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Truly Indie and Magnolia
Image from “Dumbstruck”

Mark Goffman is an executive producer of the hit USA show “White Collar.” He is also the director of “Dumbstruck,” a new documentary about five ventriloquists, including the now-hugely successful Terry Fator, all trying to make it in America. The film opens in New York and Washington D.C. this weekend and expands throughout the country in the coming weeks. Mr. Goffman spoke about the genesis of the film and about the state of ventriloquism in the U.S.A.

Where did you get the idea for the movie?

Mark Goffman: When my wife and I got married, her mom was asked to give a toast. Her mom is shy and instead of giving a traditional toast, she spoke from a white satin glove sock puppet. After I got over the initial shock, the toast was witty and funny and endearing and a completely different personality I’d ever heard from my mother-in-law. In addition to wondering what kind of family I’d married into it., it made me think there might be a movie there.

Had you seen her use puppets before?

I had seen her do it the very first time I met her. She told us she was doing it to keep her second grade kids engaged. The kids would listen to the puppet whereas they didn’t listen to the teacher. Then she told us she went to a convention with 500 other ventriloquists. It sounded like something out of a Christopher Guest film. I became enchanted by the whole world. I work in Hollywood as a writer and it can be pretty tough to earn a living in mainstream entertainment What’s that world like when you’re a ventriloquist?

So you went to the convention?

Yes, with my wife, Lindsay, in 2007. I brought a DP, a camera operator and a sound person. We interviewed as many ventriloquists as we could. After being there for a couple a days what interested us wasn’t just the convention but what life is like for them when they’re not at the convention.

What were some of the bigger challenges of making the movie?

Apparently a lot of pornography is shot on cruise ships. I think it’s because they get access to great locations and they can shoot nice blue skies and the oceans and then do their business in the cabins. We were on a cruise with one of our subjects, Kim Yeager, a former Miss Ohio who is very attractive. We were walking around the ship with our camera, and the cruise director thought we were directing a porn. I don’t know what kind of porn he thought Kim was in with her puppet, but I almost got left behind in the Bahamas.

What’s the biggest different between making a doc and writing for television?

In scriptwriting, I have control over how their story ends. After a year of filming, “Dumbstruck” didn’t get to a satisfying ending. Ultimately we shot for three years. What I found in talking to a lot of documentary filmmakers is it’s actually not that long. Seven or eight years is par for the course.

What can we expect from the next season of ‘White Collar’ when it returns in June?

We left the last season giving Neal one of the largest treasures never recovered. The first thing we’ve got to do is he’s got to figure out is what he’s going to do with that. How is he going to maintain working as an FBI consultant and how is he going to deal with withholding this information or sharing it? We’re also looking to have more fun with New York City.

Did you try your hand at ventriloquism?

Being a good ventriloquist is incredibly hard. These puppets are like instruments that can cost upwards of $20,000. There’s a lot to control. In addition, you have to come up with a funny voice, and then not move your lips, and then you have to come up with an act for two people.

So, did you try it?

The ventriloquist Dan Horn gave us a puppet and we’ll goof around with it at home but I would never try to go pro. He’s a bald old man named Gary. We use it to entertain our one year old. He seems fascinated by it. I have mixed emotions on whether or not I’ll encourage him to go into the field.

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