The Land
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Shooting While Skating: DP Steve Holleran on The Land
In the opening scene of The Land, an unseen guidance counselor lays out possible futures for the film’s four high school protagonists. It’s lives as mechanics and welders, blue-collar jobs that once promised entrance into a thriving middle class that no longer exists. With dreams of escaping the urban decay of Cleveland as sponsored skateboarders, the boys instead chose a less legal path. And anyone familiar with the “at-risk youth” movies of the 1990s – from Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society to Kids, Hurricane Streets, Juice, and Straight Out of Brooklyn – knows that path doesn’t end […]
by Matt Mulcahey on Aug 25, 2016 -
Trailer Watch: The Land, Nas-Produced Sundance Drama
For his debut feature, The Land, Steven Caple Jr. pulled off an impressive feat. He attracted top talent from the music industry, including Nas as executive producer producer and Erykah Badu and Machine Gun Kelly in supporting roles. The Cleveland-set drama, which focuses on four teens living in the projects, premiered earlier this year at The Sundance Film Festival’s Next section. In advance of the film’s premiere at Sundance, the director told Filmmaker Magazine that each of the four boys in the film represents a different aspect of his life. “On surface you see a film about four boys who […]
by Paula Bernstein on May 9, 2016 -
“A Beloved Charming Guy with a Dark Side”: Director Steven Caple Jr. | The Land
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? On surface you see a film about four boys who are trying to escape their troubled circumstances, […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 30, 2016
