Press release
Screen Media presents
THE LIE
WILL OPEN IN NEW YORK CITY AT THE VILLAGE EAST
ON NOVEMBER 18, 2011 WITH A NATIONAL ROLLOUT TO FOLLOW!
THE LIE marks the feature film directorial debut for Joshua Leonard whose acting credits include HUMPDAY, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and the recently released HIGHER GROUND.
Based on the acclaimed New Yorker short story by T.C. Boyle, THE LIE is a candid, yet charming look at how a seemingly harmless and momentary lapse of judgment can lead to life-altering calamity.
Lonnie (Joshua Leonard) and Clover (TEETH'S Jess Weixler) were once young idealists -- destined to change the world, until an unanticipated pregnancy derailed their plans. Instead of making their mark, the pair finds themselves trapped in a
bourgeois nightmare, hosting BBQ's and arguing about organic diapers. C
lover is in her final year of law school, while Lonnie, stuck in a nine-to-five routine, remains in a daze about the artistic lifestyle they were forced to abandon.
Deciding he needs some time away from his soul-sucking job to renew his stalled aspirations, Lonnie calls in sick and creates a shocking lie to justify his absence. Swept away in a series of misadventures beyond his control, he attempts to close the Pandora's box, but finds that it is too late.
As Lonnie's crudely constructed lie begins to unravel, THE LIE takes us on a journey of self-discovery as it astutely examines what it means to be an adult, and the steps we all take to get there...eventually.
THE LIE also stars Mark Webber from SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD and features appearances by Jane Adams (HAPPINESS), Kelli Garner (THE AVIATOR), Alia Shawkat ("ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT") and Gerry Bednob (THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN).
**Official Trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/thelie/
**Official Poster: Download link: http://brgd.net/TheLie_Poster
Written and directed by: Joshua Leonard
Starring: Joshua Leonard, Jess Weixler, Mark Webber, and Violet Long
Produced by: Mary Pat Bentel
Release Date: November 18, 2011
__________________________ADDENDUM
Press release-CONTEST?
GUILT-RIDDEN LIARS ACROSS U.S. REJOICE AT ANNOUNCEMENT OF
NATIONAL LIAR'S REMORSE DAY
National Liar's Remorse Day to coincide with theatrical release of THE LIE on November 18, 2011!
(New York, NY) November, 17, 2011 - Increasingly paralyzed by guilt, liars across the country are expressing relief at the announcement of National Liar's Remorse Day, which will be celebrated on November 18, 2011. Timed to coincide with the release of THE LIE, National Liar's Remorse Day will give otherwise well-meaning liars a nationally sanctioned opportunity to confess.
One of the holiday's founders, a prominent psychologist, states that the holiday was created to address the recent nationwide surge in lying. "With everything that's going on in our country, the truth just isn't very appealing anymore.
Ordinarily honest people are resorting to an option once reserved for politicians, bank executives and CEOs: large-scale lying. Unlike their liar counterparts in government and business, however, honest people tend to experience intensely unpleasant, often overwhelming feelings of guilt when they lie. National Liar's Remorse Day was created to address that guilt, to give regular people across the country the opportunity to come clean."
Repentant liars are invited to confess on THE LIE's Official Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/theliemovie. The individual who shares the most compelling lie (as judged by THE LIE writer/director/star, Joshua Leonard) will receive a prize package to include a home lie detector kit and a $100.00 gift certificate to 1-800-FLOWERS to facilitate the liar's
atonement.
You can also celebrate National Liar's Remorse Day by tweeting your lie, using the hashtag #liarsremorse.
Initial response to the announcement of the holiday from liars across the country has been overwhelmingly positive. "Man, I have just got to get this thing off my chest," a New York liar who preferred to remain anonymous stated. "This lie is huge. This isn't your run-of-the-mill, 'I got stuck in traffic' kind of lie. I could get my face clawed off for this lie. I had no idea what I was going to do before National Liar's Remorse Day came along. You better believe I'm counting the days until November 18."
For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/theliemovie.
ABOUT NATIONAL LIAR'S REMORSE DAY
National Liar's Remorse Day is a United States holiday observed on November 18. The inaugural holiday coincides with the theatrical release of THE LIE, directed and co-written by Joshua Leonard, who stars alongside co-writers Jess Weixler
and Mark Webber.
The holiday was created to allow ordinarily honest citizens a chance to confess and atone for their lies, thereby avoiding a chain reaction of deception that causes their lives to spiral out of control. Note: Due to the questionable nature of their remorse, politicians, corporate executives and celebrities are prohibited by law from participating in the holiday.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Screen Media presents
THE LIE
WILL OPEN IN NEW YORK CITY AT THE VILLAGE EAST
ON NOVEMBER 18, 2011 WITH A NATIONAL ROLLOUT TO FOLLOW!
THE LIE marks the feature film directorial debut for Joshua Leonard whose acting credits include HUMPDAY, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and the recently released HIGHER GROUND.
Based on the acclaimed New Yorker short story by T.C. Boyle, THE LIE is a candid, yet charming look at how a seemingly harmless and momentary lapse of judgment can lead to life-altering calamity.
Lonnie (Joshua Leonard) and Clover (TEETH'S Jess Weixler) were once young idealists -- destined to change the world, until an unanticipated pregnancy derailed their plans. Instead of making their mark, the pair finds themselves trapped in a
bourgeois nightmare, hosting BBQ's and arguing about organic diapers. C
lover is in her final year of law school, while Lonnie, stuck in a nine-to-five routine, remains in a daze about the artistic lifestyle they were forced to abandon.
Deciding he needs some time away from his soul-sucking job to renew his stalled aspirations, Lonnie calls in sick and creates a shocking lie to justify his absence. Swept away in a series of misadventures beyond his control, he attempts to close the Pandora's box, but finds that it is too late.
As Lonnie's crudely constructed lie begins to unravel, THE LIE takes us on a journey of self-discovery as it astutely examines what it means to be an adult, and the steps we all take to get there...eventually.
THE LIE also stars Mark Webber from SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD and features appearances by Jane Adams (HAPPINESS), Kelli Garner (THE AVIATOR), Alia Shawkat ("ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT") and Gerry Bednob (THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN).
**Official Trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/thelie/
**Official Poster: Download link: http://brgd.net/TheLie_Poster
Written and directed by: Joshua Leonard
Starring: Joshua Leonard, Jess Weixler, Mark Webber, and Violet Long
Produced by: Mary Pat Bentel
Release Date: November 18, 2011
__________________________ADDENDUM
Press release-CONTEST?
GUILT-RIDDEN LIARS ACROSS U.S. REJOICE AT ANNOUNCEMENT OF
NATIONAL LIAR'S REMORSE DAY
National Liar's Remorse Day to coincide with theatrical release of THE LIE on November 18, 2011!
(New York, NY) November, 17, 2011 - Increasingly paralyzed by guilt, liars across the country are expressing relief at the announcement of National Liar's Remorse Day, which will be celebrated on November 18, 2011. Timed to coincide with the release of THE LIE, National Liar's Remorse Day will give otherwise well-meaning liars a nationally sanctioned opportunity to confess.
One of the holiday's founders, a prominent psychologist, states that the holiday was created to address the recent nationwide surge in lying. "With everything that's going on in our country, the truth just isn't very appealing anymore.
Ordinarily honest people are resorting to an option once reserved for politicians, bank executives and CEOs: large-scale lying. Unlike their liar counterparts in government and business, however, honest people tend to experience intensely unpleasant, often overwhelming feelings of guilt when they lie. National Liar's Remorse Day was created to address that guilt, to give regular people across the country the opportunity to come clean."
Repentant liars are invited to confess on THE LIE's Official Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/theliemovie. The individual who shares the most compelling lie (as judged by THE LIE writer/director/star, Joshua Leonard) will receive a prize package to include a home lie detector kit and a $100.00 gift certificate to 1-800-FLOWERS to facilitate the liar's
atonement.
You can also celebrate National Liar's Remorse Day by tweeting your lie, using the hashtag #liarsremorse.
Initial response to the announcement of the holiday from liars across the country has been overwhelmingly positive. "Man, I have just got to get this thing off my chest," a New York liar who preferred to remain anonymous stated. "This lie is huge. This isn't your run-of-the-mill, 'I got stuck in traffic' kind of lie. I could get my face clawed off for this lie. I had no idea what I was going to do before National Liar's Remorse Day came along. You better believe I'm counting the days until November 18."
For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/theliemovie.
ABOUT NATIONAL LIAR'S REMORSE DAY
National Liar's Remorse Day is a United States holiday observed on November 18. The inaugural holiday coincides with the theatrical release of THE LIE, directed and co-written by Joshua Leonard, who stars alongside co-writers Jess Weixler
and Mark Webber.
The holiday was created to allow ordinarily honest citizens a chance to confess and atone for their lies, thereby avoiding a chain reaction of deception that causes their lives to spiral out of control. Note: Due to the questionable nature of their remorse, politicians, corporate executives and celebrities are prohibited by law from participating in the holiday.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mumblecore (lo-fi indie films)
mumblecore
lo-fi = Indie films with budgets under $500,000
Okay, so why did I start this thread? Well, it looks as if someone has identified a new genre emerging from the rise of low-budget, script-free, filmmaking.
The only "munblecore" films I've seen on the Big Screen are "The Puffy Chair" by the Duplass bros. and the horror spoof "Baghead." Two decent little comedies, but then again, you don't really need a budget to get a comedy to work, it just has to be funny (to me). I hope to Netflix some more of these and report back as time permits.
Don't have a Mumbelcore clue? Here's a list of films to get you on board the movement:
ALEXANDER THE LAST, 2009
"Baghead,", 2008 (On DVD now!)
BEESWAX, 2009 (On DVD now!)
DANCE PARTY, USA, 2006 (On DVD now!)
FUNNY HA HA, 2002 (On DVD now!)
HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, 2007
HOHOKAM, 2007
HUMPDAY, 2009
KISSING ON THE MOUTH, 2005 (On DVD now!)
LOL, 2006 (On DVD now!)
MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
PAPER COVERS ROCK
MUTUAL APPRECIATION, 2006 (On DVD now!)
THE PUFFY CHAIR, 2006 (On DVD now!)
QUIET CITY, 2007 (On DVD now!)
QUIETLY ON BY, 2005
TEAM PICTURE, 2007
"This is John," (short), 2003
THREE BLIND MICE (Australia)
YOUNG AMERICAN BODIES: Season 1, 2006
ZIFT (Bulgaria)
This page is for trading movie knowledge (or lack thereof), what greater gift can be shared between strangers. If you'd like to add to the page, email your comments or info to [email protected].
mumblecore & indie info from GenArt
SUPPORT INDIE CINEMA (if you can afford too, otherwise, wait for the DVD to hit Netflix)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
mumblecore
lo-fi = Indie films with budgets under $500,000
Okay, so why did I start this thread? Well, it looks as if someone has identified a new genre emerging from the rise of low-budget, script-free, filmmaking.
