The director behind the new Corey Feldman documentary, Corey Feldman vs The World, has told all on what it was really like working with The Goonies star amid their public feud.
After the new Apple TV documentary featured Feldman, 54, claiming he was molested by his late best friend Corey Haim while they filmed 1987’s The Lost Boys, his team released a letter to the Daily Mail and other media outlets clarifying: ‘Mr. Feldman’s statement that Mr. Haim “molested” him was in reference to Mr. Haim’s advances, not physical molestation.’
They alleged that the claims were a ‘sensationalized mischaracterization of the statements made in the film’ and that Feldman ‘did not reciprocate [Haim’s] advances.’ They further claimed that ‘the producers of the film made the film without Mr. Feldman’s knowledge and obtained the footage through dishonest means.’
Meanwhile, Judy Haim, the mother of Corey, who died in 2010 at 38, spoke out to TMZ and slammed Feldman, saying that the star was just ‘creating another lie to poison people’s heads and keep himself relevant.’ She snapped: ‘There is no way in hell.’
To refute Feldman’s claims, an attorney for the production team of the documentary released a statement to the Daily Mail, stating that ‘all footage used in this film was obtained lawfully and with Feldman’s express written consent’ and claiming that he ‘repeatedly invited filming to take place.’
Now, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, director Marcie Hume has opened up about what exactly went into making the film.
Corey Feldman (seen in March) has spoken out against the documentary about himself, Corey Feldman vs The World, which was released on December 11
In an exclusive interview with the director, Marcie Hume, she told the Daily Mail all about what it was really like being a ‘fly on the wall’ filming and observing the star
‘I really tried to just be in the room and be a fly on the wall with him, truly. I started to underline that over and over, but that really was the approach. So much came out,’ Hume, 48, spilled.
‘I mean, so much was there and he was so vulnerable, and he was having such an intense experience of the world at that point that so much emerged.
‘I didn’t feel that pressing him for details or information was going to yield anything better than seeing him in the moment where we see him being so vulnerable up against the world.’
The Los Angeles-based director, who explained that she was ‘invited into very private spaces and intimate moments’ with Feldman, went on to describe him as ‘a very intense person’ and someone who is ‘extremely driven and passionate’ about his work.
‘With a project like Corey’s Angels, he had a vision that he was certain about, that can be a very beautiful thing but sometimes that can be… it can be extremely intense for other people if they’re not on the exact same road with you and they don’t have the exact same vision,’ she said.
While filming the star mainly between 2016 and 2017 with a few snippets in more recent years, Hume included footage from his time with Corey’s Angels – his showbusiness group of women who dressed in angel costumes and was inspired by Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Playmates – as well as interviews with ex-angels to ensure there were a ‘range of voices and perspectives.’
The musical group ceased production about eight years ago, following public scrutiny and sexual harassment and abuse allegations. Several members came forward with allegations against Feldman, leading to formal complaints to law enforcement and Feldman’s voluntary removal from the SAG-AFTRA’s sexual harassment committee in 2020.
Hume explained to the Daily Mail that his version of events was intensified and gave an example of Feldman’s reaction to the women from Corey’s Angels leaving the tour.Â
Hume described working with Feldman as ‘a very intense person’ and someone who is ‘extremely driven and passionate’ about his work. He’s seen in the documentary
She said it was ‘uncomfortable’ filming with him due to how some of his ex-angels from Corey’s Angels felt about their experience touring with the star
Feldman believed the angels who left the group were ‘Satanists,’ which Hume said was an example of him being ‘intense’
‘He is rationalizing why they have left – he says that all the women they’ve tried to help that have left are all “Satanists.” That is his way of framing it, of reflecting on why they have left, [claiming] they are Satanists,’ she explained.Â
The filmmaker suggested that he did not look at it from the point of view of ‘what might have gone wrong,’ and instead, framed it as, ‘They’re all Satanists.’
Feldman is seen in the trailer saying, ‘If you’re for the dark side and you’re a Satanist or a cultist and you want to sit there and be dismissive about my art or what I do…’ before claiming, ‘I spread positive messages. I spread love and light.’
Margot Lane, the former musical director, claimed in the documentary that Corey’s Angels was ‘really a cult’ and is his ‘little system of disgusting behavior.’
Hume went on to tell the Daily Mail that while filming the documentary ‘the whole experience had moments of [her] being uncomfortable’ and said ‘the whole thing became a different film than I ever imagined.’
‘Being on the road was uncomfortable in the sense that clearly there were women that were having experiences that were very different than what they imagined,’ she claimed.
‘I think [being in a] bus filming while women who are threatening to quit the tour or standing [in the room] while Corey is… you see him after the Today Show interview when he feels like he’s being mistreated – those moments are all very uncomfortable, but I decided to persist through these things because it felt important enough to tell those parts of the story, even though I really did not know where it was going,’ she continued.
‘That’s part of the title of the movie, you see him constantly feeling like he is being hounded by outside forces and I never wanted to be another one of those forces. I always wanted to be gentle and a stable, consistent presence.’
Hume filmed ‘vulnerable’ moments with the star, explaining, ‘I didn’t feel that pressing him for details or information was going to yield anything better than seeing him in the moment’
Corey alleged was molested by his late best friend, Corey Haim, in the film, but his team has since denied the claims
Hume said it ‘became a very complicated film about a complicated person,’ but added that she still feels like she got to the bottom of certain answers.
She remarked: ‘I feel like we just found really deeper questions about all of that, about life in Hollywood, life as a celebrity and being a famous person and what that does to your sense of survival and what that does to your psyche and how you make it through the world.’
Given the sensitivity of some of the topics, including the molestation and harassment claims, Hume said that she wanted to be ‘careful with him.’
‘I spent so much time with him, and I really do think we built trust and we built a dynamic together but at the same time, he says it in the movie – he says there is no such thing as complete trust anymore because he just feels that the world always does him wrong, and that’s a really scary place to start,’ she said.
‘It makes you feel like anything you do is inherently, intentionally wrong. I went in with such care and openness, and even still, I’m so careful with him.Â
‘I look at the world through storytelling and an objective lens, but I’m just so careful with him.’
The documentary was released on Apple TV on December 11, and Hume said Feldman ‘did not have any input’ in the editing process and that it took ‘years’ to get it right and to go through the distribution process.Â
Hume said that despite spending mainly 2016 to 2017 with Feldman, it took ‘years’ to get his story right. She also says there is a lot more footage that she hopes to release in the future
There is a lot more footage that the director, who also directed 2016’s Magicians: Life in the Impossible and 2012’s Sex Story: Fifty Shades of Grey, still has and hopes can come to light someday.Â
‘There’s definitely enough content for a part two or for some other aspect of the project… and we certainly have been thinking about what to do with the wealth of content that we have,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘We’ll hopefully find ways of getting some additional content out into the world somehow. But I think this story really is infinitely deep.
‘I think the sort of power dynamics that you see on the tour, the intensity of everyone trying to control the narratives and control the stories of what’s happening around them, all of that just gets deeper and deeper.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Feldman’s representative for comment on this story and they declined to comment.Â
