Yup. You can see Martin Donovan’s debut feature on the big screen next week (October 7th) if you are in Manchester, UK. Yup, this is the very same film that David Morse won the Best Actor Award for in Karlovy Vary. And it is the same one that I developed and Executive Produced. Let me know if you go. I think you’ll dig it. And if you don’t like it, send me your receipt, and I will reimburse you!
People once hid in their office. If you knew them from hanging out at the bar you had a unique relationship. Still it was damn hard to make connections, no matter where you were on the totem pole. But now those totem poles have been burned down to the ground. The old ways are over and 1000 phoenixes rise from the ashes daily.
The fact is we’ve learned how to speak to each other. We may not always speak the same language but we speak. And that’s fucking awesome.
My case is point is how Zodiac Motherfucker shares his love for Collaborator with writer/director Martin Donovan on Twitter:
By Julien Favre
With the world economy on the brink, the current environment has rarely been so tough for independent filmmakers. To get our films made and, even more so, to see them sold and/or distributed, is getting incredibly challenging. Foreign sales estimates for low budget independent films are a tenth of what they used to be pre-2008, and let’s not be fooled by the numbers. We will be happy if we sell at all, even for symbolic numbers. From a filmmaker’s perspective, we have entered a dichotomous world: a shrinking pool of independent films do well; most don’t make any significant business. It is now as if there is only room for one indie hit per year. If you are not that film that everybody wants, you barely exist and your business footprint will be close to zero.
Now, you can look at this situation in two different ways. One way is to
If you couldn’t make it to the IFC Center in NYC on June 18th, you missed having Hal Hartley moderate a Q&A session with Martin Donovan, David Morse, Melissa Auf der Meur, and myself on how Martin wrote, directed, and got his debut feature made.
Ah, but no worries, the glory that is the internet brings the past back to you for your eternal enjoyment. COLLABORATOR is currently available on VOD and will return to the IFC Center tomorrow July 6th, and then the Egyptian in LA on July 20th. Please check it out.
Certain highlights to check out:
Hal Hartley & Martin Donvan on “What is directing”
approximately 1745- 2250
David Morse, Hal Hartley, Martin Donovan, and me (Ted Hope): “What makes a director someone an actor (or producer) wants to work with”
approx 25:00 – 31:00
For more of Martin’s secrets, check out his interview with Marshall Fine here.
This June COLLABORATOR will have two special screenings here in New York City before its July theatrical release.
The first is June 18th at the IFC center, and the second is on June 19th at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens.
Hal Hartley will be there to present on the 18th, and Martin Donovan, David Morse, and Ted Hope will be there to answer your questions on both nights.
June 18th
IFC Center
7pm
Buy tickets online.
June 19th
Museum of the Moving Image
Buy tickets online.
Find out more about Collaborator on Prescreen.
Collaborator premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, winning several awards including best actor for David Morse.
Read director, writer, and star, Martin Donovan’s thoughts on creating Collaborator.
Check out Collaborator’s Facebook page, and find more information about the film and its upcoming release from Tribeca Film on VOD, iTunes, Amazon, VUDU on June 19th here.
And read about previous coverage of Collaborator on Hopeforfilm here, here, and
here
Available nationwide on Cable VOD, iTunes, Amazon – June 19
Opening in select theaters – July 6
Robert Longfellow (Martin Donovan, THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, “Boss”, Weeds”) is a famous playwright who can’t seem to catch a break. His recent Broadway play was met with horrible reviews and an early cancellation, and his marriage is being tested as an old flame (Olivia Williams, THE GHOST WRITER, RUSHMORE) has reentered his life during a particular moment of weakness. Retreating back to his childhood home to visit his mother (Katherine Helmond, BRAZIL), Robert crosses paths with his childhood neighbor, Gus (David Morse, THE GREEN MILE, DANCER IN THE DARK, “Treme”). A right-wing, ex-con who still lives at home with his mother, Gus is Robert’s polar opposite in every possible way. When Gus holds Robert hostage at gunpoint during a drunken reunion gone terribly wrong, the drama unfolds as social status, celebrity and the imminent threat of violence converge, building up to a climax that will leave both men forever changed.
Did you know I Executive Produced this years Best Actor & Critic Prize Winning Film at the world’s oldest film festival? Martin Donovan’s COLLABORATOR is that film. My guess is you did not get over to the Czech Republic last month to see it. But you know what?
It will be playing around the USA this fall. Soon we should be announcing those next steps, and then the ones that follow. But if you need a fix, perhaps this will do.
I am very proud of this film. It was one of those great experiences where you get to help a friend realize their dream, and you (i.e. me) benefit from it too. I think anyone desiring ambitious cinema of quality, ideas, and humor will dig it. I hope that is you!
You can watch the press conference right here. I think it demonstrates well what a producer does at such a press conference. Producers don’t get asked questions — but it doesn’t mean you can’t answer them. A Producer still has to make sure that the right messages get out there.
And if you have a moment, please check out COLLABORATOR’s Facebook page. I know most of you have not yet seen it, but if you “like” it, you will be privy to early news on where it is screening and other such stuff.
And if you aren’t already, you can follow our writer, director and star, Martin Donovan on Twitter @breakneckfilms.
