SPOILER ALERT: This story contains minor spoilers for “The History of Concrete,” now in theaters. John Wilson’s new documentary “The History of Concrete” is, of course, about the history of concrete. But it’s also about selling a documentary titled “The History of Concrete,” which, it turns out, is almost as hard as concrete.
It sees the filmmaker, best known for his HBO series “How To,” traveling across the world — to concrete conventions in Las Vegas and New Orleans, to ancient buildings in Italy and to graves in undisclosed locations. But he also documents the Zoom meetings in between, where he pitches the idea to Hollywood executives and tells them the film’s title. Underneath their deep sighs, you can almost hear them mutter: Who wants to watch a movie called “The History of Concrete”?
And I wanted to make something that another filmmaker could learn something from, about how things are produced, because that was always a mystery to me growing up.” Of course, it’s not all slabs of rock. Wilson finds humanity in the cracks of “The History of Concrete,” letting his camera guide him toward a professional “gum buster,” a grieving local musician and dozens of other fascinating characters. It is perhaps the filmmaker’s most substantial — and heart-forward — work to date.
In terms of the money, we were asking for what a Netflix documentary would cost. Our budget ask was also scaled to what “How To” would cost, so I didn’t think we were being that outrageous. The struggle is actually a lot more real than what’s on screen in the film.
I just didn’t want to weigh it down with more struggle. People laugh when they hear the title, but you laugh knowing that the movie is done. It’s a lot different when someone is asking you directly for money to make this thing that doesn’t exist yet.
Would you give your own money to make “The History of Concrete”? Even if it’s me, I don’t know. It’s a strange proposition.
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