Director David Gordon Green has a diverse body of work in commercials, features and television. His spotmaking ranges from several moving pieces in the American Legacy Foundation’s anti-smoking “Truth” campaign to assorted comedic ESPN SportsCenter promos to Chrysler’s 2012 Super Bowl anthem “It’s Halftime in America,” the two-minute spot starring Clint Eastwood.
Green made his first major mark with such indie features as George Washington and All The Real Girls, the latter winning a Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. He then broadened his feature signature from independent film drama as reflected in such titles as Snow Angels to mainstream comedy with releases including Pineapple Express and The Sitter, as well as the dark comedy series Eastbound & Down on HBO.
While continuing to be active in commercials and branded content via Chelsea, Green has been a fixture on the film festival circuit over the years, his latest appearance slated for the just underway Toronto International Film Festival with the feature Manglehorn starring Al Pacino, Holly Hunter and Chris Messina. The film’s protagonist, Angelo Manglehorn, is a small town locksmith who never got over the love of his life, Clara, a beautiful, idealized woman who left him heartbroken 40 years ago. He still writes her letters obsessively as he tries to find her and win back the woman of his dreams. Green’s movie chronicles the journey of this magical man, his son, his cat and a beautiful new woman trying to help him put the pieces of his heart back together. Manglehorn premiered at the recently wrapped Venice Film Festival and makes its North American debut at the Toronto Festival.
Manglehorn is Green’s fourth film to land at the Toronto Fest. SHOOT caught up with him as he discussed his experiences over the years at the Toronto Fest, how he became involved in Manglehorn, and his short and long-form filmmaking endeavors.
SHOOT: What drew you to Manglehorn? What was the genesis of the project for you?
Green: I had a meeting with Al Pacino when he was being considered for a commercial I was directing. He didn’t end up doing the ad, but it was such a peculiar meeting that when I got on the plane I kept thinking about him and thinking about this man who had so many amazing subtle qualities that I had never seen in a film before. I started talking to my friend Paul Logan and we began imagining the perfect Pacino character… And then Paul wrote down this outline of a surreal melancholy journey of this man. I instantly fell in love with the voice and the idea of working with Al.
SHOOT: What was the biggest creative challenge that Manglehorn posed to you as a director?
Green: The only real challenge was that we were working with a small number of shooting days, but ultimately that led to great creative opportunities and imaginative ways to approach a scene technically. We didn’t tackle the coverage traditionally and we really found a path during production that left the rules of narrative behind for more of a dreamlike naturalism. For example, sometimes you never see the face of the person who is talking and focus on the listener. Sometimes my own curiosity can be a challenge. Wanting to push Al to a place he’d never been before and structure a film and edit a film unlike any project I had worked on and make it as personal as possible.
SHOOT: What does the selection of Manglehorn for presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival mean to you personally and professionally?
Green: I’ve found great audience reactions in Toronto, so it is always an honor to be invited to return. It’s also the one place that my industry friends from around the world get to hang out and watch movies and many of my filmmaker friends are there. We get to really feed the camaraderie of making films, which can be rare as so many people are off on their own very time consuming paths.
SHOOT: And could you share your history at Toronto? I see that George Washington won the Discovery Award at Toronto back in 2000. Any other of your films over the years at Toronto?
Green: Indeed. My first film was recognized at the festival and it was really a launch for so many of the critics and other film festivals that were supportive of the movie. I remember Roger Ebert came up to me after the first screening and for a guy that grew up reading his column and watching his show, it was a huge moment for me hearing his compliments. I’ve presented two other films there: Undertow and Joe and had a blast on each occasion.
SHOOT: How has your commercialmaking experience informed your work in features? And conversely, have your feature exploits enabled you to bring something different to your commercialmaking and branded content endeavors?
Green: I really feel so grateful to have feature and commercial opportunities in a healthy balance. For me personally, I don’t think one could exist without the other. I’m inspired by both processes and the amazing people that I get to work with. Short form storytelling is an art of its own. Being able to experiment with editing and images and pacing and precision can be really fun for me. Also working with non-traditional actors like professional athletes or real people when we’re doing documentary style stuff. And I can’t forget that if it weren’t for the commercial casting process I never would have met Al Pacino and seen him in the form I saw that motivated me to make Manglehorn. I enjoy the challenges and efforts and the short-term adventures that have taken me to so many places and explored so many different subject matters. I wouldn’t trade these experiences for the world.
SHOOT: Besides Manglehorn, update us on your recent filmmaking activities-spots, shorts, features.
Green: I’m in Bolivia right now prepping a movie with Sandra Bullock about political consultants in La Paz. I have a new comedy TV show I directed called Red Oaks that begins airing on Amazon. I executive produced the film Camp X-Ray that stars Kristen Stewart and opens this fall. I am executive producing a documentary called When Elephants Fight about conflict minerals in Congo. And hopefully directing some cool spots with my good friends in the ad world… Soon. When I get into feature production, I really miss you guys.
