As we adjust to practicing social distancing for the foreseeable future, the Woodstock Film Festival is putting together a “Virtual Films & Conversations” program, highlighting films by festival alumni and allowing audience members to join the conversation with the filmmakers online. Join our mailing list and follow us on social media for the latest updates!
Conversation with 2020 Summer Youth Film Lab Students, Instructors, & Mentors
about the program:
The Woodstock Film Festival Summer Youth Film Lab is a free, three-week filmmaking bootcamp for Hudson Valley teens taught by film industry professionals. Generously underwritten by an anonymous donor, each student in this year’s program was provided with an iPad loaded with state-of-the-art filmmaking software and tasked with creating an original short film centered around the following themes: “Together & Apart”, “The Best Day Ever”, “Climate Change”, and “Racism”. In between session, mentors from all over the entertainment industry dropped in via Zoom to give advice and speak about their unique creative approaches.
This year's mentor group included: actor Kelsey Grammar (CHEERS, FRASIER, HANK, BOSS), director Debra Granik (DOWN TO THE BONE, WINTER’S BONE, LEAVE NO TRACE), music supervisor Tracy McKnight (THE HUNGER GAMES, A WRINKLE IN TIME, FREE SOLO, SPACESHIP EARTH), editor Kate Sanford (THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, THE WIRE), producer Peter Saraf (THE FAREWELL, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE), screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (PHILADELPHIA, RAY DONOVAN, HOMELAND), as well as animators Joy Buran and Noelle Melody (HUMAN KIND OF, PECAN SANDIE, POTATOES FOR PADO).
Conversation with Academy Award-Nominated Director David France on WELCOME TO CHECHNYA, Moderated by Simon Kilmurry from the International Documentary Association
about the Director:
David France is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, New York Times best-selling author, and award-winning investigative journalist. His critically-acclaimed new documentary, WELCOME TO CHECHNYA, premiered at Sundance 2020 and is now streaming on HBO.
His directorial debut HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE is hailed as an innovative and influential piece of storytelling that is credited with renewing a conversation about AIDS in the United States. It is regularly screened in university classrooms, and by community groups and AIDS service organizations. Appearing on over 20 “Best of the Year” lists, including Time and Entertainment Weekly, the documentary earned a GLAAD Award and top honors from the Gotham Awards, the International Documentary Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics, and the Provincetown Film Festival, among many others. After a theatrical run reaching over 30 cities, HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE was aired on PBS’s Independent Lens series, reaching an audience of millions and garnering Academy and Emmy nominations and a Peabody Award.
In addition, France has seen his journalistic work inspire several films, including the Peabody-winning Showtime film SOLDIER’S GIRL, based on his New York Times Magazine story of the trans girlfriend of a soldier killed in an anti-gay attack. His latest book, also called How to Survive a Plague made numerous Best-Of- 2016 lists, including The New Yorker, The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, and The New York Times.
about the moderator:
Simon Kilmurry is the Executive Director of the International Documentary Association. Before joining the IDA in 2015, he worked for 16 years in public television, serving as Executive Producer for the long-running PBS documentary showcase POV and as the Executive Director of American Documentary, POV’s nonprofit parent organization. Kilmurry has won numerous accolades in his role at POV including a Primetime Emmy Award, 12 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, a Special Emmy Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, as well as more than 50 News and Documentary Emmy nominations. He is the recipient of five Peabody Awards, three Du Pont Columbia Awards, two Overseas Press Club Awards, a Grierson Award, and is a two-time recipient of the Best Continuing Series Award from the IDA. In 2011 he received the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity.
Under his leadership, American Documentary, POV’s parent organization was the recipient of a $1 million MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2013. In addition to POV, he is the executive producer of AMERICA REFRAMED, a documentary series on the WORLD Channel.