The only "munblecore" films I've seen on the Big Screen are "The Puffy Chair" by the Duplass bros. and the horror spoof "Baghead." Two decent little comedies, but then again, you don't really need a budget to get a comedy to work, it just has to be funny (to me). I hope to Netflix some more of these and report back as time permits.
Don't have a Mumbelcore clue? Here's a list of films to get you on board the movement:
ALEXANDER THE LAST, 2009
"Baghead,", 2008 (On DVD now!)
BEESWAX, 2009 (On DVD now!)
DANCE PARTY, USA, 2006 (On DVD now!)
FUNNY HA HA, 2002 (On DVD now!)
HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, 2007
HOHOKAM, 2007
HUMPDAY, 2009
KISSING ON THE MOUTH, 2005 (On DVD now!)
LOL, 2006 (On DVD now!)
MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
PAPER COVERS ROCK
MUTUAL APPRECIATION, 2006 (On DVD now!)
THE PUFFY CHAIR, 2006 (On DVD now!)
QUIET CITY, 2007 (On DVD now!)
QUIETLY ON BY, 2005
TEAM PICTURE, 2007
"This is John," (short), 2003
THREE BLIND MICE (Australia)
YOUNG AMERICAN BODIES: Season 1, 2006
ZIFT (Bulgaria)
This page is for trading movie knowledge (or lack thereof), what greater gift can be shared between strangers. If you'd like to add to the page, email your comments or info to [email protected].
mumblecore & indie info from GenArt
SUPPORT INDIE CINEMA (if you can afford too, otherwise, wait for the DVD to hit Netflix)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Press release
SILVER BULLETS
A Film by JOE SWANBERG
Claire, a beautiful young actress, is in a comfortable relationship with Ethan, a filmmaker who aspires to make meaningful art films. She is his muse and they arefinishing a project together.
She accepts the lead role in a werewolf film to be directed by a talented young horror filmmaker named Ben. Ethan is instantly weary of herrelationship with Ben and suspects she is more interested in fame than the pursuit of art.
As Clair and Ben prepare the werewolf film together, Ethan begins to spiral into depression and self-doubt. In retaliation against Claire, he casts her best friend,Charlie, also an actress, as his girlfriend in his new film.
As both productions move forward, Claire's life becomes more surreal and starts to resemble the werewolf film she is working on.
Inspired by Chekhov's "The Seagull," SILVER BULLETS examines the cinema and asks questions about art, commerce, power and desire. Using David Foster Wallace as a reference point, the film also explores fame, depression and suicide.
WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 2011 BERLINALE // 70 MINUTES – HD COLOR – ENGLISH – NOT RATED
CAST
Kate Lyn Sheil………………………………………………………………………………………………..Claire
Ti West……………………………………………………………………………………….......................Ben
Amy Seimetz……………………………………………………...…………………………...........…..Charlie
Joe Swanberg………………………………………………………………………………….....………...Ethan
Jane Adams…………………………………………………………………..………………………..........June
Larry Fessenden…………………………………………………………………..…………………….......Sam
CREW
Directed, Photographed, and Edited by…………………………………………….....Joe Swanberg
Produced by………………………………………............................Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz
Written by.............................................................................................Joe Swanberg
Make-up Effects…………………………………………………………………………...........Brian Spears
Sound Design………………………………………………………….........................Graham Reznick
Original Music by………………………………………………………………...........Orange Mighty Trio
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT In November of 2008 I traveled to New York to make a film. After one day of shootingthe film fell apart. I was tired and depressed and I wanted to quit making films, which I no longer enjoyed. Chekhov's "The
Seagull" was playing on Broadway and I was encouraged to read the play. I thought of David Foster Wallace, who had committed suicide a few months earlier, and whom I was becoming increasingly obsessed with. I started shooting a new film with some friends. We shot several scenes each day, changing and rearranging the story constantly until I flew home in December.
I continued to work this way for two years, getting together with my actors every few months when I could afford to shoot new scenes and re-shoot old ones. I slowly emerged from the depression and found myself enjoying the process. "The Seagull" continued to provide inspiration as the film became more autobiographical and dreamlike. David Foster Wallace is still on my mind.- JOE SWANBERG
DIRECTOR’S COMPLETE FILMOGRAPHY
MIKEY (2003) - Drama - 7 mins. - DV
KISSING ON THE MOUTH (2005) - Drama - 78 mins. - DV
HISSY FITS (2005) - Comedy - 5 mins. - DV
YOUNG AMERICAN BODIES (2005 - 2009) - Web Series - 38 episodes - DV
LOL (2006) - Comedy/Drama - 81 mins. - DV
THANKS FOR THE ADD! (2006) - Comedy - 5 mins. - DV
HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS (2007) - Drama - 83 mins. - HD
RUN OFF THE ROAD (2007) - Music Video - 5 mins. - Super 8mm
SWEDISH BLUEBALLS (2008) - Comedy - 5 mins. – DV
BUTTERKNIFE (2008) - Web Series - 8 episodes - HD
NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS (2008) - Drama - 78 mins - HD
ALEXANDER THE LAST (2009) - Drama - 72 mins. - HD
THE STAGG PARTY (2009) - Web Series - 10 episodes - HD
BIRTHDAY SUIT (2009) - Comedy - 4 mins. - HD
UNCLE KENT (2011) - Drama - 72 mins. - HD
SILVER BULLETS (2011) - Drama - 70 mins. - HD
ART HISTORY (2011) - Drama - 74 mins. - HD
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SILVER BULLETS
A Film by JOE SWANBERG
Claire, a beautiful young actress, is in a comfortable relationship with Ethan, a filmmaker who aspires to make meaningful art films. She is his muse and they arefinishing a project together.
She accepts the lead role in a werewolf film to be directed by a talented young horror filmmaker named Ben. Ethan is instantly weary of herrelationship with Ben and suspects she is more interested in fame than the pursuit of art.
As Clair and Ben prepare the werewolf film together, Ethan begins to spiral into depression and self-doubt. In retaliation against Claire, he casts her best friend,Charlie, also an actress, as his girlfriend in his new film.
As both productions move forward, Claire's life becomes more surreal and starts to resemble the werewolf film she is working on.
Inspired by Chekhov's "The Seagull," SILVER BULLETS examines the cinema and asks questions about art, commerce, power and desire. Using David Foster Wallace as a reference point, the film also explores fame, depression and suicide.
WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 2011 BERLINALE // 70 MINUTES – HD COLOR – ENGLISH – NOT RATED
CAST
Kate Lyn Sheil………………………………………………………………………………………………..Claire
Ti West……………………………………………………………………………………….......................Ben
Amy Seimetz……………………………………………………...…………………………...........…..Charlie
Joe Swanberg………………………………………………………………………………….....………...Ethan
Jane Adams…………………………………………………………………..………………………..........June
Larry Fessenden…………………………………………………………………..…………………….......Sam
CREW
Directed, Photographed, and Edited by…………………………………………….....Joe Swanberg
Produced by………………………………………............................Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz
Written by.............................................................................................Joe Swanberg
Make-up Effects…………………………………………………………………………...........Brian Spears
Sound Design………………………………………………………….........................Graham Reznick
Original Music by………………………………………………………………...........Orange Mighty Trio
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT In November of 2008 I traveled to New York to make a film. After one day of shootingthe film fell apart. I was tired and depressed and I wanted to quit making films, which I no longer enjoyed. Chekhov's "The
Seagull" was playing on Broadway and I was encouraged to read the play. I thought of David Foster Wallace, who had committed suicide a few months earlier, and whom I was becoming increasingly obsessed with. I started shooting a new film with some friends. We shot several scenes each day, changing and rearranging the story constantly until I flew home in December.
I continued to work this way for two years, getting together with my actors every few months when I could afford to shoot new scenes and re-shoot old ones. I slowly emerged from the depression and found myself enjoying the process. "The Seagull" continued to provide inspiration as the film became more autobiographical and dreamlike. David Foster Wallace is still on my mind.- JOE SWANBERG
DIRECTOR’S COMPLETE FILMOGRAPHY
MIKEY (2003) - Drama - 7 mins. - DV
KISSING ON THE MOUTH (2005) - Drama - 78 mins. - DV
HISSY FITS (2005) - Comedy - 5 mins. - DV
YOUNG AMERICAN BODIES (2005 - 2009) - Web Series - 38 episodes - DV
LOL (2006) - Comedy/Drama - 81 mins. - DV
THANKS FOR THE ADD! (2006) - Comedy - 5 mins. - DV
HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS (2007) - Drama - 83 mins. - HD
RUN OFF THE ROAD (2007) - Music Video - 5 mins. - Super 8mm
SWEDISH BLUEBALLS (2008) - Comedy - 5 mins. – DV
BUTTERKNIFE (2008) - Web Series - 8 episodes - HD
NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS (2008) - Drama - 78 mins - HD
ALEXANDER THE LAST (2009) - Drama - 72 mins. - HD
THE STAGG PARTY (2009) - Web Series - 10 episodes - HD
BIRTHDAY SUIT (2009) - Comedy - 4 mins. - HD
UNCLE KENT (2011) - Drama - 72 mins. - HD
SILVER BULLETS (2011) - Drama - 70 mins. - HD
ART HISTORY (2011) - Drama - 74 mins. - HD
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Press release
JOE SWANBERG'S
AUTOEROTIC
AUTOEROTIC is the fifth collaboration between Swanberg and Sundance Selects/IFC Films. Previous films have included HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS, ALEXANDER THE LAST, and UNCLE KENT.
AUTOEROTIC follows four interconnected Chicago couples as they explore the boundaries of self-pleasure and sexual exploration. Through a unique blend of outrageous comedy and in-your-face sex, AUTOEROTIC insightfully illuminates the private sexual lives of America's urbanites.
The film stars Kate Lyn Shiel, Amy Seimetz, Lane Hughes, Kris Swanberg, Ti West and Frank V. Ross, and was produced by Joe Swanberg.
To view/download the trailer click the link below: ftp://ftp.rmhi.com/IFCFilms/AUTOEROTIC/Trailer/
IFC Midnight is releasing the film on demand nationwide this month with select theatrical dates occurring this summer.
Theatrical dates:
New York: July 22nd at the IFC Center (one week run)
Los Angeles: August 12th at the Nuart (one night only)
Additional cities to be announced.
Available nationwide on VOD beginning July 20th.
http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/autoerotic
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JOE SWANBERG'S
AUTOEROTIC
AUTOEROTIC is the fifth collaboration between Swanberg and Sundance Selects/IFC Films. Previous films have included HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS, ALEXANDER THE LAST, and UNCLE KENT.
AUTOEROTIC follows four interconnected Chicago couples as they explore the boundaries of self-pleasure and sexual exploration. Through a unique blend of outrageous comedy and in-your-face sex, AUTOEROTIC insightfully illuminates the private sexual lives of America's urbanites.
