TODD SOLONDZ RIDES A “DARK HORSE”

By Scott Macaulay

In a press release today Ted Hope announced that Todd Solondz’s new film, Dark Horse, went into production on October 11. Hope is producing through his new Double Hope production company, and the cast includes Justin Bartha, Selma Blair, Mia Farrow, Jordan Gelber, Donna Murphy and Christopher Walken. Andrij Parekh (Blue Valentine) is shooting, Derrick Tseng is co-producing, and Goldcrest is handling international sales.

From the press release:

Mr. Solondz helms the tale of Abe (Jordan Gelber), a 30-something who lives with his parents, reluctantly works for his father (Christopher Walken), and avidly collects toys. When Abe isn’t playing backgammon with his mother (Mia Farrow), he’s trying to romance Miranda (Selma Blair), another 30-something who has moved back in with her parents after her literary/academic career crashed. Out of desperation, Miranda agrees to marry Abe, and the two begin to plan their life together. But, just when it looks like things are starting to go right for Abe, everything goes horribly wrong.

Mr. Solondz exclaimed: “I am so lucky and grateful to have financing, and such a wonderful cast and crew, and on top of that to be reunited with producers Ted Hope and Derrick Tseng.”

“We would drop whatever we were doing to get a chance to collaborate with Todd again. He is one of a kind and always delivers both a unique film and a fun shoot,” said Mr. Hope & Mr. Tseng.

Over at The Playlist, Solondz talked about the film back in July.

“Well, it doesn’t have any reoccurring or pre-existing characters. They’re all different,” Solondz said referring to the way Life During Wartime revisits characters that have already appeared in the cinematic Todd Solondz milieu. “And you know CAA? [The L.A. talent agency]. It’s funny, it’s the first time they actually like one of my scripts and I realized [in Dark Horse], there’s no rape, there’s no child molestation, there’s no masturbation, and then I thought, ‘omg, why didn’t I think of this years ago?’” he half-joked, referencing the difficulty he had in getting Wartime made.

At Ted Hope’s Truly Free … Read the rest

WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER (SUNDAY MORNING LINKS)

By Scott Macaulay

Here are articles of interest I’ve bookmarked over the last few days in my Instapaper.

* In the Edmonton Journal, Atom Egoyan discusses the rise and what he sees as the slow decline of independent production, linking it to not only external forces (technology, economic cycles) but also the fusion of independent production with a particularly American urge for self-expression.

Egoyan speaks in a matter-of-fact tone. Able to transcend the pettier concerns of a frequently petty industry, thanks to a sophisticated world view, trenchant sense of humour and healthy dose of Canadian humility, Egoyan sees the shifting business model as the result of technological change and financial trepidation.

“I noticed the shift really started happening in the mid-’90s, when independent movies became the new American dream,” he says.

Egoyan says the romantic ideal of making a movie motivated by personal expression — not commercial pressure — got wound up with the American ethos and quickly became a beacon for wannabes.

“Very quickly, things became oversaturated,” says Egoyan, whose own career rose above the flood with the success of The Sweet Hereafter. “(The movement) made people really excited about independent film, but often without the attendant education (in film).”

At Twitch, Philip Ridley is interviewed about his new film, Heartless, which is said to harken back to the “to the folklore-infused psychological terrain of The Reflecting Skin, and the murky physical terrain of The Krays, which he wrote in 1990.”

In the New York Times, Jonah Weiner interviews Todd Solondz on the release of his new Life During Wartime. From the piece:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Allen, the obscene caller, in “Happiness,” said in a phone interview: “Todd isn’t glib. He’s truly contemplative.” Mr. Hoffman recalled the discomfort he felt on the set playing a character who gruntingly masturbates at one point, phone in hand. “I remember once saying to Todd, ‘People are going to laugh at me.’ Just doing it, there was such a vulnerability that I became really self-conscious. And Todd said, very calming, ‘I think they’re going to feel for you.’

… Read the rest

REVISITING THE TOPIC OF INDIE MOVIES AND YOUTH

By Scott Macaulay

This is perhaps the longest gestating blog post in Filmmaker Blog history.

Back in December, Ted Hope commented on the graying of the arthouse audience in a post entitled “Can Truly Free Film Appeal to Younger Audiences?” He asked:

What is it that new audiences want? What must the indie community do to engage them? It is really surprising how few true indie films speak to a youth audience. In this country we’ve had Kevin Smith and NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, but nothing that was youth and also truly on the art spectrum like RUN LOLA RUN or the French New Wave (PARANORMAL ACTIVITY not withstanding…). Are we incapable of making the spirited yet formal work that defines a lot of alternative rock and roll? And if so, why is that?

The post inspired a long comments thread, much of which focuses on the issue of marketing, and whether today’s independent films are marketed to youth correctly, or whether today’s indies are giving young audiences the experiences they want. Amongst these comments is one by producer Cotty Chubb, who tackles the issue of young content. An excerpt:

If there’s no reason to go to the theater to have an emotional (comedic, dramatic, it doesn’t matter) experience that answers questions you have — about being a child of divorce, about how to figure out how to live or love, or about what happens you become intimate and it’s all too much — whatever it is that you’re living — if you lose the habit of seeing movies because the people that make them don’t give two shits about you except for your ability to spend money — you stop going, except for the thrill rides or the exceptional rude boys.

That’s why I thought Judd Apatow was going to matter when I saw Knocked Up. That’s why I think 500 Days of Summer is important. It was honest and funny and smart and generous and Joe Gordon Levitt is uniquely transparent in his emotion. And it grossed 32+MM$.

I think Ted and Cotty combine to make a great point here having to … Read the rest