Conversation with Director Ira Sachs,
Screenwriter Oren Moverman &
Producer Bill Horberg of MARRIED LIFE
about the Director:
Ira Sachs is a filmmaker whose work includes the features FRANKIE (2019), LITTLE MEN (2016), LOVE IS STRANGE (2014), KEEP THE LIGHTS ON (2012), MARRIED LIFE (2007) and FORTY SHADES OF BLUE (2005). He is also the Founding Director of Queer/Art, a non-profit arts organization created to support LGBTQ artists across disciplines and generations.
about the Screenwriter:
Academy Award-nominated writer, director, and Emmy Award-nominated producer Oren Moverman is a co-founder of Sight Unseen Pictures, alongside Julia Lebedev and Eddie Vaisman. Moverman most recently wrote and directed THE DINNER, starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Chloe Sevigny and Rebecca Hall, which was an official selection at the Berlin Film Festival.
Moverman has written screenplays for films such as Bill Pohlad’s Brian Wilson biopic LOVE & MERCY, Ira Sachs’ MARRIED LIFE, and Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan biopic I’M NOT THERE, which earned an Oscar nomination for Cate Blanchett. Moverman made his directorial feature debut with THE MESSENGER in 2009, co-written with Alessandro Camon, which was nominated for two Academy Awards - Moverman and Camon were nominated for Best Screenplay, and Woody Harrelson was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Following, Moverman directed RAMPART, which he co-wrote with novelist James Ellroy, starring Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, and Brie Larson, and TIME OUT OF MIND, starring Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Steve Buscemi and Jena Malone, which won The International Critics Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
about the producer:
Bill Horberg is a veteran producer and friend of the Woodstock Film Festival whose work spans many genres. His credits include the recently released THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY starring rock legend Mick Jagger, the upcoming Netflix series THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT, the upcoming film FLAG DAY directed by Sean Penn, as well as seminal films like DEATH AT A FUNERAL, MILK, THE KITE RUNNER, COLD MOUNTAIN, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, and many more.
Conversation with Actor/Producer/Director
Fisher Stevens
about the Speaker:
Fisher Stevens has been in the entertainment business for almost 40 years. His versatility in the industry is evident from his wide range of credits, from acting to producing to directing and from feature film to television to theater. In 2010, he won the Academy Award for the documentary THE COVE. Political and environmental activism has been a main focus of his work.
Stevens' recent credits include directing AND WE GO GREEN, a documentary about the electric car racing series Formula E which premiered on Hulu this May, and executive-producing Netflix sensation TIGER KING: MURDER, MAYHEM AND MADNESS. He is also currently a regular acting on the Golden Globe-Winning HBO series SUCCESSION and has just finished directing a feature film starring Justin Timberlake called PALMER, which is in post-production.
Conversation with Director Alice Wu
& Producer Blair Breard from THE HALF OF IT
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Alice Wu is a Chinese-American film director and screenwriter. After earning a master’s degree in computer science at Stanford University, she designed software at Microsoft before becoming a full-time filmmaker. Alice’s debut feature, SAVING FACE – starring Michelle Krusiec and Joan Chen and produced by Will Smith – made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was acquired for theatrical distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. The critically acclaimed film garnered several festival accolades, as well as a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Film-Limited Release and a Breakthrough Director Award nomination for Alice at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. Alice wrote and directed her next film, THE HALF OF IT, which she also produced with Anthony Bregman and M. Blair Breard for Netflix. The script was a 2018 selection for the prestigious Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood executives’ favorite un-produced screenplays.
THE HALF OF IT stars Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire and is a modern-day “Cyrano” story about a shy straight-A student who helps a clueless high school football player woo the girl they both secretly love.
ABOUT THE PRODUCER:
Blair Breard is a New York based producer. She started her career in film on John Sayles' PASSION FISH and has worked on a number of films with a variety of directors since then, including I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, Indie cult favorite POOTIE TANG, the critically acclaimed MARGARET, and MARGOT AT THE WEDDING. Breard executive produced THE DROP, BASKETS, BETTER THINGS, STRANGERS and the award-winning comedy series LOUIE, for FX. Her company Bossy Boots has a first look deal with FX, recently sold a pilot to Showtime and has several other projects in development.
Her most recent project is Alice Wu's THE HALF OF IT, produced with Anthony Bregman and Wu, premiering on Netflix May 1st.
