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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Thomas Crawford

Aired August 04, 2002 - 18:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The inside story of the miners' ordeal in the Quecreek mine will become a book and a television movie. All nine miners signed a deal with Disney for the rights to their stories. Thomas Crawford, the attorney representing the nine, joins me from Somerset, Pennsylvania. Good evening, and congratulations on this deal.

THOMAS CRAWFORD, ATTORNEY FOR RESCUED MINERS: Good evening.

LIN: Can you give me an idea of how the negotiations went down on this?

CRAWFORD: Well, they were rather frantic for a while. We had many, many calls, from both serious and less serious people. And it took probably two days before they were sorted out. And we agreed to sign with ABC.

LIN: And, as I understand it, the nine miners wanted you to represent them because they each wanted to sign on to the same deal and not negotiate separately. Why is that?

CRAWFORD: We felt that their rights would be worth more in that manner.

LIN: Really? And it wasn't a matter of not wanting to bicker over different sums of money, or who was going to get more money for their story?

CRAWFORD: Well, that probably entered into it, but that was more their decision. When I talked to them, I told them that I felt their story was for more as a unit than if everybody went out and tried to sell their own.

LIN: Yeah, and I was going to ask you about the sum that Disney offered. Is this a pretty significant sum, because I would think individually, $150,000, that is a lot of money. But I would think that they could get even more.

CRAWFORD: Well, I would have hoped that somebody would, but nobody was offering any more.

LIN: So who is going to get to tell the story? I mean, are you guys going to have a hand in who produces it, who writes it? CRAWFORD: The miners will be consulted by ABC tomorrow in a meeting. The various producers that are competing will talk to them, and they'll have a say in that.

LIN: All right. Thomas Crawford, take me into this room. I mean, you are talking about nine guys who have worked in the mine, some of them for 20 or more years. What is the Hollywood experience going to be like for them? And what in their life experience is going to prepare them to be in a room full of Hollywood producers?

CRAWFORD: Well, I think the last week has probably prepared them. Producers have been all over Somerset, talking to them.

LIN: What do they think of all this?

CRAWFORD: You know, they're taking it very calmly and very well. They're taking it in stride. And I've seen none of them having a problem with it.

LIN: So who is going to play whom? I mean, is Harrison Ford in this picture, and who do you think he might play?

CRAWFORD: You'll have to ask ABC about that. I have no idea.

LIN: We were trying to do a little casting of our own. Do the miners have a say who the actors are going to be?

CRAWFORD: I don't -- we haven't discussed that. The only thing we were talking about is them having a say in who the producer will be.

LIN: Do they have any special concerns about how their story is going to be treated by Hollywood?

CRAWFORD: Sure, they want it told honestly and straightforwardly, as it happened.

LIN: All right, well, it was dramatic enough, indeed. I mean, no storytelling necessary. The facts will definitely speak for themselves. Thomas Crawford, you cut a very good deal for these gentlemen, and we wish you well. We'll look forward to the story.

CRAWFORD: Well, thank you. So will I.

LIN: And give them our best.

CRAWFORD: Take care.

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