Bryan Wizemann’s You Mean Everything to Me is the first feature film I worked on as an A.C in New York. Before principal photography, production sent me the script and the lookbook, which introduced me to the abusive relationship at the center of the film. Nathan (Ben Rosenfield) comes off affable and attractive enough on the surface, but is dangerously worn inside from lying to others and himself. Perpetuating his particularly gangrenous insecurity, he habitually coerces partners into his ring of control. Cassandra (Morgan Saylor) just happens to meet him while she’s down on her luck,and finds herself spiraling into […]
The post “I Went From $1 Million and a 30-Person Crew on Location in Vegas to Maybe 88 Grand, a 12-Person Crew, and My Producer’s Apartment as a Set”: Bryan Wizemann on You Mean Everything to Me first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Went From $1 Million and a 30-Person Crew on Location in Vegas to Maybe 88 Grand, a 12-Person Crew, and My Producer’s Apartment as a Set”: Bryan Wizemann on You Mean Everything to Me first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 12/20/2021
- by Aaron Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Romance takes a predatory turn in You Mean Everything to Me, a film that explores the pattern by which a DJ named Nathan (Ben Rosenfield) begins to grip a vice around the life of Cassandra (Morgan Saylor), a waitress living out of her car after she’s evicted from her sister’s place. Writer-director Bryan Wizemann was inspired by a toxic relationship that befell a female friend of his—one which would go on to similarly troubling circumstances to those we see in the film, as Cassandra is manipulated into working as an erotic dancer at the club where Nathan DJs and, eventually, into the world of sex work against her will.
Wizemann is quite effective in his portrayal of a relationship where a man methodically removes his prey from any possible support system, alienating her from family, work, and friends. We are placed firmly into Cassandra’s perspective, as...
Wizemann is quite effective in his portrayal of a relationship where a man methodically removes his prey from any possible support system, alienating her from family, work, and friends. We are placed firmly into Cassandra’s perspective, as...
- 12/14/2021
- by Mitchell Beaupre
- The Film Stage
Persistence pays off. Bryan Wizemann has been painstakingly hacking away at indie film since 1998’s Sense following that with 2005’s Losing Ground, 2011’s About Sunny (TIFF) and finally his fourth feature in You Mean Everything to Me. Recently awarded the Rooftop Films and Brigade Festival Publicity grant and accepted into the Sundance Institute Film Music and Sound Design Lab, the shoestring budgeted film features the likes of Morgan Saylor and Ben Rosenfield, with Lindsay Burdge in a smaller role.
Gist: After getting kicked out of her sister’s place, Cassandra falls hard and fast for Nathan, a local DJ. Caught up in a whirlwind romance, he soon starts distancing them from her friends and family, and his demands grow increasingly darker.…...
Gist: After getting kicked out of her sister’s place, Cassandra falls hard and fast for Nathan, a local DJ. Caught up in a whirlwind romance, he soon starts distancing them from her friends and family, and his demands grow increasingly darker.…...
- 11/26/2020
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Swedish documentary filmmaker Anastasia Kirillova and “Negative Space” co-directors Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter are among the filmmakers who will receive grants from Rooftop Films to help complete their upcoming projects.
Kirilova will be awarded $20,000 to finish her film, “In the Shadows of Love,” while collaborators Kuwahata and Porter will receive $10,000 for “Dandelion Seed.”
Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization founded to showcase and fund the work of rising filmmakers and musicians in New York City. They provide cash grants to artists, rent equipment at affordable costs and organize film screenings.
“One of the great pleasures of working at Rooftop Films is that we have the opportunity to not only witness the growth of tenacious artists, but to support their visionary works as well,” said Dan Nuxoll, Rooftop Films’ artistic director. “This year’s grantees are among the most promising in all our years of championing independent cinema, and we...
Kirilova will be awarded $20,000 to finish her film, “In the Shadows of Love,” while collaborators Kuwahata and Porter will receive $10,000 for “Dandelion Seed.”
Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization founded to showcase and fund the work of rising filmmakers and musicians in New York City. They provide cash grants to artists, rent equipment at affordable costs and organize film screenings.