The film stars Kate Lyn Shiel, Amy Seimetz, Lane Hughes, Kris Swanberg, Ti West and Frank V. Ross, and was produced by Joe Swanberg.
To view/download the trailer click the link below: ftp://ftp.rmhi.com/IFCFilms/AUTOEROTIC/Trailer/
IFC Midnight is releasing the film on demand nationwide this month with select theatrical dates occurring this summer.
Theatrical dates:
New York: July 22nd at the IFC Center (one week run)
Los Angeles: August 12th at the Nuart (one night only)
Additional cities to be announced.
Available nationwide on VOD beginning July 20th.
http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/autoerotic
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Press release
PALADIN PRESENTS
A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS
Directed by David Guy Levy
On behalf of Paladin A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS, by David Guy Levy, who was recently named one of Variety’s 2010 “Producers to watch” and who makes his directorial debut with the film.
A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS will be released theatrically in New York (The Quad) on Friday, June 24 and Los Angeles in July.
Blurring the edges between reality and fiction, and set in an era when everything we do is photographed- or could be- A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS is a modern twist on romance in the digital age.
The first feature film to be shot entirely on a flip camera, the narrative follows two lonely strangers in contemporary Los Angeles during the holiday season. The film begins with David (director Guy Levy), a painter, and Enci (Lili Bordán), a Hungarian nanny, who meet in a bookstore when he catches her shoplifting on his ever-present flip camera.
As they start a tentative relationship, everything is captured on digital cameras, though nothing about the situation is as straightforward as it looks. Things are further complicated with the inclusion of Enci’s boyfriend Boris (Iván Kamarás), and David’s brutally honest friend Jonathan (Jonathan Beckerman, playing himself, and unaware until the end of the film that it was fictional).
Somewhere between their own narcissistic urges to be constantly filmed, and a need to connect in the vast urban sprawl of Los Angeles, A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS take a wry look at the way in which technology brings us all together while also keeping us apart, and changes our definition of what it is to love and beloved.
Since launching his own company, Periscope Entertainment, in 2004, David Guy Levy’s producing resume includes such titles as Cannes entry “Lying,” “Taking Chances” starring Justin Long and Rob Corddry, and Sundance entry “August,” starring Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, and Rip Torn.
Upcoming features as a producer also include: “Terri,” directed by long time collaborator Azazel Jacobs (“Momma’s Man,” The Good Times Kid”) and starring John C. Reilly, “The Wait,” starring Chloe Sevigny and Jenna Malone, his remake of “Monster Squad,” (which he will co-produce in tandem with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes), and an adaptation of Martin Amis’ highly acclaimed novel “London Fields,” which Michael Winterbottom will direct. A Love Affair of Sorts is his directing debut.
91 minutes/This film is not rated
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PALADIN PRESENTS
A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS
Directed by David Guy Levy
On behalf of Paladin A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS, by David Guy Levy, who was recently named one of Variety’s 2010 “Producers to watch” and who makes his directorial debut with the film.
A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS will be released theatrically in New York (The Quad) on Friday, June 24 and Los Angeles in July.
Blurring the edges between reality and fiction, and set in an era when everything we do is photographed- or could be- A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS is a modern twist on romance in the digital age.
The first feature film to be shot entirely on a flip camera, the narrative follows two lonely strangers in contemporary Los Angeles during the holiday season. The film begins with David (director Guy Levy), a painter, and Enci (Lili Bordán), a Hungarian nanny, who meet in a bookstore when he catches her shoplifting on his ever-present flip camera.
As they start a tentative relationship, everything is captured on digital cameras, though nothing about the situation is as straightforward as it looks. Things are further complicated with the inclusion of Enci’s boyfriend Boris (Iván Kamarás), and David’s brutally honest friend Jonathan (Jonathan Beckerman, playing himself, and unaware until the end of the film that it was fictional).
Somewhere between their own narcissistic urges to be constantly filmed, and a need to connect in the vast urban sprawl of Los Angeles, A LOVE AFFAIR OF SORTS take a wry look at the way in which technology brings us all together while also keeping us apart, and changes our definition of what it is to love and beloved.
Since launching his own company, Periscope Entertainment, in 2004, David Guy Levy’s producing resume includes such titles as Cannes entry “Lying,” “Taking Chances” starring Justin Long and Rob Corddry, and Sundance entry “August,” starring Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, and Rip Torn.
Upcoming features as a producer also include: “Terri,” directed by long time collaborator Azazel Jacobs (“Momma’s Man,” The Good Times Kid”) and starring John C. Reilly, “The Wait,” starring Chloe Sevigny and Jenna Malone, his remake of “Monster Squad,” (which he will co-produce in tandem with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes), and an adaptation of Martin Amis’ highly acclaimed novel “London Fields,” which Michael Winterbottom will direct. A Love Affair of Sorts is his directing debut.
91 minutes/This film is not rated
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
REVIVAL?-Theatrical
Lynn Shelton's celebrated first feature
WE GO WAY BACK
will enjoy a special weeklong theatrical engagement
at the ReRun theater in Brooklyn beginning Friday, April 29, 2011
A hard-working young actress with a small theater company, Kate lands her first leading role on her twenty-third birthday. When she reads a cheerfully inquisitive birthday letter from her thirteen-year-old self, it seems she might actually be fulfilling childhood aspirations.
But the letter triggers mounting confusion for Kate, and her former self - in the form of a voice and the occasional fleeting vision - won't seem to go away. As Kate bends to the whims of those around her with dwindling resistance, the protests of her adolescent self grow more hauntingly intrusive until, in a surrealistic turn, thirteen-year-old Katie appears in the flesh, primed for a confrontation.
Beautifully shot and poetically edited, this resonant film explores the comedy and pain of finding the courage to face up to yourself. The trailer for this rediscovered gem can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Je3x5woFb8
WE GO WAY BACK / USA / 2006 / TRT: 80 MIN
About LYNN SHELTON
Lynn Shelton is an acclaimed filmmaker best known for the 2009 Sundance hit, HUMPDAY. Born and raised in Seattle, Shelton studied photography and acting before transitioning into film editing and experimental/documentary filmmaking.
Following her success with WE GO WAY BACK, Shelton's second feature, MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE, premiered at SXSW 2008 and earned her the Independent Spirit "Someone to Watch" Award. HUMPDAY, her third feature, premiered at SUNDANCE 2009 where it picked up a special jury prize and was bought by Magnolia Pictures. HUMPDAY was also shown at Director's Fortnight in Cannes and picked up prizes at the Edinburgh, Deauville and Gijon film festivals. The film won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards.
Recently, Shelton was a guest director on the acclaimed AMC television series "MAD MEN", directing the episode HANDS & KNEES which aired in September 2010. She just wrapped production on her fourth feature, a semi-improvised untitled film starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mark Duplass. She is also currently slated to direct the upcoming project THEN WE CAME TO THE END, based on the best-selling novel by Joshua Ferris.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lynn Shelton's celebrated first feature
WE GO WAY BACK
will enjoy a special weeklong theatrical engagement
at the ReRun theater in Brooklyn beginning Friday, April 29, 2011
A hard-working young actress with a small theater company, Kate lands her first leading role on her twenty-third birthday. When she reads a cheerfully inquisitive birthday letter from her thirteen-year-old self, it seems she might actually be fulfilling childhood aspirations.
But the letter triggers mounting confusion for Kate, and her former self - in the form of a voice and the occasional fleeting vision - won't seem to go away. As Kate bends to the whims of those around her with dwindling resistance, the protests of her adolescent self grow more hauntingly intrusive until, in a surrealistic turn, thirteen-year-old Katie appears in the flesh, primed for a confrontation.
Beautifully shot and poetically edited, this resonant film explores the comedy and pain of finding the courage to face up to yourself. The trailer for this rediscovered gem can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Je3x5woFb8
WE GO WAY BACK / USA / 2006 / TRT: 80 MIN
About LYNN SHELTON
Lynn Shelton is an acclaimed filmmaker best known for the 2009 Sundance hit, HUMPDAY. Born and raised in Seattle, Shelton studied photography and acting before transitioning into film editing and experimental/documentary filmmaking.
Following her success with WE GO WAY BACK, Shelton's second feature, MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE, premiered at SXSW 2008 and earned her the Independent Spirit "Someone to Watch" Award. HUMPDAY, her third feature, premiered at SUNDANCE 2009 where it picked up a special jury prize and was bought by Magnolia Pictures. HUMPDAY was also shown at Director's Fortnight in Cannes and picked up prizes at the Edinburgh, Deauville and Gijon film festivals. The film won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards.
Recently, Shelton was a guest director on the acclaimed AMC television series "MAD MEN", directing the episode HANDS & KNEES which aired in September 2010. She just wrapped production on her fourth feature, a semi-improvised untitled film starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mark Duplass. She is also currently slated to direct the upcoming project THEN WE CAME TO THE END, based on the best-selling novel by Joshua Ferris.
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Press release/MUMBLECORE?
What IF YOU WERE GIVEN ONE NIGHT OFF FROM YOUR RELATIONSHIP?
PHASE 4 FILMS SCORES WITH THE DVD RELEASE OF
KATIE ASELTON'S ACCLAIMED ROMANTIC DRAMEDY
"THE FREEBIE" CO-STARRING DAX SHEPARD
DVD AND VOD RELEASE SET FOR JANUARY 11, 2011
**OFFICIAL ENTRY: 2010 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL**
**OFFICIAL ENTRY: 2010 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL**
New York, NY (November 22, 2010) - Phase 4 Films is proud to announce the January 11th, 2011 home entertainment release of Katie Aselton's critically acclaimed THE FREEBIE.
Since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January, THE FREEBIE has become one of the most talked about independent films of the year. Written, directed and starring Katie Aselton (from the hit TV show THE LEAGUE), THE FREEBIE centers on a happily married couple with a stalled sex life who look to spice things up by agreeing to an experiment: for one night each partner can freely cheat on the other with no repercussions. Dax Shepard (PARENTHOOD) co-stars alongside Aselton. The film was executive produced by Aselton and Mark Duplass (CYRUS) and produced by Adele Romanski (MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER).
Phase 4 Films is releasing THE FREEBIE on DVD and VOD on January 11th, 2011.
Darren (Shepard) and Annie (Aselton) have an enviable relationship built on love trust and communication -- they still enjoy each other's company and laugh at each other's jokes, but, unfortunately, they can't remember the last time they had sex. When a dinner party conversation leads to an honest discussion about the state of their love life, they begin to flirt with a way to spice things up. The deal: one night of freedom, no strings attached, no questions asked. Could a "freebie" be the cure for their ailing sex life? And will they go through with it? With a keen eye and fresh take, Aselton's directorial debut shines with crisp storytelling and fine-tuned performances. THE FREEBIE is an insightful and humorous look at love, sustaining relationships, and the awkwardness of monogamy when the haze of lust has faded.
