Actor Wish List

Clifton Collins Jr. is such a talent.  He’s one of those actors that I categorize as being “invisible”.   He’s so good at what he does that you don’t even recognize him. Another actor I would include as “invisible” is Jeffrey Wright.

Both these actors rarely call attention to themselves, but still turn in solid work every time.  It’s usually only after viewing one of their films do I realize that they were in it (and that’s a total compliment) — usually because they are not the lead and don’t get top billing.  What’s most impressive is they’ve embodied the character so much that you don’t even realize there’s any acting going on.

Have them in one of your films and you’re golden.

The films that made me really eager to see what they’ll do next (and pay better attention if they’re in it) were SUNSHINE CLEANING (Collins Jr.) and BROKEN FLOWERS (Wright).

Do you recognize them?  (Click the name to see their list of film credits)

Clifton Collins Jr.

Jeffrey Wright

DISMAL hits On-Demand

The horror film I was hired to direct DISMAL hit On-Demand (via TimeWarner and Comcast) last week on July 16th!

What a surreal feeling knowing that the film is out there and beyond my (and the producers) control.  First thing I noticed is a new trailer the distributors have done — removing one of the best taglines from the film “You got Dale’s word on that.”  Oh well.

Congrats to Fearmakers for landing distribution.  I can’t believe I can now tell people they can just order it on cable — and soon buy it in the stores.  What a great feeling.

Please support the film and watch it/rent it/order it/buy it — whatever your fancy.  I would love to to Dismal 2.

DISMAL – Theatrical Trailer from Gary King on Vimeo.

NY LATELY – “In The Recording Booth” Exclusive Clip

Here’s an exclusive clip from my feature film NEW YORK LATELY.

It’s one of my favorite scenes which features some delightful acting from the leads Mark DiConzo (as Mark Wagner) and Jenn Dees (as Veronica Darling) — and some great supporting work from Jamie Wesberry (the studio director) and Molly Ryman (Mark’s ex).

NYL is currently in the festival circuit awaiting future screenings. It should hit DVD by the end of the year.

If you enjoy the clip want to see more scenes from the film, please leave a comment. Thanks for watching!

NEW YORK LATELY – Mark & Veronica In The Recording Booth (Exclusive Clip) from Gary King on Vimeo.

WEBSITES:
Official Website
IMDB Film Page
FACEBOOK Fan Page — Please join us

FESTIVALS
2009 Sedona International Film Festival (World Premiere)

REVIEWS

“…a beautiful film…” — ROW THREE

“…an absolutely wonderful piece of work.” — ROGUE CINEMA

“…director Gary King brings out some strong performances from a talented cast.” — OXFORD FILM FREAK

“…an original, funny and poignant slice of New York City” — FILM ARCADE

“…breathtaking and emotionally powerful…” — TCWREVIEWS

“…smart, lively and engaging…” — SONIC CINEMA

“I never thought that watching relationships fail could be so heartwarming.” — PULPMOVIES

“…Gary King breaks back into the independent scene with his best
work to date….entertaining from title to credits…” — KILLER FILM

“…smart camera work…perfect pacing, superb acting…” — FILMFANATIX

“…a remarkable achievement…independent cinema at its finest…” — THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC

Whip It — Or Not

Last year I was talking to a friend about an idea I had for an all-female roller derby film — an ensemble film in the style of an 70′s Atlman film. He told me he head some connections to the BAD (Bay Area Derby) Girls and would help make some introductions when I had the time for research and such.

Of course a few months later I learned that Drew Barrymore was making the film “WHIP IT” and then my whole idea was basically blown so I dropped it. Too little too late. The reality is my plate is so full that I rarely have time to develop all my ideas and shoot them. I really do wish I had more of a creative team to help develop and produce things sometimes.

The worst part — the trailer to WHIP IT has been released and it leaves me with a “meh” feeling. It has pretty much a dream cast as I’d love to work with Juliette Lewis, Zoe Bell and Ellen Page — but I’m just not feeling it. Feels like a pretty generic comedy when there is so much potential to go deeper in these girls’ lives.

It could be just the trailer so I’m hoping the film is actually better.

“LOVELY” Update – Diary of a Madman

Here is my “WHAT’S UP LOVELY” Editing Roadmap. I managed to sketch it out in about an hour while waiting to meet a friend (during about Week 6 of the editing phase).

As you can see (or more likely as you CAN’T see) — my mind was going all over the place as I ordered out every single scene of the film. I also added little notes all over the place as new ideas to try out. Then I shuffled scenes around a bit as I was sketching the roadmap as things became clearer on the order they needed to appear.

I’m sure this method is pretty unorthodox, but it definitely helped me since there is no formal script (only a treatment — see this previous post for more details) to really follow.

CLICK THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE — there are spoliers in there, but I wouldn’t worry about it. Good for you if you can read my chicken scratch let alone make sense of anything. I think I’m insane.

Still on the list

A while back — about 8 months ago — I wrote about an actress that I saw on a British television show (Dr. Who) and knew was destined for great things…

Click here for my original post

Carey Mulligan now has a new film coming out “AN EDUCATION” which has  a new trailer.    I’m extremely excited to catch her in new work.  As I said before, remember her name.  And yes she’s still on my list of actors I’d love to work with.

I’ve got a few more to add to the list now which will be covered in future posts.

“LOVELY” now on IMDB

IMDB has officially added WHAT’S UP LOVELY to their database. In the upcoming months it will be updated with cast/crew information.

Click Here to visit the IMDB Page:
WHAT’S UP LOVELY IMDB Film Profile

One Week Til DISMAL

Just a friendly reminder that the film I was hired to direct DISMAL is hitting On-Demand (via TimeWarner and Comcast) on July 16th!

It’s been an incredible ride and the Fearmakers Studios (the production company behind DISMAL) have done a great job getting the film out to the market.  It should be hitting DVD in late 2009 — available in most places where you buy/rent DVD’s.

Very exciting times.  Please support the film and watch it when it hits.  There’s a sequel in the mix that I’m excited about if there’s enough interest in the first film.

DISMAL – Theatrical Trailer from Gary King on Vimeo.

…AROUND hits the market

A good friend and fellow (soon to be ex-NYer) filmmaker David Spaltro is making a splash in the indie film seen.  His feature debut “…AROUND” had a nice festival run, but more importantly it’s hitting the market and is available to buy/download/rent.  That’s half the battle so I’m extremely proud (and jealous in a good way) for him.  The movie also features the extremely talented and beautiful Molly Ryman, who is featured in NEW YORK LATELY.

Now comes the 2nd half of the battle — getting it out there to the world.  I want to help out and let everyone know that they can now see the film via Amazon On-Demand!  I’m told it will soon be available on iTunes, Netflix and more to follow.

Congrats David!!  Break a leg!  And good luck with your move!

Official Website

Amazon-On Demand

“LOVELY” Rough Cut Update

Week 5 – A Visit from the Dees

Jenn Dees (who plays Luci — the main character in the film) stopped by my man cave to review the current footage (approx. 14 mins and change).  I’ve still got a long way to go before finishing a rough cut.

We had a great discussion on how the story is taking shape based on what we shot and how it’s coming together in the edit.  Some storylines were sharpened while a brand new one was discovered….well, we shot some footage and were not sure how to use it or where it’d show up, but Jenn suggested where it could go and it worked perfectly.  My creative juices are really going after talking with her –  in fact I’m going to experiment soon on some other ideas that were brought up.

After our meeting, I pulled BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, GEORGE WASHINGTON and ALL THE REAL GIRLS off the shelf to do a little studying.