Authors — Jason Guerrasio

MUSTACHES & PISTACHIOS

Any festival you go to there’s going to be one film that most people don’t get and just spend their time discussing why they didn’t like it and question why it was ever made. Chusy (Anthony Haney-Jardine)‘s Anywhere, USA has become that film at Sundance ’08… but I’m in the minority. I thought it was one of the most fun viewing experiences I had there. Now, I won’t say that I got what Chusy’s three-part so-called autobiography was about because I don’t know if there’s anything to get. All I know is he has a bizarre imagination, gets great performances […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 27, 2008
SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES WINNERS

Below is the complete list of Sundance 2008 Winners: Grand Jury Prize: DocumentaryTrouble The Water — directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal Grand Jury Prize: DramaticFrozen River — directed by Courtney Hunt World Cinema Jury Prize: DocumentaryMan on Wire — directed by James Marsh World Cinema Jury Prize: DramaticKing of Ping Pong (Ping Pongkingen) — directed by Jens Jonsson Audience Award: DocumentaryFields of Fuel — directed by Josh Tickell Audience Award: DramaticThe Wackness — directed by Jonathan Levine World Cinema Audience Award: DocumentaryMan on Wire — directed by James Marsh World Cinema Audience Award: DramaticCaptain Abu Raed — directed […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 26, 2008
SEXUALLY FRUSTRATED

Though documentaries are always what I’m most excited about when I go to festivals, none at Sundance really jumped out at me this year… except one. Brit filmmaker Chris Waitt came to Park City with a delicious doc that’s so funny and superbly structured it’s hard to believe that it’s non-fiction, but he insists that it’s all real. In A Complete History of My Sexual Failures Waitt has recently been dumped, and having never been good with women he takes the moment of emptiness to examine why his life has been full of failed relationships by deciding to look up […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 25, 2008
FOR LOVE OF THE GAME

Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden return to Sundance with another intimate portrait, this time looking at baseball, particularly a Dominican player and how the game not only can change his life but his family’s as well if he plays to his potential. Outside of documentaries, independent filmmakers rarely focus on sports, but you can tell Fleck and Boden are baseball fans, and being a baseball addict myself (three weeks till spring training!) it’s fun to see a sports film that isn’t sensationalized for widespread appeal. Their film Sugar shows the harsh reality of trying to get into professional sports and […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 24, 2008
A TRIP DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

As I didn’t get into Park City until Sunday night, I’ve been playing catch-up for the most part, trying to get the pulse of this year’s fest (which for the most part hasn’t been the feeding frenzy in terms of deals as last year), and trying to see as many films as possible (and hitting some parties). So far Daniel Barnz‘s debut feature Phoebe In Wonderland has stuck in my mind the most. Barnz was named one of our “25 New Faces” this past summer so I knew a little about him and his work before going in, but it’s […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 23, 2008
“FROZEN RIVER” writer-director, Courtney Hunt

Ten percent more money wouldn’t have made that big a difference, but 10 percent more preproduction time would have helped. Our funding showed up so late in the game that nothing could be nailed down until two weeks before we started shooting. Casting and location scouting was last minute. Luckily my producers and crew were intrepid so we just marched on. Rehearsal with actors was minimal. I met most of the people in the smaller roles for the first time on the day they arrived on the set. The only thing that saved us was the script. The time spent […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 18, 2008
“ADVENTURES OF POWER” writer-director, Ari Gold

After 13 months of shooting in four states, a broken arm, lightning strikes, a once-in-a-generation power failure at our power-plant location (“stay here, you’re slightly more likely to survive if it explodes”), I should want at least 11 percent more money to make the movie, to deal with these contingencies, or else I’d be wise to force myself to write 99 percent less insanity into my script so I could make something simple. But since all that’s past, I’d say if I wished I had 10 percent more of something, it would be peace of mind. I wasted a huge […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 18, 2008
“CHOKE” writer-director, Clark Gregg

It’s very tempting to go for the obvious answer and say money, since most of the elements that one would kill to have 10 percent more of could be had with a little more money. Money would be the universal gift card with which one could purchase delicious items like more shooting days or film stock or editing time. I’m still in post so even thinking of a card that could buy me more mix time or music licensing is getting me a little worked up. But money seems like an easy answer, so I’ll try to think outside the […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 18, 2008
“ANYWHERE, U.S.A.” co-writer-director, Chusy (Anthony Haney-Jardine)

The question isn’t fair as it relates to my production. I don’t wish I had 10 percent more of anything. I deliberately set out to make a film without expectations. Expectations are what thwarted any creative impulse I’d had in the past. Instead I relied on whatever I found before me. It is no accident that our production company’s name is Found Films. From the get-go we knew we had severe limitations: intellectual, financial, technological and with regards to professional talent; so instead, we embraced those limitations, almost with glee. No interchangeable lenses? No problem. Let’s embrace the aesthetic and […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 18, 2008
“A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES” co-writer-director, Chris Waitt

I made a documentary where I tried to interview my ex-girlfriends to find out why they dumped me. I wish 10 percent more of them had agreed to talk to me. In fact I wish 50 percent more had talked to me. But they didn’t. So for a couple of months I wandered ’round, scratched my head and tried to think of ways to persuade them. When I couldn’t persuade them I tried to come up with other things to film. As a result I think I ended up doing a lot of naval gazing, or in my case, a […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 18, 2008

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