For more information, please visit: www.untie-theknot.com
THE FREEBIE - DVD
Specifications:
Street Date: January 11, 2011
Run time: 77 minutes
Rating: R (MPAA - for language and sexual content)
DVD Sound: English 2.0 Stereo
DVD SRP: $29.99
Screen Format: 16x9 Widescreen
Language: English
CC: English
DVD Bonus Features: Audio commentary with Katie Aselton and Dax Shepard, Theatrical Trailer, National Freebie Day PSAs, Photo Gallery
About the filmmaker:
Born and raised in the small coastal town of Milbridge, Maine, Katie Aselton graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York in 2003. Frequently working with the Duplass Brothers, she starred in THE PUFFY CHAIR (Sundance 2005, nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards), and INTERVENTION (Berlin 2006, Silver Bear and Teddy Award), and also has a role alongside John C. Reilly in the Fox Searchlight Movie, CYRUS. She has appeared in NBC's THE OFFICE and stars in the new FX television show THE LEAGUE, currently in its second season.
About Phase 4 Films Inc.
Phase 4 Films distributes feature films, television and special interest content across all media in the North American market. Its label, kaBOOM! Entertainment is one of the leading pre-school and children's brands in the market.
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What IF YOU WERE GIVEN ONE NIGHT OFF FROM YOUR RELATIONSHIP?
PHASE 4 FILMS SCORES WITH THE DVD RELEASE OF
KATIE ASELTON'S ACCLAIMED ROMANTIC DRAMEDY
"THE FREEBIE" CO-STARRING DAX SHEPARD
DVD AND VOD RELEASE SET FOR JANUARY 11, 2011
**OFFICIAL ENTRY: 2010 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL**
**OFFICIAL ENTRY: 2010 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL**
New York, NY (November 22, 2010) - Phase 4 Films is proud to announce the January 11th, 2011 home entertainment release of Katie Aselton's critically acclaimed THE FREEBIE.
Since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January, THE FREEBIE has become one of the most talked about independent films of the year. Written, directed and starring Katie Aselton (from the hit TV show THE LEAGUE), THE FREEBIE centers on a happily married couple with a stalled sex life who look to spice things up by agreeing to an experiment: for one night each partner can freely cheat on the other with no repercussions. Dax Shepard (PARENTHOOD) co-stars alongside Aselton. The film was executive produced by Aselton and Mark Duplass (CYRUS) and produced by Adele Romanski (MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER).
Phase 4 Films is releasing THE FREEBIE on DVD and VOD on January 11th, 2011.
Darren (Shepard) and Annie (Aselton) have an enviable relationship built on love trust and communication -- they still enjoy each other's company and laugh at each other's jokes, but, unfortunately, they can't remember the last time they had sex. When a dinner party conversation leads to an honest discussion about the state of their love life, they begin to flirt with a way to spice things up. The deal: one night of freedom, no strings attached, no questions asked. Could a "freebie" be the cure for their ailing sex life? And will they go through with it? With a keen eye and fresh take, Aselton's directorial debut shines with crisp storytelling and fine-tuned performances. THE FREEBIE is an insightful and humorous look at love, sustaining relationships, and the awkwardness of monogamy when the haze of lust has faded.
For more information, please visit: www.untie-theknot.com
THE FREEBIE - DVD
Specifications:
Street Date: January 11, 2011
Run time: 77 minutes
Rating: R (MPAA - for language and sexual content)
DVD Sound: English 2.0 Stereo
DVD SRP: $29.99
Screen Format: 16x9 Widescreen
Language: English
CC: English
DVD Bonus Features: Audio commentary with Katie Aselton and Dax Shepard, Theatrical Trailer, National Freebie Day PSAs, Photo Gallery
About the filmmaker:
Born and raised in the small coastal town of Milbridge, Maine, Katie Aselton graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York in 2003. Frequently working with the Duplass Brothers, she starred in THE PUFFY CHAIR (Sundance 2005, nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards), and INTERVENTION (Berlin 2006, Silver Bear and Teddy Award), and also has a role alongside John C. Reilly in the Fox Searchlight Movie, CYRUS. She has appeared in NBC's THE OFFICE and stars in the new FX television show THE LEAGUE, currently in its second season.
About Phase 4 Films Inc.
Phase 4 Films distributes feature films, television and special interest content across all media in the North American market. Its label, kaBOOM! Entertainment is one of the leading pre-school and children's brands in the market.
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ODW REPORT/MUMBLECORE?
COLD WINTER On Demand
02/09/11_On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand and from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home.
Today’s review:
__COLD WINTER (Sundance Selects)
_Mumblecore Sees Its Shadow in COLD WINTER_By Chris Claro
A quirky story with a vibe that harks back to the early days of indie film, COLD WEATHER is a low-key, shambling discourse on ambition and sibling relationships.
Kind of but not really a detective story, Aaron Katz's film focuses on Doug, an aspiring forensic scientist working in a Portland, Oregon, ice factory. When Doug's ex-girlfriend goes missing, the Sherlock Holmes-loving slacker leads his sister on a search through Stumptown.
Katz adheres to a modified mumblecore style throughout COLD WEATHER, utilizing lots of handheld camera and long takes, and letting his story unfold at a more than leisurely pace. He gets the requisite understated performances out of his actors, who avoid the too-cool-for-the-room vibe that permeates so many small films.
Cris Lankenau is dead-on as the charmingly aimless Doug, and Trieste Kelly Dunn's portrayal of sister Gail, Doug's initially unwilling Watson, is winning in its simplicity.
Read more » http://ondemandweekly.com/blog/article/cold_winter_begins_on_demand?utm_source=On+Demand+Weekly+List&utm_campaign=5b5945856a-COLD_WINTER_Begins_On_Demand_Today2_7_2011&utm_medium=email
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COLD WINTER On Demand
02/09/11_On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand and from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home.
Today’s review:
__COLD WINTER (Sundance Selects)
_Mumblecore Sees Its Shadow in COLD WINTER_By Chris Claro
A quirky story with a vibe that harks back to the early days of indie film, COLD WEATHER is a low-key, shambling discourse on ambition and sibling relationships.
Kind of but not really a detective story, Aaron Katz's film focuses on Doug, an aspiring forensic scientist working in a Portland, Oregon, ice factory. When Doug's ex-girlfriend goes missing, the Sherlock Holmes-loving slacker leads his sister on a search through Stumptown.
Katz adheres to a modified mumblecore style throughout COLD WEATHER, utilizing lots of handheld camera and long takes, and letting his story unfold at a more than leisurely pace. He gets the requisite understated performances out of his actors, who avoid the too-cool-for-the-room vibe that permeates so many small films.
Cris Lankenau is dead-on as the charmingly aimless Doug, and Trieste Kelly Dunn's portrayal of sister Gail, Doug's initially unwilling Watson, is winning in its simplicity.
Read more » http://ondemandweekly.com/blog/article/cold_winter_begins_on_demand?utm_source=On+Demand+Weekly+List&utm_campaign=5b5945856a-COLD_WINTER_Begins_On_Demand_Today2_7_2011&utm_medium=email
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2010 Archives
The Duplass Bros. release first "studio" project ...
Fox Searchlight’s new film "Cyrus" – starring Jonah Hill, John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Catherine Keener --- was directed by legendary Mumblecore stalwarts The Duplass Bros. ("Baghead," "The Puffy Chair").
The movie, which opens this Friday, June 18, 2010 is becoming a viral success. I've already seen it and mumblecore fans will be pleased with the "shaky-cam" aesthetic and the use of extreme close-ups to get inside the actor's heads as they fuck with each other.
I wanted to share with you the “not so official” website for the film: www.notmileycyrus.com
Take a look at this insightful NEVER BEFORE SEEN VIDEO where the Duplass brothers talk “CYRUS”, and answer some interesting questions about the film.
Clip: http://fslav.wiredrive.com/r/p/?presentation=4afbbfc376be0550f43fb24d7566cc96
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The movie, which opens this Friday, June 18, 2010 is becoming a viral success. I've already seen it and mumblecore fans will be pleased with the "shaky-cam" aesthetic and the use of extreme close-ups to get inside the actor's heads as they fuck with each other.
I wanted to share with you the “not so official” website for the film: www.notmileycyrus.com
Take a look at this insightful NEVER BEFORE SEEN VIDEO where the Duplass brothers talk “CYRUS”, and answer some interesting questions about the film.
Clip: http://fslav.wiredrive.com/r/p/?presentation=4afbbfc376be0550f43fb24d7566cc96
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Press release
Sundance Selects presents...
UNCLE KENT
A FILM BY JOE SWANBERG
TRT: 72 min.| U.S.A.| color
"Direct from the Sundance Film Festival" will present the World Premiere of UNCLE KENT simultaneously at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and Nationwide on VOD via Sundance Selects.
Joe Swanberg makes his first Sundance appearance with his most mature film, UNCLE KENT, an aching true-to-life modern comedy about aging, loneliness, desire, and the awkward intimacies of online friendship.
The film follows forty-year-old Kent (Kent Osborne) who is an unmarried children's show writer living alone with his cat in Los Angeles. He spends his days sketching gag cartoons and bouncing ideas off his hyperactive friend, Kev (Kevin Bewersdorf), and his nights staving off loneliness in Internet chat rooms.
When one of Kent's online acquaintances, environmental journalist Kate (Jennifer Prediger), crashes at his house for the weekend, he finds himself attracted to her coquettish manner and frank emotional openness but sexually frustrated by her fidelity to a distant boyfriend.
Shot on location in Los Angeles, UNCLE KENT advances many themes and elements found in Swanberg's early films (Hannah Takes The Stairs, Nights and Weekends, Alexander the Last), including freely improvised dialogue, art-mirrors-life setups, and a renewed emphasis on how technology and other social media enable (or disable) human connection.
The cast includes previous collaborators Kent Osborne and composer/actor Kevin Bewersdorf, director Josephine Decker, and newcomer Jennifer Prediger.
Official 2011 Sundance Film Festival Spotlight selection, Spotlight section
UNCLE KENT marks Swanberg's Park City debut and will make its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and simultaneously on-demand on January 21, 2010.
"Direct from the Sundance Film Festival" will be available for approximately 30 days on each cable system's main movies-on-demand channel in a special "Sundance Film Festival" branded section.
Sundance Selects is a sister company to IFC Films.
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Sundance Selects presents...
UNCLE KENT
A FILM BY JOE SWANBERG
TRT: 72 min.| U.S.A.| color
"Direct from the Sundance Film Festival" will present the World Premiere of UNCLE KENT simultaneously at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and Nationwide on VOD via Sundance Selects.
