Coming in over the transom is this trailer for I Like You, a film by Jamie Heinrich. Heinrich hails from Reno, Nevada, and, based on this trailer, the self-described micro-budget film boasts some pretty striking cinematography and a good deal of heart.

A few sites seem to have been given an early look. From Todd Brown at Twitch:

The sort of naturalistic indie drama that Gus Van Sant and Larry Clark got their start with, I Like You is the feature debut not only of director / editor Heinrich and star Benna but also, seemingly, of just about everybody else involved as well. And it’s an impressive debut, indeed….

The market for this sort of film has pretty much collapsed over the past decade so chances of wide release are pretty slim, which is a shame because back in the day when the indies were given a fair shake this would’ve had a fighting chance of making a very solid name for itself.

At Quiet Earth, Marina Antunes reviewed a rough cut:

The film is gorgeously captured by Ryan Baker and many of the film’s most beautiful moments are then presented with music to full effect by Heinrich who also doubles as the film’s editor. Though it feels like a bit of overkill, the images and music are so effective that one almost forgets that a music montage just wrapped two minutes ago and though the choice to use so many isn’t particularly helpful to the advancement of the story, they’re beautifully conceived and rendered making much less of a distraction.

I Like You isn’t without it’s share of problems but none are so glaring that they’re detrimental to the story or one’s enjoyment of the film. The production team here shows a huge amount of collective talent and though not yet en par with Gus Van Sant’s best work (for me that being Paranoid Park), this is the closest I’ve seen anyone come and that’s exciting.

Heinrich is interviewed at Dorksphere:

Are there any other films in particular that you think influenced or inspired you to be a filmmaker?
ET was cool. And some great films in the “Trainspotting” era… but being like 10 and seeing a behind the scenes photograph of a film set and having this wave of inspiration come over me, kinda a Baptism.

What aspect of filmmaking do you enjoy the most?
Getting my shots back from post house or now working in digital cinema getting raw and starting to piece together the (offline) puzzle. But shooting is great because it’s always an adventure and lots of laughs…

What aspect of the film are you most proud of? Any regrets?
I’m most proud of accomplishing the project. It’s a different animal to make a feature. I came into it thinking it would be like doing 6 shorts connected, but it’s not. A feature is like building out 1 short into multiple levels that all need to support each other. It’s like taking a 15 minute short and stacking a pyramid below that 6 levels spread.

The trailer is below. Check it out, and learn more about the film, which hasn’t been premiered yet, at its website.

I LIKE YOU movie trailer from jamie heinrich on Vimeo.