“One of the great pleasures of working at Rooftop Films is that we have the opportunity to not only witness the growth of tenacious artists, but to support their visionary works as well,” said Dan Nuxoll, Rooftop Films’ artistic director. “This year’s grantees are among the most promising in all our years of championing independent cinema, and we...
- 2/20/2019
- by Jordan Moreau
- Variety Film + TV
Amid the desolate Las Vegas skyline, a young single mother must decide what sacrifices need to be made in order for the survival of herself and child in writer/director Bryan Wizemann's feature-length debut film About Sunny, which Austin Film Society will screen Thursday at 7:30 pm in the Afs Screening Room as part of its Best of the Fests series.
The drama, which premiered on the festival circuit under the less emotional and more unfocused title Think of Me, is based on Wizemann's childhood experiences with his single mother in Las Vegas.
As a child of a single mother myself, I was drawn to the relationship between Angela (Lauren Ambrose) and her eight-year-old daughter Sunny, played by newcomer and Texan Audrey P. Scott. The duo's interactions with each other involve relatively little dialogue, and when they are having a conversation it feels trite and one-sided, making it apparent...
The drama, which premiered on the festival circuit under the less emotional and more unfocused title Think of Me, is based on Wizemann's childhood experiences with his single mother in Las Vegas.
As a child of a single mother myself, I was drawn to the relationship between Angela (Lauren Ambrose) and her eight-year-old daughter Sunny, played by newcomer and Texan Audrey P. Scott. The duo's interactions with each other involve relatively little dialogue, and when they are having a conversation it feels trite and one-sided, making it apparent...
- 7/8/2013
- by Jordan Gass-Poore'
- Slackerwood
Chicago – In the annals of bad parenting portrayed on film, the heroine of Bryan Wizemann’s 2011 indie drama is a special case indeed. Though we watch helplessly as she makes countless bad decisions guaranteed to send her young daughter to intensive therapy, we don’t regard her a sinister figure on the order of Monique’s monstrous matriarch in “Precious.” Our gaze is one of empathy.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
That’s because Wizemann’s film is remarkably observant in its exploration of the factors that led this single mother, Angela, to commit such desperate acts. She embodies the anxiety and rage of a working class that feels utterly abandoned by its own country. It’s difficult to be a nurturing parent when you’re living from paycheck to paycheck while struggling to keep your head above water in a society consistently at odds with your needs. Yet instead of transforming the tale into a political polemic,...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
That’s because Wizemann’s film is remarkably observant in its exploration of the factors that led this single mother, Angela, to commit such desperate acts. She embodies the anxiety and rage of a working class that feels utterly abandoned by its own country. It’s difficult to be a nurturing parent when you’re living from paycheck to paycheck while struggling to keep your head above water in a society consistently at odds with your needs. Yet instead of transforming the tale into a political polemic,...
- 5/24/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Bryan Wizemann’s recommended Think of Me, which boasts an amazing performance by Lauren Ambrose, is tomorrow night’s opening feature for the Rooftop Films 2012 season. The following interview was originally published on the eve of its Toronto Film Festival premiere.
One of the more sobering and even painful short films of recent years is Bryan Wizemann’s Film Makes Us Happy. In the 12-minute documentary, Wizemann argues with his wife about his obsession with filmmaking, with her challenging him to give up on his dreams in order to focus on his family — including his new baby. Wizemann’s synopsis simply states, “Film Makes Us Happy documents the last fight my wife and I will ever have about making films.”
I have no idea the aftermath of that film on Wizemann’s family life, but I am happy to report that the writer/director is successfully making films. Think of Me is his debut,...
One of the more sobering and even painful short films of recent years is Bryan Wizemann’s Film Makes Us Happy. In the 12-minute documentary, Wizemann argues with his wife about his obsession with filmmaking, with her challenging him to give up on his dreams in order to focus on his family — including his new baby. Wizemann’s synopsis simply states, “Film Makes Us Happy documents the last fight my wife and I will ever have about making films.”
I have no idea the aftermath of that film on Wizemann’s family life, but I am happy to report that the writer/director is successfully making films. Think of Me is his debut,...
