Bert Schneider

Bert was known for standing up for what he believed in, personally and professionally, no matter what the cost may be. When he won the Oscar for Best Documentary, instead of a speech he read a telegram from the Vietnamese ambassador from the peace talks in Paris. There was a lot of anger from the old guard, including Bob Hope. Tensions were so high a fist fight almost ensued. When making The Last Picture Show, he fought for the film to be in black and white and threatened to not produce the movie unless they agreed. During the shooting of Days of Heaven, directed by Terrance Malick, there was a lot of money and time wasted due to the fact that Mr. Malick insisted that quite a few scenes could only be shot at twilight, the magic hour, wasting a lot of time and money. Bert believed so strongly in his talent that he allowed this to continue until Mr. Malick was satisfied with what he had shot After Bert was able to transport Huey Newton, who was wanted for a murder he did not commit, to a