Director hope that audiences remember film more for his actresses than the fact that it was shot with iPhones
By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Donut Time doesn't look like much from the outside, but for "Tangerine" director Sean Baker, it was everything.
With bright yellow, bubble letters spelling out the humdrum name on two humdrum, sun-faded signs, the tiny, 24-hour, cash-only shop stands separately in front of a similarly unremarkable strip mall on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the middle of Hollywood. It's the type of spot that you might not even notice in the daytime.
At night, it's a different story.
The intersection is one of the most notorious in Hollywood — a haven for sex workers, drug dealers, their clients and others on the fringe. And it's this very real store and very real types that frequent it that provide the core for one of the year's most groundbreaking and unconventional films: "Tangerine," a rowdy odyssey of two transgender sex workers searching for their pimp one Christmas Eve.
Boasting two unknown, transgender leads and shot on an iPhone 5S, "Tangerine" became an unlikely breakout at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, sparking a modest bidding war between various distributors. Magnolia Pictures won out and the film hits theaters on Friday.
It would have never happened had Baker not met trans women and aspiring performers Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez at the Los Angeles LGBT Center a few years prior. It was their lives and their deep knowledge of the neighborhood that inspired and informed the film.
The plot, loosely, follows fresh-out-of-jail Sin-Dee (Rodriguez) on the hunt for her cheating boyfriend/pimp and his mistress, while best friend Alexandra (Taylor) works the street and readies for a performance that evening.
It's a world that few people know about, and even fewer experience.
"This is an extremely vulnerable group of people. They are the most marginalized. They are trans women of color who are also sex workers. You can't be more alienated and isolated by society than they are," said Baker seated with his stars and muses Taylor and Rodriguez in a bright booth at Shakey's Pizza Parlor, three blocks west of Donut Time.
On paper, the film couldn't sound bleaker, but the experience of watching it is something else. The film is alive with a pulsating energy and is often quite funny, even in depicting this awful day. That humor came directly from Rodriguez and Taylor. Baker describes their banter as a standup comedy routine come to life.
Bawdy and fast-talking, the two friends are the first to point out that their characters are basically them.
Taylor is the mellow one — talkative and thoughtful even at the tail end of a long day. Rodriguez is the sparkplug. Pretty and manic, she speaks quickly and playfully, peppering her speech with benign expletives followed by coy apologies for her "naughtiness."
In the film, Rodriguez had to up her energy a bit to be this woman scorned and she looked to Angelina Jolie in "Girl, Interrupted" for inspiration.
"I want to be that kind of crazy," she said.
Together, the two still even make Baker blush with their brash and occasionally off-the-rails commentary about anything from police raids on Donut Time to Ryan Gosling.
With such color and charisma jumping off the screen, it's almost incidental that the film was shot on an iPhone — a quirky detail that had audiences buzzing at Sundance. If anything, it allowed them to be more discreet when shooting. They would occasionally continue "rolling" when real customers would come into the shop. Once, the actress playing the cashier even sold someone a doughnut.
Authenticity was always the goal.
"It teaches people the reality of what's actually going on out there," said Taylor.
Baker hopes that people will remember the film for his actresses and not the iPhone.
"There's a lot of talent out there in areas where the industry isn't looking and this is just one more reason to be diverse in casting," he said. "The biggest success for this movie would be for the industry to embrace them that this is the first chapter hopefully in their long careers."
"Tangerine's" release coming now couldn't be more ideal. In the short time since the film was first conceived, transgender stories have trickled into the mainstream, whether in fiction, with shows like "Transparent" and "Orange is the New Black," or real life, as in the high profile "Vanity Fair" reveal of Caitlyn Jenner.
"It's in the zeitgeist. Something has been brewing in the past couple of years and the awareness is growing, which is a wonderful thing," said Baker.
"Our movie is literally about a micro subculture in the trans community. It's about a block in Los Angeles. It should hopefully be considered one of what will be a million stories."
Oscar and Emmy-Winning Composer Kris Bowers Joins Barking Owl For Advertising, Branded Content
Music, audio post and sonic branding house Barking Owl has taken on exclusive representation of Oscar and Emmy-winning composer Kris Bowers for advertising and branded content.
Bowersโ recent film scores include The Wild Robot and Bob Marley: One Love, alongside acclaimed past works such as The Color Purple (2023), King Richard and Green Book. His contributions to television are equally impressive, with scores for hit series like Bridgerton, When They See Us, Dear White People, and his Daytime Emmy Award-winning score for The Snowy Day.
In addition to his work as a composer, Bowers is a visionary director. He recently took home the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject for his directorial work on The Last Repair Shop. The emotionally touching short film spotlights four of the people responsible for repairing the musical instruments used by students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The Last Repair Shop reflects the positive influence that musical instruments have on the youngsters who play them, and the adults in the LAUSD free repair service who keep them working and in tune.
Barking Owl CEO Kirkland Alexander Lynch said of Bowers, โHis artistry, diversity of style and depth of storytelling bring an unparalleled edge to the work we create for global brands. His presence on our roster reflects our continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of sound and music in advertising.โ
Johanna Cranitch, creative director, Barking Owl, added, โKris first caught my attention when he released his record โHeroes + Misfitsโ where he fused together his jazz sensibility with a deeply ingrained aptitude for melody, so beautifully.... Read More