- 5/11/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
New York's Rooftop Films summer film screening series, which screens films on rooftops throughout the summer across the city, has announced its 2012 lineup. Though the other dates have been left unannounced, the series will launch with opening weekend with a screening of shorts from around the world on Friday, May 11, and with Bryan Wizemann's "Think of Me" on May 12. Films in this year's series include Sundance favorites "China Heavyweight," "Detropia," "Kid-Thing" and "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty," and SXSW favorites like "Kumare," "Gayby" and "Sun Don't Shine." The complete lineup of films is below. Rooftop Films 16th Annual Summer Series Opening Weekend Friday, May 11, 2012 This is What We Mean by Short Films Opening Night of Rooftop Films 16th Annual Summer Series will feature grand stories in little packages, with some...
- 4/18/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Each week within this column Spirit Award voter & film critic Kristy Puchko will offer a keen insight on a new selection of nominees for the 2012 Spirit Awards, along with any garnered behind-the-scenes exclusives. The Spirit Awards will air February 25th @10Pm on IFC.
Last week I shared my thoughts on some of the films I loathed this year, and so am thrilled to share some of my favorites from this year’s Spirit line-up with you today. Let’s get to it.
The Interrupters ~ Directed by Steve James
Nominations: Best Documentary
“I can’t aid and abed shit. I flush shit,” these are the tough love words of Ameena Matthews, a former gang member turned violence interrupter who dedicates herself and her time to the rage-filled residents of Chicago, counseling them to stop the gang violence that has long-ravaged the community. Hoop Dreams director Steve James dives deep into the...
Last week I shared my thoughts on some of the films I loathed this year, and so am thrilled to share some of my favorites from this year’s Spirit line-up with you today. Let’s get to it.
The Interrupters ~ Directed by Steve James
Nominations: Best Documentary
“I can’t aid and abed shit. I flush shit,” these are the tough love words of Ameena Matthews, a former gang member turned violence interrupter who dedicates herself and her time to the rage-filled residents of Chicago, counseling them to stop the gang violence that has long-ravaged the community. Hoop Dreams director Steve James dives deep into the...
- 2/7/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Set in a city landscape far removed from the artificial glamour of Las Vegas (ground heavily treaded in other indie films), Think of Me attempts to understand a would be Casey Anthony-type of mother. However, perhaps like Anthony – Lauren Ambrose’s Angela is a child herself. Making the best of having a child, writer/director Bryan Wizemann’s camera is observant, following in the traditions of neorealism. Much of the seediest behavior is implied and perhaps our imagination can be far worse.
The film works as well as it does due to a tour de force performance by Lauren Ambrose who first came on my radar as Chicklet in Psycho Beach Party. Similar to Chicklet, it takes a smart person to play someone with a certain set of real world knowledge, while lacking a total understanding of her surroundings. Her performance is masterful. When in the presence of her daughter...
The film works as well as it does due to a tour de force performance by Lauren Ambrose who first came on my radar as Chicklet in Psycho Beach Party. Similar to Chicklet, it takes a smart person to play someone with a certain set of real world knowledge, while lacking a total understanding of her surroundings. Her performance is masterful. When in the presence of her daughter...
- 9/22/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
We are now four days into the Toronto International Film Festival which runs a total of ten days so I felt it would be best to look back at some of the coverage we’ve posted thus far. Admittedly we are all a bit behind but we do intend on catching up before the fest if over. So far this year the festival hasn’t been as exciting for me as compared to previous years. Most of my time is spent running around from one cinema to the next, networking and trying to find some time to maintain the site and do some writing. The first day is usually a write off spent picking up tickets, finding a place to stay and meeting up with some old friends, so unfortunately my movie watching only began on Friday evening. So I’ve decided that in the future, I will arrive in...
- 9/12/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Into the Abyss
Directed by Werner Herzog
USA, 2011
In the context of a documentary that’s been billed as being about death row, “Tell me about an encounter with a squirrel” might seem like an entirely nonsensical interview demand. Yet, for the inimitably disarming Werner Herzog, it works like a charm, and succeeds in eliciting one of the many poignant moments that punctuate Into the Abyss. Actually less about death row than the general, fascinating fallout of a staggeringly senseless triple homicide, the film addresses all aspects of the event, from the initial investigation to the eventual execution of one of the young perpetrators, who is interviewed just days before he is scheduled to die. Herzog, certainly, is anti-capital punishment, but Into the Abyss is far from an “issue documentary” in the Michael Moore vein, and achieves a sensitive balance. This sensitivity, in turn, combined with Herzog’s ability to...