Today’s Women in Film & Media
ABOUT THE SPEAKERs:
Carol Dysinger - Academy Award-winning filmmaker (LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL), CAMP VICTORY AFGHANISTAN)
Elissa Federoff - President of Distribution at NEON (COLOSSAL, I, TONYA, THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, PARASITE)
Debra Granik - Academy Award-nominated filmmaker (DOWN TO THE BONE, WINTER’S BONE, LEAVE NO TRACE)
Jamie Zelermyer - Producer (HALF LIFE, THE NIGHT LISTENER, THE THING ABOUT MY FOLKS), President of New York Women in Film & Television
Ellen Chenoweth - Casting Director (O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THE BOURNE LEGACY, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT)
Conversation with Maria Schrader
Director of UNORTHODOX
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
One of Germany's most acclaimed stage and screen actresses, Maria Schrader is a two-time winner of the German Film award and two-time winner of the Bavarian Film award. She worked with directors such as Margarethe von Trotta, Doris Dörrie (NOBODY LOVES ME), Hans W. Geissendörfer, Peter Greenaway, Rajko Grilic and Agnieszka Holland (IN DARKNESS). In 1999, at the Berlinale, she received the Silver Bear for Best Actress in AIMÉE & JAGUAR, a big hit in the United States and around the world, directed by Max Färberböck. UNORTHODOX, the four-part limited series inspired by The New York Times best-selling book, is Maria’s first directing project with Netflix.
Conversation with Ted Hope
Co-Head of Movies at Amazon Studios
2009 WFF Honorary Trailblazer Recipient
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Ted Hope launched Amazon’s foray into feature film production in January 2015. He oversees day-to-day of Amazon Studios’ prestige team and the prestige movies produced, developed and acquired by the company. He was the 2009 recipient of the Woodstock Film Festival’s Honorary Trailblazer Award.
Notable titles include critically acclaimed Oscar-winning films such as MANCHESTER BY THE SEA and THE SALESMAN, as well as the Oscar-nominated THE BIG SICK, 2018 Oscar-nominated & Cannes Best Director-winner COLD WAR and recently the 2020 Oscar-nominated LES MISERABLES.
Ted Hope’s thirty-five year career in the film business is defined by an innovative and inclusive approach, always operating from a deep love of cinema, it’s history, and recognition of its potential. Whether it’s helping to launch Amazon Studios and their commitment to theatrical releasing, their recent foray into worldwide streaming titles, or introducing new voices and new approaches to new audiences from his independent film producing days, Hope champions bold voices from the world over.
A Conversation with Actor/Writer/Director
Tim Blake Nelson
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Tim Blake Nelson is a prolific actor, writer, director, and producer who has appeared in a wide variety of films such as LINCOLN, HOLES, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, MEET THE FOCKERS, MINORITY REPORT, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, and THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS. His playwriting credits include THE GREY ZONE and EYE OF GOD, both of which Nelson adapted and directed for the screen. Other directing credits include O, LEAVES OF GRASS, and ANESTHESIA. Most recently, Nelson’s play SOCRATES premiered at The Public Theater in the spring of 2019, and he starred in HBO’s WATCHMEN, which premiered this past fall.
State of the Movie Industry
Today & Tomorrow
with Arianna Bocco (IFC Films),
Dori Begley (Magnolia Pictures),
& Eugene Hernandez (NYFF)
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Arianna Bocco has spent over a decade overseeing acquisitions and productions for IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight, three multi-platform film distribution labels owned and operated by AMC Networks, Inc.
Since joining the company in 2006, Bocco has spearheaded all acquisitions at the company, acquiring the rights to some of the most critically acclaimed independent films from around the world. Under her leadership, the company has acquired over 400 films including Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD, a Golden Globe® winner for Best Motion Picture (Drama), an Oscar® nominee for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing and winner for Best Supporting Actress; Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS; Gus Van Sant's PARANOID PARK; Armando Iannuci’s Oscar® nominated IN THE LOOP; Lars Von Trier’s ANTICHRIST, and many more.
