:  Send in those questions, everybody!

Ben Affleck:  Tell em, Tracy! Hee hee.

Ben Affleck:  Can everyone read this? Hi, this is Ben Affleck. I am here to
chat, but only about internet pornography.

LiveMCTracy:  Very nice, Ben! :)

Ben Affleck:  Just kidding. Hey, kids, anyone home? Welcome. You've got
mail.

LiveMCTracy:  AOL Live is pleased to have Academy Award-winning screenwriter
Ben Affleck join us!

Ben Affleck:  Hello, here I am.

LiveMCTracy:  Matt Damon should be here shortly!

Ben Affleck:  He's on his way.

LiveMCTracy:  Everyone wants to know more about Project Greenlight. Can you
give us a little background about the project and how it got started?

Ben Affleck:  The project got started with an idea from Miramax. They wanted
to run a screenplay contest. We were starting our company, LivePlanet, and
we
realized it was a perfect fit. So we overhauled the idea, gave it a Web
component, and got HBO to agree to broadcast a 13-hour documentary about the
making of the whole thing. Matt and I recognized that many people's interest
in "Good Will Hunting" came from the backstory of us as writers and how we
got the movie made. We thought it would be not only interesting but
karmically appropriate if we helped to do the same for someone else.

Question:  How do you feel about the direction the PGL message boards have
taken? Do you feel as if the users have diverted from the initial purpose of
the site?

Ben Affleck:  We wanted to create a community of writers and would-be
filmmakers who were interested in sharing ideas with people of similar
interests across the country whom they might not have access to otherwise.
In
that sense, whatever people do on the site, in their community, is their
business. Part of our model is not to dictate to people what content they
would like (or we think they would like), but to allow folks to create their
own. In that sense, it's been a smashing success.

LiveMCTracy:  So 10,000 screenplays were narrowed down by members to three
screenplays. How does the big winner get picked?

Ben Affleck:  By a committee that includes Matt and I, Chris Moore
(producer)
and some Miramax folks.

Question:  Why was the decision made to give an individual the chance to
write a script?

Ben Affleck:  Well, that was the nature of the contest. We believed that all
the talented writers out there were not solely concentrated in LA. We
thought
there must be very talented people out in America who lacked the means, the
connections, to get their script read.

LiveMCTracy:  Octnotes wants to know, when are you two planning on writing
your next script together?

Matt Damon:  This summer.

LiveMCTracy:  TedFilm wants to know which scenes in "Good Will Hunting" were
shot in Boston and which were in Canada.

Ben Affleck: Basically all of the exteriors were shot in Boston. The
interiors were shot in Canada.

Ben Affleck:  Here I am -- sorry, my computer crashed.

LiveMCTracy:  Are you sad that "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" will be the
last Jay and Silent Bob movie?

Ben Affleck:  No, not really. I think it's time for Kevin to move on, though
I don't believe it is really the last one.

LiveMCTracy:  How many people make up Project Greenlight?

Ben Affleck:  We have around 45 employees at LivePlanet but the production
team at PGL is around 20.

Question:  When will the next Project Greenlight competition be announced?

Ben Affleck:  As soon as we get the "green light" ourselves. We'll have to
make this one work for all our partners and make this a success.

Question:  Both of you seem like the greatest friends...do you seriously
hang
out together all of the time, or is it just one of those media things?

Ben Affleck:  We hang out as much as we get time to. Here he is, in fact.
Matt just walked in. Matt is my hetero lifemate.

LiveMCTracy:  Welcome, Matt Damon!

LiveMCTracy:  We'd love to know your Oscar picks -- best movie, screenplay,
actor, etc.

Ben Affleck:  Me or Matt?

LiveMCTracy:  Both please.

Matt Damon:  I was out of the country all year, so I haven't seen all of the
movies, but I love "Crouching Tiger" and "Traffic."

Ben Affleck:  My favorite movie was "Traffic," although I very much liked
"Snatch," "All the Pretty Horses" and a little picture called "Bounce,"
though none were nominated, tragically.

Question:  Dear Matt and Ben, between you, who is the funny one and who
"thinks" he's the funny one? :-)

Matt Damon:  I definately think I'm the funny one.