Joe Swanberg makes his first Sundance appearance with his most mature film, UNCLE KENT, an aching true-to-life modern comedy about aging, loneliness, desire, and the awkward intimacies of online friendship.
The film follows forty-year-old Kent (Kent Osborne) who is an unmarried children's show writer living alone with his cat in Los Angeles. He spends his days sketching gag cartoons and bouncing ideas off his hyperactive friend, Kev (Kevin Bewersdorf), and his nights staving off loneliness in Internet chat rooms.
When one of Kent's online acquaintances, environmental journalist Kate (Jennifer Prediger), crashes at his house for the weekend, he finds himself attracted to her coquettish manner and frank emotional openness but sexually frustrated by her fidelity to a distant boyfriend.
Shot on location in Los Angeles, UNCLE KENT advances many themes and elements found in Swanberg's early films (Hannah Takes The Stairs, Nights and Weekends, Alexander the Last), including freely improvised dialogue, art-mirrors-life setups, and a renewed emphasis on how technology and other social media enable (or disable) human connection.
The cast includes previous collaborators Kent Osborne and composer/actor Kevin Bewersdorf, director Josephine Decker, and newcomer Jennifer Prediger.
Official 2011 Sundance Film Festival Spotlight selection, Spotlight section
UNCLE KENT marks Swanberg's Park City debut and will make its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and simultaneously on-demand on January 21, 2010.
"Direct from the Sundance Film Festival" will be available for approximately 30 days on each cable system's main movies-on-demand channel in a special "Sundance Film Festival" branded section.
Sundance Selects is a sister company to IFC Films.
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2009 ARCHIVES
(2009 release/SXSW)-Andrew Bujalski's BEESWAX hits DVD shelves on April 6, 2010!!!
beeswax
Dir. by Andrew Bujalski
Starring: Tilly Hatcher and Maggie Hatcher
[(2009)USA/Cinema Guild] - (1 hr 40 min)
Synopsis: A pair of identical twin sisters -- one, who has been paraplegic since youth and gets around in a wheelchair, and the other -- 'same face, different bodies.'
MOVIE website-http://www.beeswaxfilm.com/
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JOE SWANBERG's ALEXANDER THE LAST (2009 release/SXSW/On Demand)
Press release
ALEXANDER THE LAST
A Film by JOE SWANBERG
On March 14, 2009 IFC Films and SXSW will present the festival and on-demand world premiere of ALEXANDER THE LAST from the groundbreaking indie director and SXSW favorite Joe Swanberg.
Produced by Swanberg and Academy Award® nominee Noah Baumbach (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE) and Anish Savjani (WENDY AND LUCY), the film stars Jess Weixler (TEETH), Justin Rice (MUTUAL APPRECIATION and from the acclaimed alternative rock group BISHOP ALLEN),
Actors Barlow Jacobs, Amy Seimetz, Josh Hamilton and Jane Adams in a sexy ensemble drama about a married actress, her sister and their myriad sexual and creative temptations.
This marks the third time IFC Films and Swanberg have partnered together, following the successful releases of NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS and HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, and the fourth film Swanberg has premiered at SXSW.
Running Time: 72 minutes
WORLD PREMIERE AT SXSW AND ON IFC FESTIVAL DIRECT 3/14/09
NOTE: "mumblecore" and ALEXANDER THE LAST are featured in this New Yorker article:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2009/03/16/090316crci_cinema_denby
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ALEXANDER THE LAST
A Film by JOE SWANBERG
On March 14, 2009 IFC Films and SXSW will present the festival and on-demand world premiere of ALEXANDER THE LAST from the groundbreaking indie director and SXSW favorite Joe Swanberg.
Produced by Swanberg and Academy Award® nominee Noah Baumbach (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE) and Anish Savjani (WENDY AND LUCY), the film stars Jess Weixler (TEETH), Justin Rice (MUTUAL APPRECIATION and from the acclaimed alternative rock group BISHOP ALLEN),
Actors Barlow Jacobs, Amy Seimetz, Josh Hamilton and Jane Adams in a sexy ensemble drama about a married actress, her sister and their myriad sexual and creative temptations.
This marks the third time IFC Films and Swanberg have partnered together, following the successful releases of NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS and HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, and the fourth film Swanberg has premiered at SXSW.
Running Time: 72 minutes
WORLD PREMIERE AT SXSW AND ON IFC FESTIVAL DIRECT 3/14/09
NOTE: "mumblecore" and ALEXANDER THE LAST are featured in this New Yorker article:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2009/03/16/090316crci_cinema_denby
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(2009 release/Sundance/Cannes)-Lynn Shelton's HUMPDAY is on DVD now!
Magnolia presents
HUMPDAY
A Film by Lynn Shelton
Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, and Alycia Delmore
HUMPDAY Opens Friday, July 10th in New York at The Angelika.
From Lynn Shelton, the acclaimed writer/director of the Independent Spirit award-winning My Effortless Brilliance, comes HUMPDAY, a bromantic comedy starring Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project), Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) and exciting newcomer Alycia Delmore.
It’s been a decade since Ben (Duplass) and Andrew (Leonard) were the bad boys of their college campus. Ben has settled down and found a job, wife, and home. Andrew took the alternate route as a vagabond artist, skipping the globe from Chiapas to Cambodia.
When Andrew shows up unannounced on Ben’s doorstep, they easily fall back into their old dynamic of macho one-upmanship. Late into the night at a wild party, the two find themselves locked in a mutual dare: to enter an amateur porn contest together.
But what kind of boundary-breaking, envelope pushing porn can two straight dudes make?
After the booze and “big talk” run out, only one idea remains—they will have sex together…on camera. It’s not gay; it’s beyond gay. It’s not porn; it’s art. But how exactly will it work? And more importantly, who will tell Anna (Delmore), Ben’s wife?
Lynn Shelton expertly mines the biggest ironies of the male ego to hilarious effect. HUMPDAY is a buddy movie gone wild.
Humpday premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, receiving a special jury prize for "Spirit of Independence” and was also recently shown in the Director’s Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Written and Directed by: Lynn Shelton
Release Date: July 10, 2009 - in New York at the Angelika.
Rating: R
Running Time: 94 Minutes
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Need an in-depth article to fully convince you MUMBLECORE is worth your time? Here's the New York Times view on the scene:
A Generation Finds Its Mumble
RECENT rumblings — perhaps one should say mumblings — indicate an emerging movement in American independent film. Specimens of the genre share a low-key naturalism, low-fi production values and a stream of low-volume chatter often perceived as ineloquence. Hence the name: mumblecore.
The Core of Mumblecore More a loose collective or even a state of mind than an actual aesthetic movement, mumblecore concerns itself with the mundane vacillations of postcollegiate existence. It can seem like these movies, which star nonprofessional actors and feature quasi-improvised dialogue, seldom deal with matters more pressing than whether to return a phone call. When the heroine of “Funny Ha Ha” (2002), the film that kicked off the mumblecore wave, writes out a to-do list, the items include “Learn to play chess?” and “Fitness initiative!!”
But what these films understand all too well is that the tentative drift of the in-between years masks quietly seismic shifts that are apparent only in hindsight. Mumblecore narratives hinge less on plot points than on the tipping points in interpersonal relationships. A favorite setting is the party that goes subtly but disastrously astray. Events are often set in motion by an impulsive, ill-judged act of intimacy.
Artists who mine life’s minutiae are by no means new, but mumblecore bespeaks a true 21st-century sensibility, reflective of MySpace-like social networks and the voyeurism and intimacy of YouTube. It also signals a paradigm shift in how movies are made and how they find an audience. “This is the first time, mostly because of technology, that someone like me can go out and make a film with no money and no connections,” said Aaron Katz, whose movies “Dance Party USA” and “Quiet City” will be shown as part of a 10-film mumblecore series at the IFC Center in NYC.
Boosted in the last two years by enthusiastic word of mouth at film festivals and on blogs, movies like Mr. Katz’s have gained a following in the hipster enclaves where they are often set. Depending on how you define mumblecore, the category now includes 10 to 20 films. There have been a few commercial success stories and even the odd Hollywood flirtation. Jay and Mark Duplass’s “Puffy Chair” was released jointly by Netflix and the distributor Roadside Attractions and, thanks to aggressive promotion to Netflix subscribers, did well in theaters and even better on DVD. Andrew Bujalski, whose “Funny Ha Ha” and “Mutual Appreciation” are the best reviewed of the crop, is to write and direct an adaptation of “Indecision,” a novel by Benjamin Kunkel, for the producer Scott Rudin.
But for the most part mumblecore has stayed small precisely because it can. The need for traditional distribution deals is diminished when production costs are often as low as a few thousand dollars. “These filmmakers seem remarkably free of the anxiety you see in indie film directors who have brought their higher-budgeted films to festivals and are praying for them to sell,” said Scott Macaulay, a veteran indie producer and the editor of Filmmaker magazine, which recently ran a cover story on mumblecore. “The films feel more like dialogues between filmmakers and their audiences and less like calling cards to the studios.”
Alert to the business implications of the “long tail” theory about niche markets, the mumblecore crew has approached not just production but also distribution with a D.I.Y. mind-set. Mr. Bujalski’s first two films were self-distributed. Many of the directors have sold home-burned DVDs online.
Mumblecore’s origin myth locates the watershed at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Tex., which screened a cluster of small, superficially similar films (including “The Puffy Chair” and “Mutual Appreciation”). The filmmakers hit it off. At a bar one night Mr. Bujalski’s sound mixer, Eric Masunaga, coined the word “mumblecore.”
“It was an obnoxious name nobody liked and it was meant to be a joke,” said the director Joe Swanberg, who was at the festival that year with his first feature, “Kissing on the Mouth.” “But we haven’t been able to get rid of it.”
It was Mr. Bujalski who first publicly uttered the term in an interview with Indiewire.com. “I should apologize for that,” he said recently.
It’s only fitting that the etymology should be a point of contention, since the films in question often deal with the fraught process of identity formation. Journalists and bloggers have floated other tags, including the self-explanatory “bedhead cinema” and “Slackavettes,” in homage to the patron saint of American indie auteurs, John Cassavetes.
Mr. Bujalski, speaking by phone from Austin, where he had just finished shooting his third feature, objected to the very idea of a movement. “It makes perfect sense for bloggers to sift through the films and pluck out commonalities,” he said. “But the reductive concept that we’re somehow the same — that bugs me.”
There are indeed striking differences among the so-called mumblecorps. Mr. Bujalski, 30, is the elder statesman, and his movies are the most artful and sophisticated of the bunch, not least for being shot on film instead of handheld video.
Mr. Swanberg, 25, is the most prolific and the most committed to improvisation. His new film, “Hannah Takes the Stairs,” which will have a weeklong run during the series, was shot without a script; he shares writing credit with the actors. The creator of “Young American Bodies,” a Web series on Nerve.com, he is much more sexually candid than his colleagues. In a notorious scene in “Kissing on the Mouth,” he actually masturbates on camera.