Bocco is revered for her vast experience in acquisitions, production and development, having held a variety of high-level posts throughout her career. In 2010, she was named to Crain’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2009 Rising Stars and to Moves’ Top 20 Power Women of 2010. Prior to joining the company, Bocco served as head of the independent feature packaging division of the Gersh Agency in New York City, and previously, she worked at Miramax Films as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions. While at Miramax Films, she was involved in acquiring such notable films as Zach Braff's GARDEN STATE and Tom McCarthy's THE STATION AGENT.
Bocco earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College. She currently resides in New York City, with her dog Henry.
Dori Begley currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Magnolia Pictures. Joining the company as Director of Acquisitions in 2007, she has overseen more than a decade of buys for Magnolia Pictures, Magnet Releasing, Magnolia Home Entertainment and Magnolia International Sales.
Begley's current role was expanded to include the management of strategic partnerships and oversight of theatrical marketing and distribution strategies. Notable recent releases include the Oscar-nominated documentary RBG; Oscar-nominated and Palme d'Or winning SHOPLIFTERS; and Oscar-nominated documentary I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO. Upcoming releases include Dawn Porter's JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE and Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres’ ACLU documentary THE FIGHT.
Begley began her career in 2000 with Sony Pictures Classics working on an eclectic slate of award-winning titles from renowned filmmakers around the globe. She is an Executive Branch member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Vassar College graduate and resident of Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.
Eugene Hernandez is Director of the New York Film Festival and Publisher of Film Comment at Film at Lincoln Center where he serves as Deputy Executive Director. His duties include strategic leadership, programming special events, and managing emerging artist, industry, and education initiatives. He joined Film at Lincoln Center in 2010 as Director of Digital Strategy to develop digital platforms and content. In 1996, Hernandez co-founded IndieWire, which he built over 15 years as it became the leading editorial publication for independent and international films, filmmakers, industry, and audiences.
He was named on Out magazine’s OUT100 list in 2015 and has served as a juror at Sundance, SXSW, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. He has also worked extensively as a consultant for several nonprofits, including the Creative Capital Foundation; written for major print and online publications; serves on the board of advisors for SXSW, SeriesFest, and Art House Convergence; and is a programming consultant for the Key West Film Festival.
Q&A with Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis, Producer Mollye Asher, & Cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi of SWALLOW
about the FILM:
Hunter is a songbird in a gilded cage. Her capitalist husband provides the finest that money can buy. There is even a baby on the way. But Hunter’s personal freedom is at odds with the many suffocating rules of her upper class life. In response, Hunter begins to swallow everyday household items and inedible objects — a medical condition known as pica. When her secret is discovered, Hunter becomes pitted against her husband and in-laws in a struggle over her sanity and very survival.
— Jay Blotcher
about the Director:
Carlo Mirabella-Davis, born and raised in NYC, got his M.F.A. and B.F.A. from NYU’s Tisch film program. His short, KNIFE POINT, was filmed in the Hudson Valley and screened at the 2009 Woodstock Film Festival. His feature documentary, THE SWELL SEASON, premiered at Tribeca. Mirabella-Davis is also an alumnus of the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs. SWALLOW is inspired by his grandmother, Edith and screened at the 2019 Woodstock Film Festival where it won the Maverick Award for "Best Narrative Feature".
about the PRODUCER:
Mollye Asher is a Gotham Award-winning producer and the recipient of the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Producers Award. Most recently, she produced Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ SWALLOW (Tribeca 2019) and Chloé Zhao’s THE RIDER (Sony Pictures Classics). THE RIDER premiered in the 2017 Cannes Directors Fortnight and won its top prize. The film went on to be nominated for four Film Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture. It was selected as the 2018 Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics and won Best Feature at the 2018 Gotham Awards.
about the cinematographer:
Katelin Arizmendi is a director of photography whose work has appeared in numerous commercials, music videos, and award-winning feature length films. Notable musical artists and corporate clientele that have worked with her include GAP, Dick's Sporting Goods, H&M, Rolex, Halsey, Camila Cabello and Lil Dicky. Among her most recent work is Denis Villeneuve's upcoming 2020 adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic DUNE.
