Authors — Alexandra Byer
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Five Questions with Maladies Director Carter
Having established himself as a painter, photographer, and sculptor, Carter continues to expand his art repertoire with his newest feature film, Maladies. After working with James Franco on his directorial debut, Erased James Franco, Carter decided to write another film with Franco in mind. Maladies follows the relationship of a former actor who befriends a family of artists. All equally eccentric, their interactions explore the struggle artists often have with creativity. The movie also stars Catherine Keener, David Strathairn, and Fallon Goodson, who also acted as a producer. Maladies premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February and makes its North American debut […]
by Alexandra Byer on Mar 12, 2013 -
Five Questions with Snap Directors Youssef Delara and Victor Teran
Quickly after premiering Filly Brown at Sundance in 2012, filmmakers Youssef Delara and Victor Teran moved into production on their newest feature, Snap. As close collaborators for many years on other films, Delara and Teran teamed up again to co-direct and produce Snap. Set in the explosive world of underground dubstep, the film explores the dangerous psyche of a young man as a social worker and her mentor try to uncover his secrets before his violent past erupts. Snap stars Jake Hoffman (Barney’s Version), Nikki Reed (Thirteen, Twilight), Scott Bakula (American Beauty, TV’s Quantum Leap), and Thomas Dekker (Kaboom), and makes its world premiere tomorrow at SXSW in […]
by Alexandra Byer on Mar 10, 2013 -
Five Questions with Awful Nice Director Todd Sklar
After self-releasing his first feature film, Box Elder, around the country in 2008, director Todd Sklar has had a successful run of it with major U.S. film festivals. His short ’92 Skybox Alonzo Mourning Rookie Card premiered at Sundance in 2012, which he has made into the feature Awful Nice. Co-written by Sklar and Alex Rennie, Awful Nice follows the misadventures of two brothers who travel back home to Branson, Missouri, to put their recently deceased father’s estate in order. Starring Christopher Meloni, Alex Rennie, and James Pumphrey, Awful Nice premiers in the Narrative Feature Competition category tomorrow at SXSW. Filmmaker: Awful Nice is an expansion […]
by Alexandra Byer on Mar 9, 2013 -
Five Questions with Kelly + Victor Director Kieran Evans
The primarily documentary director Keiran Evans was fortunate enough to know writer Niall Griffiths before he wrote Kelly + Victor, which Evans has adapted into a feature film. Evans’ relationship and familiarity with Griffiths and his work facilitated him to adapt the cinematic novel into the screenplay of Kelly + Victor. The gritty drama about a young couple finding themselves in love in Liverpool makes its North American premiere tomorrow at SXSW, after a world premiere at the London Film Festival in October. While Kelly + Victor is Evans’ first narrative film, he approached the movie’s subjects as he would a documentary — as […]
by Alexandra Byer on Mar 8, 2013 -
A Young Producer’s Sundance Photo Diary, Day Five
I’m looking out my window right now and I don’t see mountains or snow. Miraculously, after 12 hours of traveling and functioning on about 15 hours of sleep over the last five days, I’m back in New York. Between packing up all my sweaters and saying goodbye to friends, I was still able to have a productive last day at Sundance though. I photographed a brunch the IFP and Sundance Institute hosted for film festival organizers, saw The Spectacular Now and Shane Carruth’s incredible Upstream Color, and made it up to Main Street only to be denied that free latte I […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 23, 2013 -
A Young Producer’s Sundance Photo Diary, Day Four
Day Four. Things began to slow down as it felt like a lot of Sundance goers boarded flights back to their real lives and work. It was a bit more manageable to walk down Main Street and restaurants didn’t all have 45-minute waits – though I still couldn’t get a free coffee at the Sundance Channel HQ. Sadly, it was a slower day for movies, but I was able to catch up with a lot of filmmakers and friends at the IFP’s Sundance party, which was a total success. Only one more day in Park City! I’ll be sad to […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 22, 2013 -
A Young Producer’s Sundance Photo Diary, Day Three
Day Three was a bit of whirlwind and I’ll admit I wasn’t as quick on my camera skills as I should have been. But, then again, it’s sort of awkward to photograph “meetings” that take place on shuttles in between a screening and a dinner, and while running from event to event. But I have two more days to perfect the casual “can-I-take-your-photo” question when running into industry friends and acquaintances on Main Street. Still reporting sunny skies for Day Three, a bit more hostility over seat saving in Eccles, but generally the energy remains high.
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 21, 2013 -
Five Questions with Computer Chess Director Andrew Bujalski
After taking a few years off from filmmaking to form a family and take on adult responsibilities (such as buying a house), Andrew Bujalski premieres his newest film Computer Chess in Park City today. Using an interesting combination of non-professional and professional actors, this crowdsourced movie centers around a tournament of chess players and computer programmers in the 1980s. Though Computer Chess is indeed a period piece, its interest in humans’ relationship with technology remains entirely pertinent as our culture, more than three decades later, finds itself hinged to computers but unable to answer some of the same questions the […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 21, 2013 -
A Young Producer’s Sundance Photo Diary, Day Two
Here’s Day Two of my photo diary from the Sundance Film Festival! The quietness of Day One was gone as crowds took over Park City and Main Street, but there was something invigorating about the bustle and with the gorgeous sunny weather there were really no complaints.
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 20, 2013 -
Five Questions with Prince Avalanche Director David Gordon Green
In 2011, an Icelandic-British film called Either Way won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the Torino Film Festival. Just over a year later, David Gordon Green, an American filmmaker whose own projects have debuted at Torino, has remade Either Way into the comedy Prince Avalanche starring Paul Rudd (Knocked Up) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild). The movie studies two men who leave their city lives to paint traffic lines down a wrecked highway. As they move through the hot summer and learn more about one another, an unexpected friendship develops. Much to everyone’s surprise, Green pulled off shooting this feature film in Texas over […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 20, 2013
