Running the Asylum: Part I
From monsters to mockbusters: the art of the D.I.Y. moviemaker.
By Holly Grigg-Spall. The crackerjack crew behind film production company The Asylum produces a movie per month, with the entire process from pre-production to DVD release taking a maximum of 12 weeks. Although previously relying on DVD rentals via Blockbuster or RedBox and marketing off the back of their fantastic titles, B-movie style art work, […]
Mr. Leigh on Mr. Turner
"I personally believe in a well-structured film..But I have little time for the industry that has grown up around theorizing this." Mike Leigh discusses his approach to film-making, and his latest masterpiece Mr. Turner.
By Holly Grigg-Spall. Filmmaker Mike Leigh is known for his unique, particular, and deeply involved technique for directing and writing that is very much a script-less process. The blend of improvisation and characterization he and his casts bring to his films, such as Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky, works to set the screen alight with warmth, […]
Leviathan: The Last American Hero
"The job of the artist is to show things as they are, to take a critical look, but not to sway opinion."
By Holly Grigg-Spall. Co-writer and director of Russian epic Leviathan Andrey Zvyagintsev won the Palme D’Or for screenwriting at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and is now set for the Academy Awards. The film follows the plight of a family struggling to keep their business, home, and land in the face of government […]
Foxcatcher: A Sports Story with No Home Run
"A Sad Resource" - writers Daniel Futterman and E. Max Frye discuss working on a tragic story where one of the subjects is still alive.
By Holly Grigg-Spall. Foxcatcher is director Bennett Miller’s second collaboration with screenwriter Daniel Futterman, the first being the Academy Award winning Capote. E. Max Frye worked on the project prior to Futterman, whittling down and sculpting Miller’s copious research into the true story of Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestlers Mark and Dave Schultz and their […]
Whiplash: a ‘Sports Movie’ about Jazz Drumming
Writer-director Damien Chazelle gets blood on the cymbals.
By Holly Grigg-Spall. The Whiplash screenplay first drew attention when it appeared on the 2012 Black List. As a method of gathering financial interest, writer-director Damien Chazelle isolated one scene from his script and produced a short movie that screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. This led to the feature starring Miles Teller as […]