Q&A with THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL EDITORS Kate Sanford and Brian Kates
about the editors:
Kate Sanford is a feature film and episodic television editor. She collaborated on all three seasons of THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL for Amazon Prime, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Season 2 and won the ACE Eddie award for best-edited comedy. Kate was part of the editing team for the FX miniseries FOSSE/VERDON, and she also edited Season 1 of HBO’s THE DEUCE for writer/showrunner David Simon. Their long-running collaboration includes the 6-part HBO miniseries SHOW ME A HERO; the pilot for the HBO series TREME, for which she won an ACE award for best-edited drama; and all five seasons of THE WIRE, for which she also won an ACE award.
Other television include HBO’s VINYL, executive produced by Martin Scorsese; all five seasons of HBO’s BOARDWALK EMPIRE; and SEX AND THE CITY (HBO). Kate’s selected feature credits include the film version of David Mamet’s play AMERICAN BUFFALO, starring Dustin Hoffman; OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE, written by Peter and Bobby Farrelly; and actor-director Tim Blake Nelson’s movie O, a modern retelling of Othello, and Nelson’s first independent feature, EYE OF GOD, which screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. She served as producer on the 2018 documentary THE SURROUNDING GAME, the first American film about the game of Go, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
Brian A. Kates has edited many acclaimed films and television shows, with 14 films selected to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and 5 films in the Cannes International Film Festival. He has been honored with two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on TAKING CHANCE and the pilot episode of THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL. He also won two ACE Eddie Awards for his work on BESSIE and LACKAWANNA BLUES, in addition to two other Eddie Award nominations, and one Independent Spirit Award nomination for WE THE ANIMALS.
Other films he has edited include KILLING THEM SOFTLY, NORMAN: THE MODERATE RISE AND TRAGIC FALL OF A NEW YORK FIXER, KILL THE MESSENGER, PRIVATE LIFE, THE SAVAGES, JACK GOES BOATING, HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES, SHORTBUS, THE WOODSMAN, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, KILL YOUR DARLINGS, in addition to co-editing the documentary TARNATION. His most recent project is HBO's THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, based on the novel by Philip Roth.
Q&A with Producer John Sloss
ABOUT THE PRODUCER:
John Sloss is a principal at the media advisory firm, Cinetic and partner in Sloss Eckhouse LawCo. Through Cinetic, he produces motion pictures and television, provides various content sales and corporate advisory services, and presides over a rapidly growing talent management division. The films he has produced or executive produced include Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD, LAST FLAG FLYING, and “BEFORE” Series, Todd Haynes’s WONDERSTRUCK and I’M NOT THERE, Peter Farrelly’s GREEN BOOK, Errol Morris’s THE FOG OF WAR, Kimberly Peirce’s BOYS DON’T CRY, Jennifer Westfeldt’s FRIENDS WITH KIDS, and Ethan Hawke’s BLAZE. In addition to his ongoing roles at Sloss Eckhouse LawCo and Cinetic Media, John founded Filmbuff, a digital distribution company, which he later sold. He founded Producers Distribution Agency in 2010, a theatrical distribution company which has released Banksy’s EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, Asif Kapadia’s SENNA, Emilio Estevez’s THE WAY, and Katie Dellamaggiore’s BROOKLYN CASTLE among other titles. He also founded the groundbreaking digital production and distribution company InDigEnt alongside Gary Winnick and IFC Films.
John has handled the sale of over 600 films including NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, PRECIOUS, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, AMY, KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE, and many of the most iconic independent films of the past 25 years. In addition, he advises a range of corporate entertainment clients across film and television to shape business strategies and support the growth of production, distribution, and marketing capabilities.
Among the filmmakers he has had a long association with, a selection includes Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Todd Haynes, Errol Morris, John Hamburg, Jake Kasdan, Brett Morgen, Justin Lin, Asif Kapadia, Kevin Smith, Gary Winick, Rebecca Miller, Matthew Heineman, Alex Gibney, Whit Stillman, Charles Ferguson, and Christine Vachon. He lives in New York with his partner Bronwyn Cosgrave, and his children, Loulou and Henry.
