Washington Square Films (WSF) has signed "New York Times Director to Watch" Alison Klayman for her first commercial representation. Named on a NYT list of rising international filmmaking talents under 40, Klayman’s debut feature documentary, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, nominated for two Emmys, won a Sundance Special Jury Prize and earned a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nomination. In commercials, Klayman has directed branded work for lululemon and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among others.
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry was distributed by IFC Films and was one of the highest grossing films of 2012 directed by a woman. In the short film genre, Klayman is known for powerful documentary shorts, including films she has directed for the PBS series Frontline and the recent The 100 Years Show short doc, which premiered at Hot Docs 2015. Klayman’s authentic style of storytelling is fostered by her background as an accredited journalist in China who produced radio and television feature stories for NPR’s All Things Considered, among others.
“My approach is collaborative and multi-layered. I strive to build a genuine emotional connection with the audience, to capture stunning visuals that fit the story, and above all make work that is relevant to the times and speaks to the important questions of today,” noted Klayman who was selected to participate in both IFP’s Emerging Storytellers program and Berlinale Talents. “I love how WSF supports their directors’ development both in and out of the commercial space. On our last project, I felt I could bring my full creative self to the table, which is what you need to produce great work.”
“We started as fans,” said Jonathan Schwartz, WSF head of marketing and sales. “We loved her films, and were very impressed with her short-form and branded work. She fits our model of complete filmmakers who are also a pleasure to work with.”
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More