Filmmaker, actor and writer Patrick Brice has joined GenPop’s directorial lineup, marking his first career representation in spots and branded content.
Brice was first exposed to different ways to approach narrative storytelling while getting his BFA in Film and Video at the California Institute of the Arts. Creep, his first feature film as director/writer/actor (with Mark Duplass) premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival and was distributed by Netflix and iTunes. A horror movie shot in found footage-style, Creep was nominated for several awards by SXSW, the Chicago International Film Festival, and earned a Special Mention at the Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival.
His second feature as director/writer, The Overnight (starring Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling and Jason Schwartzman) world premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The Overnight made rounds on the festival circuit that year, winning Best Narrative Feature at the deadCENTER Film Festival, and earning a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, as well as for an Audience Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Liberating is how Brice describes the opportunity to create commercial work with GenPop, “Being used to projects that take several years from conception to completion,” said Brice, “the chance to focus on a very specific story and explore the narrative within the short format feels like the world is opening up.”
Brice is currently writing a movie for Netflix–produced by the Duplass Brothers–which he will also direct. This marks Patrick’s third project with Mark Duplass.
“Patrick’s record in features shows just how much he thrives in collaborative environments. People truly enjoy working with him,” said Alex Anderson, managing director of GenPop. “He’s a brilliant creator and a peer, and that combination is a great indicator that he’s going to do amazing things in the commercial world.”
Genpop was launched this year as a content creation studio and production company by creative/director Ben Conrad. Key staffers include Anderson, EP Pierre Nobile, and Nick Moceri who heads up the film and TV department.
Review: Writer-Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood’s “Heretic”
"Heretic" opens with an unusual table setter: Two young missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are discussing condoms and why some are labeled as large even though they're all pretty much a standard size. "What else do we believe because of marketing?" one asks the other.
That line will echo through the movie, a stimulating discussion of religion that emerges from a horror movie wrapper. Despite a second-half slide and feeling unbalanced, this is the rare movie that combines lots of squirting blood and elevated discussion of the ancient Egyptian god Horus.
Our two church members — played fiercely by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East — are wandering around trying to covert souls when they knock on the door of a sweet-looking cottage. Its owner, Mr. Reed, offers a hearty "Good afternoon!" He welcomes them in, brings them drinks and promises a blueberry pie. He's also interested in learning more about the church. So far, so good.
Mr. Reed is, of course, if you've seen the poster, the baddie and he's played by Hugh Grant, who doesn't go the snarling, dead-eyed Hannibal Lecter route in "Heretic." Grant is the slightly bumbling, bashful and self-mocking character we fell in love with in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but with a smear of menace. He gradually reveals that he actually knows quite a bit about the Mormon religion — and all religions.
"It's good to be religious," he says jauntily and promises his wife will join them soon, a requirement for the church. Homey touches in his home include a framed "Bless This Mess" needlepoint on a wall, but there are also oddities, like his lights are on a timer and there's metal in the walls and ceilings.
Writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood — who also... Read More