Producing movies is not for the timid. And producing indie movies takes not only that same kind of courage, but also a true love for the business and the ability to adapt to ever-shifting priorities and whatever the production may need at a certain moment.
For the producing team of Patrick Cunningham and Chris Maybach, things seem to be falling into place with their latest effort, “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” Written and directed by Sean Durkin, the film won the Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance 2011 and the Prix du Jeune Regard at Cannes 2011, and has been generating some early Oscar buzz.
Cunningham and Maybach each have extensive experience in the world of film; Cunningham has two dozen casting director credits under his belt while Maybach’s experience as a film editor stretches back more than twenty years. Their cross-reference of experience involves almost every aspect of filmmaking, which made for a natural transition into producing.
The film tells the story of what happens when Martha (played by Elizabeth Olsen) tries to re-assimilate into her family after fleeing an abusive cult. The cast also includes the always effective John Hawkes (“Deadwood,” “American Gangster”) as the cult’s leader, Sarah Paulson (“Deadwood,” “Cupid”) and Hugh Dancy (“The Big C,” “Our Idiot Brother”).
“Martha Marcy May Marlene” has found distribution through Fox Searchlight, having been sold within 48 hours of its premiere at Sundance. The film heads to the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and will see a limited release starting October 21.
Film Slate Magazine caught up with Cunningham and Maybach; the two have several projects in the works but took the time out to talk about their roles as producers on “Martha Marcy May Marlene.”
Film Slate Magazine: How did you get hooked up with Sean to produce this project?
Patrick Cunningham: We all have mutual friends that are filmmakers in New York and Chris and I are producers and have a little financial backing as well so you know how it is with good projects. Good projects just sort of find their way of getting made.
Chris Maybach: We were looking for a long time, over a number of months we were reading material and this script just kind of jumped out at us and it kind of surprised us that nobody else had jumped on and I guess everybody these days waits for other people to make the first move.
FSM: With the state of indie film the way it is now, how difficult is it to get a project like this made?
PC: Every film has its own issues and every project has some difficulty putting the financing together. We’re involved right now in about five projects that have wonderful elements and are missing various components. Some of it is casting, but it’s always a financial component. So we’re happy to be filmmakers that have some financial background as well.
CM: I was just going to add to that, it’s funny, it’s kind of like when a parent tells an 11 year old that’s caught smoking, 'Don’t do that, do that when you’re older, do it later, do it later.' So the thing with filmmakers too {is} people will tell you, all you need is the first money. Or, all you need is an actor. And then you get that, and you realize it’s not all you need. Right up until the end you need so many things to click, you need to stick with stuff, to make it happen, so it’s just like anything else in life. There’s a lot of stuff that you just can’t believe. You just gotta keep fighting until it actually happens. You never know what’s going to put you over the edge and actually make the project happen or not.
FSM: Both of you have experience in other areas of filmmaking: casting, editing, directing. Why did you then gravitate towards producing films?
PC: It’s kind of a natural progression to get more involved creatively in different capacities. So casting is a natural relationship with talent; it’s a natural relationship that we negotiate contracts. Probably 60% is negotiating contracts. So to get involved in various aspects is a natural progression to producing. We both have financial backgrounds as well. It’s fairly easy to make the leap.
CM: Yeah, Patrick and I, we’ve been producing various things over the past 15, 20 years. Like I produced four documentaries, the first one being in 1996, and years before that producing and directing my own short films, trying to get to this point where you either have a track record or enough experience where you can move onto bigger things like features. We’ve been doing double and triple duty for a while…editing, casting and producing, and directing. Just because we love the business. We’re pretty much ready to do anything. Right now we have a nice opportunity the last couple of years. We formed our own company and we’re looking for low budget, good projects that might be ignored otherwise.
FSM: And speaking of this film, there’s a great cast--John Hawkes, Elizabeth Olsen. How did the casting of the film come together? Was it the standard read and audition process, or did the filmmakers have specific people in mind?
CM: Our guys involved at BorderLine (the production company for “Martha”), the guys that we teamed up with, they pretty much knew what they wanted and from our point of view it was a case of kind of getting out of the way and letting the director, who obviously has a gift. He’s been workshopping at Sundance last year and has been working on the screenplay for a while, and being from New York, they were shooting in New York. You sit in a committee and you talk on the phone and everybody’s got ideas about who to cast and I’m really happy that these cast people came out here—Susan Shopmaker was their casting person—great person to work with and a big part of the team. It was Sean’s vision of a piece, so it wasn’t a bunch of people throwing a million ideas in. It was very much a core way of making things happen.
FSM: The movie did well at Cannes when it played there after its premiere at Sundance. Did you have the festival run planned out or did some pieces have to fall in place after Sundance?
PC: Well, the plan, as you know for indie filmmaking, best laid plans have a way of…(everybody laughing)…exactly. So what’s happening now is just great. None of it could have been planned. It’s gotten great reception from all over. From Sundance, from Cannes, and now in Toronto, we’ll be there in a few weeks, and looking forward to the reception there.
FSM: As producers, what do you see as your roles as you take a film through its festival run?
PC: It always varies, right? I think it depends on the film. It depends on the film; it always depends on the interest, if it’s sold, obviously, already. We’ve had films that haven’t been sold and been on the festival circuit with them. And in this case, the film sold 48 hours after its premiere at Sundance. So of course, life was a lot easier.
FSM: Basically, it depends on whether you have distribution—that’s a huge deal for a film.
PC: That’s a huge factor for every indie. I think it always changes depending on what type of film you have.
CM: Some films, one person might wear 10 or 15 different hats, and have to apply to festivals. But in this case, there are agencies, and numerous people involved, so it’s a team effort.
FSM: Any final thoughts about the film?
PC: Look forward to October 21; it premieres in New York on the 12th. And then it goes limited release October 21.
CM: From London, east coast/west coast, let’s see what happens. It’s something different and something elegant and people are responding to it so far—the critics—and Fox is doing a great job so far. It’s exciting.
