Joseph Gordon-Levitt Starrer ‘Greedy People’ Offers Hope for Struggling Indie Film Business
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To fully grasp the dire state of theatrical distribution of independent films, consider the words of John Sloss, founder and CEO of Cinetic Media, who recently told Variety:
“It’s imperative for all of us to get behind reigniting the theatrical experience because I don’t think the streamers are ever going to be behind the new voices and independent films. The only way to really get them out in the world is to put them in a theater where they can be reviewed and where they can sit long enough for word of mouth to really support them. That’s really the dangerous moment we are in, in terms of getting people back in the theaters.”
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Suppose there’s a way out of the “dangerous moment” for independent cinema that Sloss describes. In that case, it will probably come about because of talented indie filmmakers like director Potsy Ponciroli and his experienced, doggedly determined producers Zack Schiller and Dylan Sellers who are readying their new darkly comic crime thriller for the pre-AFM marketplace. Variety can exclusively confirm the project is titled “Greedy People” (previously “Providence”).
Sellers, whose decades-long work in the independent film production trenches, has led him to his own simple and defiant response to the current crisis: “You start by making good movies that people want to see.”
That puts the team’s current focus squarely on “Greedy People,” which should please fans of wry crime yarns like the Coen Brothers “Fargo” and the edgy and smart small-screen outings such as “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.” It’s also packed with au courant names from the current film and TV scene such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily James, Himesh Patel, “Orange is the New Black” Emmy winner Uzo Aduba, comic Jim Gaffigan, indie breakout thesp Simon Rex along with “Goliath” star Nina Arianda as Tim Blake Nelson’s nefarious soulmate.
Ponciroli’s path to “Greedy People” also provides reason for hope, as his previous film, the atmospheric, tightly wound Western “Old Henry,” starring Tim Blake Nelson, launched Ponciroli’s directorial career for the most encouraging of reasons: It was, to use Sellers’ words, “a good movie that people want to see.”
Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman raved about the low-budget oater, which has a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%, calling “Old Henry” a “steady enjoyable ride” and a “minimalist ‘Unforgiven’ with a surprisingly touching upshot.”
Ponciroli is also proud of the film’s financial success; as he puts it, he planned for double the returns, and “we’ve gotten 10 times the returns.”
The beaming notices for “Old Henry” changed Ponciroli from an in-demand director of music videos in Nashville’s country music scene to a suddenly hot feature film helmer. Ponciroli recalls the pleasant shock of discovering that even a low-budget indie hit can mean “Your phone starts ringing. You’re not the one pushing that boulder up the hill every day… The next year, I was reading 150 scripts. Three stood out. One was ‘Greedy People.'”
Ponciroli’s latest tale is a shining beacon to those despairing about the state of indie film finance. “I didn’t say yes right away,” Ponciroli, who is repped by Verve Agency, recalls, “but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had a meeting with the writer (Mike Vukadinovich). I told Dylan Sellers about it. And suddenly, I had a big ensemble. Everybody kept saying ‘yes!’ We were shooting three months later.”
Producer Schiller is aware of the challenges of the current marketplace. Still, his confidence in “Greedy People” and his plan for indie filmmaking in tough times is an emphasis on metrics and facing, not fighting the realities of the marketplace.
“It’s clear that this is a tough time for the narrative form. There are lots of big-budget fiascos you can point to. But we’re undaunted. We know it’s still possible to put a movie star in a film with a budget under $5 million and have it click. But you need movies that have strong IP and built-in hooks. Keeping your film smaller and more focused on compelling IP is the responsible way through this.”
Schiller’s views come from decades of hands-on experience. His Boies/Schiller Entertainment shingle (his partner is legendary attorney David Boies) has played a role in a wide range of budgets, from blockbuster action comedies like “Men in Black: International” to transgender filmmaker Aitch Alberto’s well-regarded 2021 sleeper, “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.”
Sellers’ roots in film production run even deeper and include several decades in both the studio suites and the indie trenches. He sharply spells out some of the reasons for the current predicament that has pros like John Sloss so deeply worried.
“Right now,” says Sellers, “we’re dealing with the devaluation of streamers by Wall Street. They’re trying to reverse-engineer a business they tried to kill. And indie finance is taking a huge additional hit because interest rates are at eight percent. Add to that the 25 percent raise on budgets that was caused by COVID-19, which some people fear is coming back around. Oh, and there’s been the storms!”
Sellers takes a breath and explains the indie film business fundamentals that guide his hopefulness and determination. “That’s why we are involved in this film. I believe that there’s still room for a terrific, entertaining movie like ‘Greedy People,’ made at a decent price with a great cast and a talented director.”
Sellers recalls what put Ponciroli on his radar: “I started hearing about ‘Old Henry,’ so I went to a theater to see it. It was Tuesday in the middle of July and every screening was sold out. And eventually, I saw it and understood why it was a hit.”
This brings us to the movie and the moment at hand. Ponciroli’s heat from “Old Henry” attracted potential sellers who shared Ponciroli’s excitement about the “Greedy People” screenplay.
“When I read this script,” says Sellers, “I told Potsy, ‘This is the best thing I’ve read since ‘Palm Springs.’ Just like that movie, this is mischievous, subversive and a darkly funny piece. Potsy got his cast and made his movie and here we are!”
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