Sunfish

“I Wanted to Make Sure the Energy of the Place Was Preserved”: Editor Chelsi Johnston on Sunfish

In Sierra Falconer’s debut feature Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake), the lives of strangers intertwine at the Northern Michigan location, a place where time seems to move more slowly. Sunfish is editor Chelsi Johnston first editor credit on a fiction feature after working further below the line on productions including Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation and Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos. Below, she discusses the importance of preserving the film’s location in the edit and finessing the beginning of the film. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025
“Anything That Does a Good Job Everywhere Can’t Do a Great Job Anywhere”: DP Marcus Patterson on Sunfish

In Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition premiere Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake), the lives of a girl learning to sail, a musician, two sisters running a bed-and-breakfast and a fisherman intersect in the eponymous Northern Michigan locale. The film, the debut feature by Sierra Falconer was shot largely on location. Below, cinematographer Marcus Patterson (Soukoon) discusses his influences for the film’s look and how he plans around budget limitations without compromising his ambitions. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025
“We Prioritized Story Over Logistics”: Producer Grant Ellison on Sunfish

Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake) follows a group of characters as their paths begin to cross on Northern Michigan’s Green Lake. Besides being the debut feature of director Sierra Falconer, Sunfish is also Grant Ellison’s first credit as a producer. Below, Ellison talks about becoming a producer as someone whose day job is in policy research and how he was able to learn on the fly. See all responses to our annual Sundance first-time producer interviews here. Filmmaker: How did you connect with this filmmaker and wind up producing the film? Ellison: Sierra and I are high school sweethearts. We […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025

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