Recess Films has launched in L.A. and New York, headed by managing director John Duffin, an industry vet who served as an exec at Epoch Films for 17 years.
Duffin’s partners in Recess are Jonathan Notaro and Devin Brook–founder and managing partner, respectively, of Brand New School (BNS). Recess will operate independently from BNS, with its own roster of directors.
Recess’ directorial lineup includes Ahmed Klink, Alastair McKevitt, Alexandra Gavillet, Fernando Cardenas, Marcus Ubungen, and Rory Kelleher. This coterie of talent has to its credit recent collaborations for such clients as Apple, Nike, Gatorade, Beats and Facebook.
During his Epoch tenure, Duffin gained a reputation for grooming new talent while advancing the careers of established filmmakers. “I want to nurture talent and create an environment where they can be fearless,” said Duffin. “I see the production company’s role as a community where creativity is valued and has a chance to develop and grow. Recess is an extension of that spirit.”
Recess will produce work across genres, including commercials, films, series, and branded content. The company is represented on the East Coast by Jamie Scalera and Sasha Stern, on the West Coast by Melissa Ross, and in the Midwest by Sue Rosen.
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