Mr. Katz, 25, is more sensitive than his peers to the aesthetic limits and possibilities of digital video and has a more poetic sense of place. Frank V. Ross, 26, has received less exposure than the others, perhaps because his films are rougher-hewn and emotionally harsher. His latest, “Hohokam,” features slightly older, sadder characters and plays like a sober sequel to the first-generation mumblecore films.
As in most artistic movements, there is cross-pollination and tacit one-upmanship. Mr. Swanberg said he made “Kissing on the Mouth” partly in response to Mr. Bujalski’s “Funny Ha Ha,” whose characters he found passive-aggressive.
But the prevailing spirit is of friendly collaboration. Two of the three male leads in Mr. Swanberg’s “Hannah” are played by Mr. Bujalski and Mark Duplass. Mr. Katz edited the film’s trailer. Mr. Swanberg appears in Mr. Katz’s “Quiet City” and Mr. Ross’s “Hohokam.” Since most of them live in different cities — Mr. Bujalski in Boston, Mr. Swanberg and Mr. Ross in Chicago, Mr. Katz in New York — film festivals function as social hubs, networking events and de facto casting sessions.
While many of these movies have screened at festivals, mumblecore is the sole significant American indie film wave of the last 20 years to have emerged outside the ecosystem of the Sundance Film Festival. (“The Puffy Chair” is the only one to have screened at Sundance; Mr. Bujalski and Mr. Swanberg have had films rejected by the festival.)
For credibility purposes the perception of the mumblecorps as underdog outsiders, too indie for Sundance, is hardly a bad thing. Especially not since South by Southwest, which takes place in March, two months after Sundance, has stepped up to serve as the movement’s unofficial headquarters. Matt Dentler, the producer of South by Southwest, said that a few years ago he resolved to “find films that bigger festivals wouldn’t be able to take a chance on.”
The Core of Mumblecore Despite the anti-Sundance image, mumblecore has ancestors in American indie cinema. Given that the films are often anthropological studies of 20-something mating rituals, attuned to the halting rhythms and circular digressions of actual speech, Richard Linklater is perhaps the most obvious forefather. (“Quiet City” is a scruffy cover version of Mr. Linklater’s meet-cute romance “Before Sunrise,” substituting the F train for the Eurostar.) Some critics have suggested loftier reference points like the French masters of talk Eric Rohmer and Jean Eustache.
For potential haters, mumblecore offers plenty of ammunition. The films are modest in scope, but their concentration on daily banalities can register as narcissism. Despite the movement’s communitarian ethos, from the outside it can seem incestuous and insular. Hardly models of diversity, the films are set in mostly white, straight, middle-class worlds, and while female characters are often well drawn, the directors are overwhelmingly male.
To their credit, most of these films offset their navel-gazing tendencies with a dose of skepticism. The filmmakers view their characters with empathy but don’t let them off the hook; Mr. Swanberg and Mr. Bujalski often assign themselves the least flattering roles available. “A lot of that is actual self-critique,” said Mr. Swanberg, whose “LOL” is a withering portrayal of masculine self-absorption in an age of high-tech addictions.
Mumblecore’s inherent emphasis on the transitional periods of life should in theory save it from an ignominious middle age. Even as this generational sensibility expands its reach — Mr. Swanberg spent part of the summer in London acting in a British mumblecore indie — its pioneers have already begun to outgrow it.
Mr. Katz is working on a ’70s-set screenplay that he said would be ill-suited to micro-budget methods. Mr. Swanberg got married this year and wants to explore new issues, “more societal and less personal,” he said. “If I have to watch another conversation on a couch, I’m going to kill myself.”
His fatigue also has to do with having made four films in three years. At the heart of the mumblecore movement is a utopian impulse: the merging of art and life. The danger, as Mr. Swanberg has found, is that the art can get in the way of the life. When he wrapped his fourth film, “Nights and Weekends,” he said, “I realized that because I’d been producing so much work, I hadn’t changed enough as a person between projects. At that point I couldn’t make another movie even if I’d wanted to, because I hadn’t had a life for so long.”
Written By DENNIS LIM
Published: August 19, 2007
Courtesy of the NY Times
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A Generation Finds Its Mumble
RECENT rumblings — perhaps one should say mumblings — indicate an emerging movement in American independent film. Specimens of the genre share a low-key naturalism, low-fi production values and a stream of low-volume chatter often perceived as ineloquence. Hence the name: mumblecore.
The Core of Mumblecore More a loose collective or even a state of mind than an actual aesthetic movement, mumblecore concerns itself with the mundane vacillations of postcollegiate existence. It can seem like these movies, which star nonprofessional actors and feature quasi-improvised dialogue, seldom deal with matters more pressing than whether to return a phone call. When the heroine of “Funny Ha Ha” (2002), the film that kicked off the mumblecore wave, writes out a to-do list, the items include “Learn to play chess?” and “Fitness initiative!!”
But what these films understand all too well is that the tentative drift of the in-between years masks quietly seismic shifts that are apparent only in hindsight. Mumblecore narratives hinge less on plot points than on the tipping points in interpersonal relationships. A favorite setting is the party that goes subtly but disastrously astray. Events are often set in motion by an impulsive, ill-judged act of intimacy.
Artists who mine life’s minutiae are by no means new, but mumblecore bespeaks a true 21st-century sensibility, reflective of MySpace-like social networks and the voyeurism and intimacy of YouTube. It also signals a paradigm shift in how movies are made and how they find an audience. “This is the first time, mostly because of technology, that someone like me can go out and make a film with no money and no connections,” said Aaron Katz, whose movies “Dance Party USA” and “Quiet City” will be shown as part of a 10-film mumblecore series at the IFC Center in NYC.
Boosted in the last two years by enthusiastic word of mouth at film festivals and on blogs, movies like Mr. Katz’s have gained a following in the hipster enclaves where they are often set. Depending on how you define mumblecore, the category now includes 10 to 20 films. There have been a few commercial success stories and even the odd Hollywood flirtation. Jay and Mark Duplass’s “Puffy Chair” was released jointly by Netflix and the distributor Roadside Attractions and, thanks to aggressive promotion to Netflix subscribers, did well in theaters and even better on DVD. Andrew Bujalski, whose “Funny Ha Ha” and “Mutual Appreciation” are the best reviewed of the crop, is to write and direct an adaptation of “Indecision,” a novel by Benjamin Kunkel, for the producer Scott Rudin.
But for the most part mumblecore has stayed small precisely because it can. The need for traditional distribution deals is diminished when production costs are often as low as a few thousand dollars. “These filmmakers seem remarkably free of the anxiety you see in indie film directors who have brought their higher-budgeted films to festivals and are praying for them to sell,” said Scott Macaulay, a veteran indie producer and the editor of Filmmaker magazine, which recently ran a cover story on mumblecore. “The films feel more like dialogues between filmmakers and their audiences and less like calling cards to the studios.”
Alert to the business implications of the “long tail” theory about niche markets, the mumblecore crew has approached not just production but also distribution with a D.I.Y. mind-set. Mr. Bujalski’s first two films were self-distributed. Many of the directors have sold home-burned DVDs online.
Mumblecore’s origin myth locates the watershed at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Tex., which screened a cluster of small, superficially similar films (including “The Puffy Chair” and “Mutual Appreciation”). The filmmakers hit it off. At a bar one night Mr. Bujalski’s sound mixer, Eric Masunaga, coined the word “mumblecore.”
“It was an obnoxious name nobody liked and it was meant to be a joke,” said the director Joe Swanberg, who was at the festival that year with his first feature, “Kissing on the Mouth.” “But we haven’t been able to get rid of it.”
It was Mr. Bujalski who first publicly uttered the term in an interview with Indiewire.com. “I should apologize for that,” he said recently.
It’s only fitting that the etymology should be a point of contention, since the films in question often deal with the fraught process of identity formation. Journalists and bloggers have floated other tags, including the self-explanatory “bedhead cinema” and “Slackavettes,” in homage to the patron saint of American indie auteurs, John Cassavetes.
Mr. Bujalski, speaking by phone from Austin, where he had just finished shooting his third feature, objected to the very idea of a movement. “It makes perfect sense for bloggers to sift through the films and pluck out commonalities,” he said. “But the reductive concept that we’re somehow the same — that bugs me.”
There are indeed striking differences among the so-called mumblecorps. Mr. Bujalski, 30, is the elder statesman, and his movies are the most artful and sophisticated of the bunch, not least for being shot on film instead of handheld video.
Mr. Swanberg, 25, is the most prolific and the most committed to improvisation. His new film, “Hannah Takes the Stairs,” which will have a weeklong run during the series, was shot without a script; he shares writing credit with the actors. The creator of “Young American Bodies,” a Web series on Nerve.com, he is much more sexually candid than his colleagues. In a notorious scene in “Kissing on the Mouth,” he actually masturbates on camera.
Mr. Katz, 25, is more sensitive than his peers to the aesthetic limits and possibilities of digital video and has a more poetic sense of place. Frank V. Ross, 26, has received less exposure than the others, perhaps because his films are rougher-hewn and emotionally harsher. His latest, “Hohokam,” features slightly older, sadder characters and plays like a sober sequel to the first-generation mumblecore films.
As in most artistic movements, there is cross-pollination and tacit one-upmanship. Mr. Swanberg said he made “Kissing on the Mouth” partly in response to Mr. Bujalski’s “Funny Ha Ha,” whose characters he found passive-aggressive.
But the prevailing spirit is of friendly collaboration. Two of the three male leads in Mr. Swanberg’s “Hannah” are played by Mr. Bujalski and Mark Duplass. Mr. Katz edited the film’s trailer. Mr. Swanberg appears in Mr. Katz’s “Quiet City” and Mr. Ross’s “Hohokam.” Since most of them live in different cities — Mr. Bujalski in Boston, Mr. Swanberg and Mr. Ross in Chicago, Mr. Katz in New York — film festivals function as social hubs, networking events and de facto casting sessions.
While many of these movies have screened at festivals, mumblecore is the sole significant American indie film wave of the last 20 years to have emerged outside the ecosystem of the Sundance Film Festival. (“The Puffy Chair” is the only one to have screened at Sundance; Mr. Bujalski and Mr. Swanberg have had films rejected by the festival.)
For credibility purposes the perception of the mumblecorps as underdog outsiders, too indie for Sundance, is hardly a bad thing. Especially not since South by Southwest, which takes place in March, two months after Sundance, has stepped up to serve as the movement’s unofficial headquarters. Matt Dentler, the producer of South by Southwest, said that a few years ago he resolved to “find films that bigger festivals wouldn’t be able to take a chance on.”