Ben Affleck:  I am the gay one.

LiveMCTracy:  What is the status of LivePlanet's reality show "Runner"?

Ben Affleck:  "Runner" just got greenlit. It will air this summer. We are
putting togther a very exciting show, but we can't say much about it yet.
Suffice it to say that it will be smart and classier than the current tawdry
marry-a-millionaire-fare. It'll be the kind of show we would like to watch.

LiveMCTracy:  The "Pearl Harbor" trailer kicks butt, and the film is already
getting Oscar buzz. Ben, will you take your mom again to the Oscars if you
get nominated?

Matt Damon:  I'll take his mom.

Ben Affleck:  That about answers the question about who the funny one is.

Question:  How did you get into acting? College? Private school? Another
actor?

Ben Affleck:  Matt went to theater workshops at Wheelock College when he was
a lad. To me, it seemed a better alternative to hustling on the street,
though not much did.

Question:  How does one become an Oscar-winning screenwriter? Are you guys
planning a followup to "Good Will Hunting" anytime soon?

Ben Affleck:  We never had an answer to that question that was satisfactory.
That is one of the reasons we started PGL, so people could get their feet in
the door.

Question:  How does the new project work for someone who is a writer, but in
novel form?

Ben Affleck:  It doesn't. Its a screenplay contest. Although the idea of
expanding it to books is a good one -- maybe next year.

LiveMCTracy:  How did you guys get to be such techies?

Ben Affleck:  Not really techies, just video game junkies, so technical
proficiency was a necessity, particularly early on in the evolution of the
PC
and the Web.

Question:  Does Project Greenlight help spur ideas and talent, like what you
and Matt did for "Good Will Hunting"?

Ben Affleck:  We don't give people ideas; we give them a chance to share
their ideas with others, receive feedback and get exposure.

Question:  When will the [Project Greenlight] winner be chosen?

Ben Affleck:  Wednesday.

Question:  For those of us who only want to be writers, would you ever
consider directing future Greenlight winners?

Ben Affleck:  We have a system whereby you can partner with a director on
PGL
if you only want to write, so you dont HAVE to direct. It's a choice.

Question:  Ben, what kind of movies are people looking for today, or is it
all up for grabs? -- NanGarlan. Thanks, Ben!

Ben Affleck:  Good one. I guess there is no particular genre that I can
think
of as being more popular than another. Most people want to find something
that is well executed and moving, I suppose.

Question:  I'm curious -- when you look over potential scripts to see which
ones appeal for Project Greenlight, what most catches your eye? Strong plot,
good character development, interesting concept? Is any one factor more
important, in your eyes?

Matt Damon:  Unfortunately, all of the above. That's what makes writing a
screenplay so challenging.

Question:  Matt, you are a major all-American hottie. Do you see yourself as
a role model for younger people who want to do something in the
entertainment
field?

Matt Damon:  Is that why Ben is grabbing my butt right now? I never
considered myself much of a role model. I think people can probably do a
little better, but Ben and I take what we do very seriously and work hard at
it.

Question:  What helped you write "Good Will Hunting" with Matt? What
inspirations did you guys look to?

Matt Damon:  It was a lot of experiences in our own lives that really
helped,
so whenever we were looking for a yardstick to measure the reality, for
realness of what we were doing, we fell back on anecdotes from our own lives
or our friends' lives.

Question:  What movie did you enjoy working on the best? For example, which
made you feel you really made a contribution to society?

Ben Affleck:  I'm not sure movies make a contribution larger than to move
and
entertain. And that is a subjective issue. Some movies move certain people
more and others less. You try just as hard with each one and hope people are
affected by it in some way, large or small.

Question:  What has been your biggest challenge being an actor today?--
NanGarlan

Matt Damon:  Finding good scripts.

Question:  What's the impact of the likely SAG strike going to be for both
of
you? And what's up with big actors falling all over themselves to squeeze in
as many movies as they can before the deadline?

