Theater Camp
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Hits & Misses: How Six Sundance 2023 Titles Performed in Distribution
After nearly flatlining during the pandemic years, American independent film saw some signs of life in 2023. While optimists might call it a year of transition as the industry looks for new audiences and a new equilibrium, cynics see an unsustainable and contracting arthouse marketplace, with most producers and distributors increasingly unable to recoup. But, if you look at the fates of last year’s Sundance titles, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. For all the doom and gloom about the acquisitions market (“No one is buying films!”), 10 out of 12 films in this year’s Dramatic Competition […]
by Anthony Kaufman on Dec 15, 2023 -
“It’s Great When an Idea Is Transformed So Much That the Author Is Rendered Unknown”: Editor Jon Philpot on Theater Camp
A dysfunctional summer camp for thespians in upstate New York is the setting of Theater Camp, the co-directing effort of Molly Gordon (who also stars as quirky counselor Rebecca-Diane) and Nick Lieberman. Editor Jon Philpot discusses the process of cutting the mockumentary-style film. 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 being hired for this job? Philpot: The directors, Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, found me on IMDB while looking for editors that worked on […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2023 -
“I Could Tell There Was a Lot of Love in the Story and the Team Behind It”: DP Nate Hurtsellers on Theater Camp
The hilarious antics of campers and counselors alike is the basis of Theater Camp, the Cattskills-set mockumentary from co-directors Molly Gordon (who also stars) and Nick Lieberman. DP Nate Hurtsellers describes what initially drew him to working on the project, the films he looked to for visual inspiration and a particularly complicated aspect of the shoot. 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 factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Hurtsellers: I have a background in […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2023 -
“Luckily, the Actor Tested Negative” | Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, Theater Camp
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? We were on an extremely tight 19-day schedule with a large cast of children who had limited hours they could work. The cameras basically had to be constantly rolling to maximize every second. One day, there was a COVID scare that put a two-hour hole in our day. We spontaneously made up a scene where our characters are writing the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 25, 2023