The Core of Mumblecore Despite the anti-Sundance image, mumblecore has ancestors in American indie cinema. Given that the films are often anthropological studies of 20-something mating rituals, attuned to the halting rhythms and circular digressions of actual speech, Richard Linklater is perhaps the most obvious forefather. (“Quiet City” is a scruffy cover version of Mr. Linklater’s meet-cute romance “Before Sunrise,” substituting the F train for the Eurostar.) Some critics have suggested loftier reference points like the French masters of talk Eric Rohmer and Jean Eustache.
For potential haters, mumblecore offers plenty of ammunition. The films are modest in scope, but their concentration on daily banalities can register as narcissism. Despite the movement’s communitarian ethos, from the outside it can seem incestuous and insular. Hardly models of diversity, the films are set in mostly white, straight, middle-class worlds, and while female characters are often well drawn, the directors are overwhelmingly male.
To their credit, most of these films offset their navel-gazing tendencies with a dose of skepticism. The filmmakers view their characters with empathy but don’t let them off the hook; Mr. Swanberg and Mr. Bujalski often assign themselves the least flattering roles available. “A lot of that is actual self-critique,” said Mr. Swanberg, whose “LOL” is a withering portrayal of masculine self-absorption in an age of high-tech addictions.
Mumblecore’s inherent emphasis on the transitional periods of life should in theory save it from an ignominious middle age. Even as this generational sensibility expands its reach — Mr. Swanberg spent part of the summer in London acting in a British mumblecore indie — its pioneers have already begun to outgrow it.
Mr. Katz is working on a ’70s-set screenplay that he said would be ill-suited to micro-budget methods. Mr. Swanberg got married this year and wants to explore new issues, “more societal and less personal,” he said. “If I have to watch another conversation on a couch, I’m going to kill myself.”
His fatigue also has to do with having made four films in three years. At the heart of the mumblecore movement is a utopian impulse: the merging of art and life. The danger, as Mr. Swanberg has found, is that the art can get in the way of the life. When he wrapped his fourth film, “Nights and Weekends,” he said, “I realized that because I’d been producing so much work, I hadn’t changed enough as a person between projects. At that point I couldn’t make another movie even if I’d wanted to, because I hadn’t had a life for so long.”
Written By DENNIS LIM
Published: August 19, 2007
Courtesy of the NY Times
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And here's a lengthy interview from Filmmaker Magazine:
Interview with Mumblecore filmer:
JOE SWANBERG, director of
HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS
Whatever the merits or otherwise of the "mumblecore" tag, one positive thing it has certainly done is help bring deserved attention to filmmakers like Joe Swanberg. The precocious 25-year-old was born in Detroit, but moved around as a kid before attending Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he studied film. After graduation, he used money he had made from web design work to fund his first feature, Kissing on the MouthLOL — which features "noisehead" contributions from many fellow mumblecorers — followed the year after, and premieres on DVD August 28 through Benten Films.
Swanberg's third feature, Hannah Takes the Stairs, is arguably the director's breakthrough film. Hannah (Greta Gerwig) is a recent college grad working at a production company with two writers, Matt (Kent Osborne) and Paul (Andrew Bujalski), who both take an interest in her, despite the fact that she already has a boyfriend, Mike (Mark Duplass). A fascinating portrait of Gerwig's chronically unhappy romantic, Hannah Takes the Stairs
Filmmaker spoke to Swanberg about directing directors, his continuing quest to make "the one," and his desire to make a PG-13 romantic comedy.
(2005), which played at the SXSW Film Festival at the time the concept of "mumblecore" was born. His sophomore effort, is a lot more linear and conventional than Swanberg's previous work, despite the fact that it was almost entirely improvised. Gerwig gives a phenomenal, career-launching performance as Hannah, while the film itself reveals a new focus and maturity in Swanberg that promises much for the future.
Filmmaker: You were only 22 when you made Kissing on the Mouth. How did you go about making your first feature at such a young age?
Swanberg: I'd gotten out of film school and made some shorts, and I was like, “God, I'm 22 and I haven't made a feature!” I graduated in March, and by December I was really adamant that I was going to start shooting something. I was talking with Kris [Williams], who's my wife now but was my girlfriend at the time, about all these crazy, experimental ideas: I wanted to make a movie with no characters that were there the whole time, and I didn't want to give anybody names. I wanted to try a million different things. It got more and more conventional as we went, and what started as these really weird notions got honed down into a pretty recognizable feature. But I didn't set out knowing it was going to be a feature, or knowing what length it would be, or what it would be like — we just kind of started shooting.
Filmmaker: LOL is also very unconventional, so did you use the same process on that film?
Swanberg: Since Kissing on the Mouth had already played some festivals, I was more aware that it would be a good idea to make LOL feature length. But the shooting process was definitely really similar, where I was just shooting scenes, not really knowing where they would go. At the time, we were even kicking around the idea that we wouldn't ever have a definitive cut of the movie, and it would something we would put out on DVD where you could choose to randomise the chapters and just watch it in shuffle mode. We thought there would never be an actual narrative to the movie, or that the audience would have to piece it together after the fact.
Filmmaker: The people in your films are slackers, and yet you are 25 and have already made three features. There's a great moment in LOL where your character is caught working on his laptop late at night, but do you have a similarly compulsive approach to work?
Swanberg: That moment is totally, sadly accurate! I keep really unhealthy hours. There have been times in my life when I don't want to go to sleep because there's so much to be done, and it's just easier to stay up and try and work through it. In general, I have this weird relationship with sleep because I always feel like I'm missing something, like “If I go to sleep, something great's going to happen, and I won't be there to witness it.” I think that's true of a lot of the people I work with. It's this weird thing of workaholic overachievers depicting slacker underachievers, [laughs] but I think it's something about exposing your worst tendencies. I always get a kick out of taking the things in my own personality that I think are really annoying and then making those be the focal point.
Filmmaker: Hannah Takes the Stairs is the first of your films that you haven't also acted in, so did you feel as emotionally involved in it?
Swanberg: It's funny, because I asked myself that same question somewhere in the middle of making it: “Is this still personal? Am I here in the making of this, or am I just outside of it observing people?” I realized that I'm Hannah, and I'm feeling that constant disappointment and perpetual dissatisfaction [she feels], only it's in my film work, not with boys or relationships. It really became clear to me that the relationships she's going through are very similar to the way that I'm making these films. I got really excited about them, and get way, heavily into them for a while, and then my attention shifts to the next project, and I move around looking for satisfaction, but ultimately not finding it.
Filmmaker: So does this mean you look upon your previous films as failures?
Swanberg: I'm really proud of those movies, but they're not “the one.” None of them are ever going to be “the one,” but each time around somewhere midway through, I'm always like, “OK, this is the one. It feels really good, and I'm going to get it right this time.” Then I finish it, and it feels OK, but it's ultimately not “the one” — and that's what makes me go searching for the next one. But it's exciting for me, not depressing. The thing that makes me sad is knowing how much each of these projects meant to me at one point, and looking back on them as just films that I made. You know, they obsess your life and take up all your time for eight months, they're all you think about and you invest everything in them — and then two years later, it's just a DVD package that's sitting on your shelf that you occasionally show to friends. [laughs]
Filmmaker: Was it daunting on Hannah when so many of your actors were also directors? Were they constantly offering advice?
Swanberg: No, they were really good, but I think it was because they were hyper-conscious about not being like that! [laughs] None of them wanted to be the one that accidentally started directing. I wouldn't have felt weird about it at all, and they're input was definitely welcome, but I know there were multiple moments through the shoot when they would have to check themselves and keep from their first instinct, which would have been to take over a little bit and start directing the scene.
Filmmaker: Greta Gerwig is integral to this film, and somebody even described her to me as your muse.
Swanberg: I think she's incredible, and the process of making this movie was just sort of falling in love with her, and realizing all the things that she could do. She'd gotten out of school, and her first job out of college was coming and being in this movie. I think she gives a really amazing performance — it feels committed to what's going on. We had a lot of long talks, and she really legitimately cared for this character, wanted to make sure that the movie accurately represented her, and had a lot of great ideas. There were a lot of times where she would come up and tell me what she was going to do, when she wouldn't tell the actors in the scene, so I would know what to look out for. Midway through the shoot, she and I looked at the scenes that we had shot so far and sort of pieced together the rest of the movie, and what was going to happen. She really deserves a lot of credit for this film.
Filmmaker: The role demands more of her than most actresses are willing to give, both physically and emotionally.
Swanberg: I felt like I had her trust, which is a really great way to work. It never felt like a process where I was trying to talk her into things. She's really comfortable with herself, which is so important for a role like this. Greta is self-confident and smart and has a really good sense of what works,. Her sensibilities were on target, so she would know if something was going to work or if it was a good idea. There were no discussions about whether things were outside of her comfort zone or not, it was more like, “We're making a film and it's going to work, so I'm going to do it.” Everybody was like that. Mark Duplass showed up, and within a few hours he was [being filmed] naked in the shower with her!
Filmmaker: I believe the film was basically improvised.
Swanberg: It was a movie that was put together by the people in it. I didn't tell a single one of them to say anything. Everything that came out of their mouth was stuff that they were creating, and the shape that the movie took was because of that. If there weren't the need to have traditional credits like “writer” and “director,” I would really just leave it as a film by all of us, and have that be the final word on it.
Filmmaker: So how did the script evolve over the course of shooting?
Swanberg: We had the concept of the three guys [Hannah has relationships with] from the very beginning, and the general flow of the movie, so that structure helped. One of the other things that helped us was we started thinking of the movie in a kind of palindrome structure: the beginning and the end would mirror each other, and we'd work inward from that. Those were formal devices that we used, but then all the dialogue was improvised so things that came up naturally just had to be worked in.
Filmmaker: As this is a more conventional movie, do you think it will take you down a more mainstream path?
Swanberg: I'm really naive about all that stuff and I don't have any expectations about what'll happen. I'm not really interested in a lot of the conventional next steps, like getting an agent or writing a script or trying to do a bigger movie. I already made a really small movie since Hannah Takes the Stairs that I did with Greta that we shot last December, and the ideas I have now for future projects are all still pretty small. So it's not a calling card or an attempt to get attention from the mainstream. But hopefully it will be successful and allow me to make small movies that will be seen by bigger audiences.
Filmmaker: Which movies are your guilty pleasures?
Swanberg: I really do have a pretty mainstream sensibility. I really love the movie That Thing You Do! that Tom Hanks made, and there's a lot of stuff like that that's really pretty conventional and cutesy. My guilty pleasure is probably a really good PG-13 romantic comedy – I love them! You know, a movie like Fever Pitch with Jimmy Fallon, those kind of Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler cutesy movies. I really like those.
Filmmaker: Is this a potential new direction for you then?
Swanberg: Totally, I would do it in a second! I'd love to make a movie with Adam Sandler and Samantha Morton that's a PG-13 romantic comedy. That would be great. I love her, I love her — I'm obsessed with Samantha Morton!
Filmmaker: In a way that your wife understands?