Directed by Werner Herzog
USA, 2011
In the context of a documentary that’s been billed as being about death row, “Tell me about an encounter with a squirrel” might seem like an entirely nonsensical interview demand. Yet, for the inimitably disarming Werner Herzog, it works like a charm, and succeeds in eliciting one of the many poignant moments that punctuate Into the Abyss. Actually less about death row than the general, fascinating fallout of a staggeringly senseless triple homicide, the film addresses all aspects of the event, from the initial investigation to the eventual execution of one of the young perpetrators, who is interviewed just days before he is scheduled to die. Herzog, certainly, is anti-capital punishment, but Into the Abyss is far from an “issue documentary” in the Michael Moore vein, and achieves a sensitive balance. This sensitivity, in turn, combined with Herzog’s ability to...
- 9/10/2011
- by Julian
- SoundOnSight
One of the more sobering and even painful short films of recent years is Bryan Wizemann’s Film Makes Us Happy. In the 12-minute documentary, Wizemann argues with his wife about his obsession with filmmaking, with her challenging him to give up on his dreams in order to focus on his family — including his new baby. Wizemann’s synopsis simply states, “Film Makes Us Happy documents the last fight my wife and I will ever have about making films.”
I have no idea the aftermath of that film on Wizemann’s family life, but I am happy to report that the writer/director is successfully making films. Think of Me is his debut, the story of a single mom in Las Vegas fighting to stay above water while raising a child in our no-growth economy. It stars Lauren Ambrose, and, as Wizemann relays below, is inspired by elements of his own childhood.
I have no idea the aftermath of that film on Wizemann’s family life, but I am happy to report that the writer/director is successfully making films. Think of Me is his debut, the story of a single mom in Las Vegas fighting to stay above water while raising a child in our no-growth economy. It stars Lauren Ambrose, and, as Wizemann relays below, is inspired by elements of his own childhood.
- 9/9/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
As noted in previous lineup announcement entries, (Visions, Wavelengths, Future Projections, Galas and Special Presentations), the Toronto International Film Festival (September 9 through 18) has released some of its most anticipated lineups today. We're taking them one at a time, first posting them program by program with descriptions provided by the festival — and then returning over the coming hours and days to add links and further notes. Here's the lineup for the Contemporary World Cinema program.
Karim Aïnouz's The Silver Cliff. A phone message from her husband propels Violeta into the streets of Rio until sunrise. Telling their teenage son that a last minute trip has come up, she sets out to find her husband. Rio at night is her sole companion as she struggles to face his abrupt and sudden change of heart, but the beach also provides renewal, unexpected meetings and a window to a whole other world.
Ozcan Alper's Future Lasts Forever.
Karim Aïnouz's The Silver Cliff. A phone message from her husband propels Violeta into the streets of Rio until sunrise. Telling their teenage son that a last minute trip has come up, she sets out to find her husband. Rio at night is her sole companion as she struggles to face his abrupt and sudden change of heart, but the beach also provides renewal, unexpected meetings and a window to a whole other world.
Ozcan Alper's Future Lasts Forever.
- 8/16/2011
- MUBI
Tiff has just announced the final batch of films slated to hit the fest in September. The number of additions is overwhelming. We just posted the complete line-up for the Gala and Special Presentation programs. Now comes the massive wave of movies in the Contemporary World Cinema program. Here is the press release.
Toronto – The Contemporary World Cinema programme delivers 51 cinematic gems from around the globe at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival®. Offering a variety of filmmakers’ voices and perspectives from around the world, the lineup draws from Brazil, China, South Africa, France, Iran, Morocco, the Netherlands, Israel, Portugal, Russia, Canada and more. This snapshot of global trends in cinema also features the North American premieres of new films by directors such as Andrey Zvyagintsev, Gerardo Naranjo, Sion Sono, Asghar Farhadi, Karim Ainouz, Ole Christian Madsen and Cristián Jiménez
Always Brando Ridha Béhi, Tunisia
World Premiere
After meeting Anis Raache,...