Ben Affleck:  I think people want to work and are afraid that the strike may
take place and may last. No one wants a work stoppage, but I think every
actor wants to act, so it makes sense that you'd see a wholesale migration
to
working right now. Everyone figures they'll have a long vacation afterward.

Question:  How did you come up with the idea for Project Greenlight? Love
you
both!

Ben Affleck:  The idea came from Miramax for a screenplay contest. They
brought it to us and we tailored it to fit our model at LivePlanet, where we
try to integrate new media, old media and the physical world. So we
customized it as best we could, though we have plenty of modifications for
next year. This was really experimental.

Question:  Ben/Matt -- any of you ever hit at Fenway? And if so, hit any
out?

Matt Damon:  I hit one off the wall.

Ben Affleck:  I've never had the chance.

Question:  Hey, Ben, how would you feel about having Pedro Martinez play a
cameo in the movie? That would be a MAJOR plus for all us Bostonians.

Ben Affleck:  I think I speak for both of us when I say Pedro can do just
about anything he wants.

LiveMCTracy:  What's in store for Greenlight's big winner? What happens
after
Wednesday?

Ben Affleck:  He/she has the daunting task of trying to make their movie --
i.e., the real work begins, and we begin filming the documentary.

Question:  Was anything edited out or added to the recent ABC showing of
"Good Will Hunting"?

Matt Damon:  Just about every word that began with 'F.'

Ben Affleck:  143 swears, I think, and several more "innapropriate gestures.

Question:  Are you going to the Greenlight party?

Ben Affleck:  Yeah, we'll be there. You guys should log onto LivePlanet.com.
Thats where we'll be chatting later.

LiveMCTracy:  How many scripts did you all read personally?

Ben Affleck:  I do 30 scripts.

LiveMCTracy:  That's it?

Matt Damon:  They wouldn't let us read any more.

Ben Affleck:  We were legally barred from reading any more.

Question:  Hey! My name is Tracy. How was it filming "Pearl Harbor"?

Ben Affleck:  It was fun, exciting, fantastic, enervating, tiring, but good
-- Im out of superlatives.

LiveMCTracy:  Are there any other projects you all would like to tell your
fans about?

Ben Affleck:  Greenlight is the big one for now. It will air on HBO later
this year and should be terrific. You can keep up with all the goings-on at
liveplanet.com, the best site on the Web.

Question:  What would be the best advice you could give to someone who is
interested in being a professional performer like yourself?

Ben Affleck:  Its free. Also, start doing it. There is plenty of theater and
independent as well as student film work in every major city in the US.
Build
a resume before taking New York or LA by storm, so youll have more
experience, confidence and a body of work to set you apart from the masses.

LiveMCTracy:  What interview question do you get all the time that you hate?

Ben Affleck:  "How'd you get into acting?" There is no short answer.
Everyone's story is different, and its frustrating, because we can tell
people are looking for a way in, and we can't give them one.

Ben Affleck:  As a final comment, we'd like to thank AOL and everyone here.
Please keep up with this experiment at projectgreenlight.com or
liveplanet.com. If you are interested in movies and possibly working in that
arena, we hope this will be the best education you could get, short of
coming
out here and working on one yourself. The site is designed for optimum
interactivity, and there is a large community in place who can undoubtedly
help you or answer questions. In addition, Matt and I come by all the time
and post messages, chat, etc. All of the goings-on from the making of the
movie will be updated regularly at projectgreenlight.com and will be there
exculsively, so come by and check out the progress.

Ben Affleck:  Thanks for you interest. We hope this serves to help and
educate those who would consider doing this for a living, but aren't sure
what it really entails. Thats why we started this thing and have put so much
work into it. It sure wasnt for the money. Thanks and good night.

LiveMCTracy: Matt, would you like to add anything?

Matt Damon:  Ben said it all when he said that. I think my erudite friend
stumped me again.

LiveMCTracy:  Thank you, Matt and Ben, for joining us this evening, and also
for giving everyone a shot at discovery with Project Greenlight.

LiveMCTracy:  Good night, everybody!

Copyright 2001 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Portions of this transcript may be edited by AOL to correct spelling,
punctuation and/or remove any material that violates AOL's Terms of Service.