Swanberg: Yeah, totally. I think Kris would freely let me off the hook to go and explore my Samantha Morton love! [laughs]
Filmmaker: If you could hand out an Oscar to someone who's never won, who would you give it to?
Swanberg: Danny Huston is so ****ing awesome in Ivansxtc. It blew my mind [so much] I actually went back and saw it the next day. I went home and said, “Did I really just see that? There's no way somebody's that good!” Then I watched it again, just because I couldn't believe it. When I was in film school, I worked at this small film festival at school and showed it there, but it just didn't get a response. I was like, “Are you people watching the same thing I'm watching? This is amazing stuff!” So I would give Danny Huston an Oscar — and also everybody involved with Jackass: The Movie!
Filmmaker: Finally, if the world ended tomorrow, what (if anything) would you be sad that you hadn't achieved?
Swanberg: Is it really obnoxious to say that I feel content right now? I feel great — what on earth would I have to complain about?! Moviewise things are really good, I've been very fortunate, Hannah's about to come out, I'm working on another cool project, I'm married and I had a great honeymoon... I dunno, I'm feeling pretty content right now! [laughs]
Story & Interview by Nick Dawson
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JOE SWANBERG, director of
HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS
Whatever the merits or otherwise of the "mumblecore" tag, one positive thing it has certainly done is help bring deserved attention to filmmakers like Joe Swanberg. The precocious 25-year-old was born in Detroit, but moved around as a kid before attending Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he studied film. After graduation, he used money he had made from web design work to fund his first feature, Kissing on the MouthLOL — which features "noisehead" contributions from many fellow mumblecorers — followed the year after, and premieres on DVD August 28 through Benten Films.
Swanberg's third feature, Hannah Takes the Stairs, is arguably the director's breakthrough film. Hannah (Greta Gerwig) is a recent college grad working at a production company with two writers, Matt (Kent Osborne) and Paul (Andrew Bujalski), who both take an interest in her, despite the fact that she already has a boyfriend, Mike (Mark Duplass). A fascinating portrait of Gerwig's chronically unhappy romantic, Hannah Takes the Stairs
Filmmaker spoke to Swanberg about directing directors, his continuing quest to make "the one," and his desire to make a PG-13 romantic comedy.
(2005), which played at the SXSW Film Festival at the time the concept of "mumblecore" was born. His sophomore effort, is a lot more linear and conventional than Swanberg's previous work, despite the fact that it was almost entirely improvised. Gerwig gives a phenomenal, career-launching performance as Hannah, while the film itself reveals a new focus and maturity in Swanberg that promises much for the future.
Filmmaker: You were only 22 when you made Kissing on the Mouth. How did you go about making your first feature at such a young age?
Swanberg: I'd gotten out of film school and made some shorts, and I was like, “God, I'm 22 and I haven't made a feature!” I graduated in March, and by December I was really adamant that I was going to start shooting something. I was talking with Kris [Williams], who's my wife now but was my girlfriend at the time, about all these crazy, experimental ideas: I wanted to make a movie with no characters that were there the whole time, and I didn't want to give anybody names. I wanted to try a million different things. It got more and more conventional as we went, and what started as these really weird notions got honed down into a pretty recognizable feature. But I didn't set out knowing it was going to be a feature, or knowing what length it would be, or what it would be like — we just kind of started shooting.
Filmmaker: LOL is also very unconventional, so did you use the same process on that film?
Swanberg: Since Kissing on the Mouth had already played some festivals, I was more aware that it would be a good idea to make LOL feature length. But the shooting process was definitely really similar, where I was just shooting scenes, not really knowing where they would go. At the time, we were even kicking around the idea that we wouldn't ever have a definitive cut of the movie, and it would something we would put out on DVD where you could choose to randomise the chapters and just watch it in shuffle mode. We thought there would never be an actual narrative to the movie, or that the audience would have to piece it together after the fact.
Filmmaker: The people in your films are slackers, and yet you are 25 and have already made three features. There's a great moment in LOL where your character is caught working on his laptop late at night, but do you have a similarly compulsive approach to work?
Swanberg: That moment is totally, sadly accurate! I keep really unhealthy hours. There have been times in my life when I don't want to go to sleep because there's so much to be done, and it's just easier to stay up and try and work through it. In general, I have this weird relationship with sleep because I always feel like I'm missing something, like “If I go to sleep, something great's going to happen, and I won't be there to witness it.” I think that's true of a lot of the people I work with. It's this weird thing of workaholic overachievers depicting slacker underachievers, [laughs] but I think it's something about exposing your worst tendencies. I always get a kick out of taking the things in my own personality that I think are really annoying and then making those be the focal point.
Filmmaker: Hannah Takes the Stairs is the first of your films that you haven't also acted in, so did you feel as emotionally involved in it?
Swanberg: It's funny, because I asked myself that same question somewhere in the middle of making it: “Is this still personal? Am I here in the making of this, or am I just outside of it observing people?” I realized that I'm Hannah, and I'm feeling that constant disappointment and perpetual dissatisfaction [she feels], only it's in my film work, not with boys or relationships. It really became clear to me that the relationships she's going through are very similar to the way that I'm making these films. I got really excited about them, and get way, heavily into them for a while, and then my attention shifts to the next project, and I move around looking for satisfaction, but ultimately not finding it.
Filmmaker: So does this mean you look upon your previous films as failures?
Swanberg: I'm really proud of those movies, but they're not “the one.” None of them are ever going to be “the one,” but each time around somewhere midway through, I'm always like, “OK, this is the one. It feels really good, and I'm going to get it right this time.” Then I finish it, and it feels OK, but it's ultimately not “the one” — and that's what makes me go searching for the next one. But it's exciting for me, not depressing. The thing that makes me sad is knowing how much each of these projects meant to me at one point, and looking back on them as just films that I made. You know, they obsess your life and take up all your time for eight months, they're all you think about and you invest everything in them — and then two years later, it's just a DVD package that's sitting on your shelf that you occasionally show to friends. [laughs]
Filmmaker: Was it daunting on Hannah when so many of your actors were also directors? Were they constantly offering advice?
Swanberg: No, they were really good, but I think it was because they were hyper-conscious about not being like that! [laughs] None of them wanted to be the one that accidentally started directing. I wouldn't have felt weird about it at all, and they're input was definitely welcome, but I know there were multiple moments through the shoot when they would have to check themselves and keep from their first instinct, which would have been to take over a little bit and start directing the scene.
Filmmaker: Greta Gerwig is integral to this film, and somebody even described her to me as your muse.
Swanberg: I think she's incredible, and the process of making this movie was just sort of falling in love with her, and realizing all the things that she could do. She'd gotten out of school, and her first job out of college was coming and being in this movie. I think she gives a really amazing performance — it feels committed to what's going on. We had a lot of long talks, and she really legitimately cared for this character, wanted to make sure that the movie accurately represented her, and had a lot of great ideas. There were a lot of times where she would come up and tell me what she was going to do, when she wouldn't tell the actors in the scene, so I would know what to look out for. Midway through the shoot, she and I looked at the scenes that we had shot so far and sort of pieced together the rest of the movie, and what was going to happen. She really deserves a lot of credit for this film.
Filmmaker: The role demands more of her than most actresses are willing to give, both physically and emotionally.
Swanberg: I felt like I had her trust, which is a really great way to work. It never felt like a process where I was trying to talk her into things. She's really comfortable with herself, which is so important for a role like this. Greta is self-confident and smart and has a really good sense of what works,. Her sensibilities were on target, so she would know if something was going to work or if it was a good idea. There were no discussions about whether things were outside of her comfort zone or not, it was more like, “We're making a film and it's going to work, so I'm going to do it.” Everybody was like that. Mark Duplass showed up, and within a few hours he was [being filmed] naked in the shower with her!
Filmmaker: I believe the film was basically improvised.
Swanberg: It was a movie that was put together by the people in it. I didn't tell a single one of them to say anything. Everything that came out of their mouth was stuff that they were creating, and the shape that the movie took was because of that. If there weren't the need to have traditional credits like “writer” and “director,” I would really just leave it as a film by all of us, and have that be the final word on it.
Filmmaker: So how did the script evolve over the course of shooting?
Swanberg: We had the concept of the three guys [Hannah has relationships with] from the very beginning, and the general flow of the movie, so that structure helped. One of the other things that helped us was we started thinking of the movie in a kind of palindrome structure: the beginning and the end would mirror each other, and we'd work inward from that. Those were formal devices that we used, but then all the dialogue was improvised so things that came up naturally just had to be worked in.
Filmmaker: As this is a more conventional movie, do you think it will take you down a more mainstream path?
Swanberg: I'm really naive about all that stuff and I don't have any expectations about what'll happen. I'm not really interested in a lot of the conventional next steps, like getting an agent or writing a script or trying to do a bigger movie. I already made a really small movie since Hannah Takes the Stairs that I did with Greta that we shot last December, and the ideas I have now for future projects are all still pretty small. So it's not a calling card or an attempt to get attention from the mainstream. But hopefully it will be successful and allow me to make small movies that will be seen by bigger audiences.
Filmmaker: Which movies are your guilty pleasures?
Swanberg: I really do have a pretty mainstream sensibility. I really love the movie That Thing You Do! that Tom Hanks made, and there's a lot of stuff like that that's really pretty conventional and cutesy. My guilty pleasure is probably a really good PG-13 romantic comedy – I love them! You know, a movie like Fever Pitch with Jimmy Fallon, those kind of Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler cutesy movies. I really like those.
Filmmaker: Is this a potential new direction for you then?
Swanberg: Totally, I would do it in a second! I'd love to make a movie with Adam Sandler and Samantha Morton that's a PG-13 romantic comedy. That would be great. I love her, I love her — I'm obsessed with Samantha Morton!
Filmmaker: In a way that your wife understands?
Swanberg: Yeah, totally. I think Kris would freely let me off the hook to go and explore my Samantha Morton love! [laughs]
Filmmaker: If you could hand out an Oscar to someone who's never won, who would you give it to?
Swanberg: Danny Huston is so ****ing awesome in Ivansxtc. It blew my mind [so much] I actually went back and saw it the next day. I went home and said, “Did I really just see that? There's no way somebody's that good!” Then I watched it again, just because I couldn't believe it. When I was in film school, I worked at this small film festival at school and showed it there, but it just didn't get a response. I was like, “Are you people watching the same thing I'm watching? This is amazing stuff!” So I would give Danny Huston an Oscar — and also everybody involved with Jackass: The Movie!
Filmmaker: Finally, if the world ended tomorrow, what (if anything) would you be sad that you hadn't achieved?
Swanberg: Is it really obnoxious to say that I feel content right now? I feel great — what on earth would I have to complain about?! Moviewise things are really good, I've been very fortunate, Hannah's about to come out, I'm working on another cool project, I'm married and I had a great honeymoon... I dunno, I'm feeling pretty content right now! [laughs]
Story & Interview by Nick Dawson
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