Toronto – The Contemporary World Cinema programme delivers 51 cinematic gems from around the globe at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival®. Offering a variety of filmmakers’ voices and perspectives from around the world, the lineup draws from Brazil, China, South Africa, France, Iran, Morocco, the Netherlands, Israel, Portugal, Russia, Canada and more. This snapshot of global trends in cinema also features the North American premieres of new films by directors such as Andrey Zvyagintsev, Gerardo Naranjo, Sion Sono, Asghar Farhadi, Karim Ainouz, Ole Christian Madsen and Cristián Jiménez
Always Brando Ridha Béhi, Tunisia
World Premiere
After meeting Anis Raache,...
- 8/16/2011
- by Kyle Reese
- SoundOnSight
After three separate announcements (here, here and here), the Toronto International Film Festival has announced the final line-up for their Galas and Special Presentations, as well as a few other categories. Most notable is Andrea Arnold‘s Fish Tank follow-up Wuthering Heights, the next film from Timecrimes director Nacho Vigalondo, as well as Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos’ Alps.
We also get Whit Stillman‘s Damsels in Distress starring Greta Gerwig and Geoffrey Fletcher’s Violet & Daisy starring Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini. In what should be a little fun we have Gary McKendry‘s Killer Elite starring Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Jason Statham. We also get Owen’s horror flick Intruders and Joel Schumacher‘s Trespass starring Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage. Check out the full line-ups below.
Galas
Closing Night Film
Page Eight David Hare, United Kingdom
International Premiere
Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is a long-serving M15 officer.
We also get Whit Stillman‘s Damsels in Distress starring Greta Gerwig and Geoffrey Fletcher’s Violet & Daisy starring Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini. In what should be a little fun we have Gary McKendry‘s Killer Elite starring Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Jason Statham. We also get Owen’s horror flick Intruders and Joel Schumacher‘s Trespass starring Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage. Check out the full line-ups below.
Galas
Closing Night Film
Page Eight David Hare, United Kingdom
International Premiere
Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is a long-serving M15 officer.
- 8/16/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Over at the new Ifp Independent Film Week 2009 blog, Danielle Digiacomo sits down with Independent Film Week '08 veteran Bryan Wizemann, who has a number of promising projects that might just be about to go... and then he's got a short film that questions the wisdom of it all. At Wholphin check out Film Makes Us Happy, a short in which Wizemann interviews on-camera his wife and asks her whether he should give up film. It's a painful watch, although one with a lot of relevance to many filmmakers trying to balance work and family needs. From the interview on the Wholphin site: How do you think the film will affect other struggling filmmakers? Many have come up to me after various festival screenings, and the conversation starts like...
- 8/27/2009
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
New York -- Longtime Martin Scorsese producer Barbara De Fina, Austin Chick and Andrew Kletjian have optioned Lisa Unger's new Random House thriller "Black Out."
Chick, who also has optioned Tim Clark's art forgery caper script "Fake," will adapt and direct both for the big screen.
"Black Out" centers on Annie Powers, an affluent wife and mother living in Florida. Cracks in her idyllic life emerge when her psychologist is murdered and a familiar dark figure appears, triggering long-suppressed memories of a former life she must piece together to save herself and her daughter.
The Wma-repped Chick, a co-producer and uncredited writer on Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead," helmed "Xx/Yy" and this summer's Josh Hartnett drama "August." He recently signed to write and direct an untitled Hamptons-based thriller for Sony's Screen Gems in the spring.
"I've been wanting to do a character-driven thriller since ('Devil')," said Chick,...
Chick, who also has optioned Tim Clark's art forgery caper script "Fake," will adapt and direct both for the big screen.
"Black Out" centers on Annie Powers, an affluent wife and mother living in Florida. Cracks in her idyllic life emerge when her psychologist is murdered and a familiar dark figure appears, triggering long-suppressed memories of a former life she must piece together to save herself and her daughter.
The Wma-repped Chick, a co-producer and uncredited writer on Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead," helmed "Xx/Yy" and this summer's Josh Hartnett drama "August." He recently signed to write and direct an untitled Hamptons-based thriller for Sony's Screen Gems in the spring.
"I've been wanting to do a character-driven thriller since ('Devil')," said Chick,...
- 9/10/2008
- by By Gregg Goldstein
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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