Q&A with LARS AND THE REAL GIRL’s Producer Bill Horberg and Composer David Torn
ABOUT THE FILM:
How do you make a film about a life-sized love doll, ordered through the Internet, into a life-affirming statement of hope? In "Lars and the Real Girl," you do it with faith in human nature, and with a performance by Ryan Gosling that says things that cannot be said. And you surround him with actors who express the instinctive kindness we show to those we love.
Gosling, who has played neo-Nazis and district attorneys, now plays Lars Lindstrom, a painfully shy young man who can barely stand the touch of another human being. He functions in the world and has an office job, but in the evening, he sits alone in a cabin in the back yard of his family home. His mother died years ago, his depressive father more recently. Now the big house is occupied by his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and pregnant sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer). She makes it her business to invite him to dinner, to share their lives, but he begs off with one lame excuse after another, and sits alone in the dark.
-Roger Ebert
ABOUT THE PRODUCER:
Bill Horberg is a veteran producer and friend of the Woodstock Film Festival whose work spans many genres. His credits include the recently released THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY starring rock legend Mick Jagger, the upcoming Netflix series THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT, the upcoming film FLAG DAY directed by Sean Penn, as well as seminal films like DEATH AT A FUNERAL, MILK, THE KITE RUNNER, COLD MOUNTAIN, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, and many more.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER:
David Torn is an award-winning composer, guitarist, and producer known for his work in the studio with musical luminaries such as David Bowie, Sting, Madonna Ryuichi Sakamoto, Howard Shore, and more. Torn has both contributed to and created the scores for several iconic television shows and feature-length films, including: TWILIGHT, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, and EVERYTHING MUST GO, among others.
Q&A with Peter Saraf, Producer of A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
ABOUT THE FILM:
Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy® winner Matthew Rhys, 2018 Best Actor in a Drama Series, The Americans) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about kindness, love and forgiveness from America’s most beloved neighbor.
ABOUT THE PRODUCER:
Peter Saraf is a producer and founder of Big Beach Entertainment, a production company based in New York and Los Angeles. Over the years, Big Beach has financed and produced a diverse catalogue of films including the indie breakout LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, the Oscar-nominated LOVING, and most recently Lulu Wang's THE FAREWELL, starring Awkwafina, and A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, both of which were nominated for Golden Globes.
“Peter Saraf is in part responsible to the creation of the Woodstock Film Festival”, said the festival’s co-founder & executive director, Meira Blaustein. “Before there was the Woodstock Film Festival, it was to be the New Paltz Film Festival. At the time I asked Peter to join our advisory board and he said no, but if we did the Woodstock Film Festival instead, he would. This was back in 1999 . . . in 2000 Peter became one of our first advisory board members, and the rest is history."
Q&A with Michael Barry, Director of STUCK
ABOUT THE FILM:
Trapped together on a stalled New York City subway car, six strangers confront their assumptions of one another under the scrutinizing eye of a mysterious homeless man, authentically played by Giancarlo Esposito. A musical for modern times, STUCK counterbalances its claustrophobic setting with impassioned songs and fully realized characters, each vocalizing their stories through memory and fantasy. The talented cast (which includes Ashanti, Amy Madigan, Tim Young, Aden Cho, Omar Chapparo, Gerard Canonico, and Reyna de Courcy) leaps through the screen and grips us with the realization that each of us carries some silent burden waiting to be proclaimed. The Manhattan underground is eerie and cold as a backdrop to the songs and stories, allowing Stuck to truly come alive through its characters. As they reveal their histories, struggles and prejudices, they also recognize their shared experiences, breaking the barriers between strangers on an urban metro. — Colton Cox
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Michael Berry, is an actor, writer and director of stage and film. Prior to STUCK, Berry directed and co-wrote the feature film FRONTERA, with Ed Harris, Michael Pena, Eva Longoria, Amy Madigan, and Aden Young. Other film projects include two multi-award winning short films, MIRA and DAY OF THE GRACKLE.
As an actor, Berry was last seen on Broadway as an original cast member of the Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize winning NEXT TO NORMAL. Other Broadway and national tour credits include: LES MISERABLES, SUNSET BOULEVARD, THE WHO'S TOMMY, and MAMMA MIA. Off Broadway, Berry appeared as Starbuck in a critically acclaimed production of MOBY DICK, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.