Serious People
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“Forgetting the Camera Was Rolling, It Hit Me”: DPs Neema Sadeghi & Nicholas Bupp on Serious People
In Serious People, a music video director hires a doppelganger to take his place at work after he learns that his wife is pregnant. The film, co-directed by Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson, is inspired by Gutierrez’s own expectant fatherhood and is a 2025 Sundance Film Festival NEXT selection. Neema Sadeghi (Noel Miller: Stop Crying) and Nicholas Bupp (Aporia, Salam) served as co-cinematographers. Below, they talk about working without a crew and contrasting a calm visual style with a mounting sense of narrative tension. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“What It Means to be a Human Straddling These Two Worlds”: Editor Nick Rondeau on Serious People
Serious People is co-directors Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson NEXT feature about a music video director who hires a lookalike to replace him at work while his wife is pregnant. The film is inspired by Gutierrez’s own expectant fatherhood. Serious People is also the feature editorial debut of Nick Rondeau. Below, Rondeau talks about keeping the emotional core of the story central even while adapting a fly-on-the-wall observational approach. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“Moviemaking on a Hyper-Condensed Timeline”: Producer Laurel Thomson on Serious People
Co-directors Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson made a work of autofiction about the former’s expectant fatherhood and work-life balance in Serious People, about a music video director who hires a lookalike to take his place at work while his wife is pregnant. Serious People is also Laurel Thomson’s first feature film as a producer. She discusses what made this film so different to produce from other films she has worked on and the ensuing “baptism by fire” to get the film ready for Sundance, where it screens as part of the NEXT section. See all responses to our annual Sundance first-time producer […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“Actualize a Dream We’ve Had Since Our Early Twenties” | Pasqual Guttierez and Ben Mullinkosson, Serious People
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? Pasqual Guttierez: To me, the most memorable aspect of this film was not one specific scene or shoot day. It was the collective experience as a whole. The film features my wife, my best friends and myself, and we play versions of ourselves. While the film was always set to be a comedy, I […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025
