On Monday, November 12, 2007, the DGA Independent Directors Committee’s (IDC) “Under the Influence” series treated the DGA Los Angeles theatre audience to a rare screening of the “Director’s Cut” of Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show.

The series features seminal films from the past, followed by a post-screening dialogue between the film’s director and an independent filmmaker who was influenced by his work. After welcoming the audience, IDC Member Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire) introduced Director Peter Bogdanovich, who then took part in a discussion about the making of the film moderated by Director Richard Linklater (Fast Food Nation).

The Last Picture Show follows a year in the life of two teenagers who come of age as their small Texas hometown is dying. In 1998, this 1972 DGA and Academy Award-nominated film was deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

“When I made the picture, I didn’t think it would be that big of a success,” Bogdanovich admitted. “It cost $1.3 million and I figured if it makes its money back we’d be all right. Once in a while you make a good one.”.