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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Road to Sundance 2013: The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, directed by Fredrik Bond


Fredrik Bond
The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman Production Still

Tell us about your film.
My movie is called The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman and is playing in the World Premiere section of the festival.

What inspired you to make it?
One of the best scripts I had read. The script was just full of surprises and unexpected twists and turns in a very emotional grounded way.  The script connected to me very personally on several levels and especially to similar period in my own life at that age. 

What do you love about your film?
I love the performances [film stars Shia LaBeouf and Evan Rachel Wood] and I love the cinematography, production design and clothes…I guess I love it all…especially knowing how hard everybody worked to get it made. The process in Bucharest was an amazing time.

How long did it take you to make your film?

20 years…this particular one about 2 years.

How did you finance your film?

Voltage Pictures put up all the money for it through foreign sales.

What was the most challenging part of the filmmaking process and how did you overcome it?

One of the most challenging part was to get everything done in time. We had a very ambitious script on a really tight schedule. Our phenomenal AD made it go really smooth and didn’t make us feel stressed but rather being able to work through at a great creative pace.

Tell us about your experience getting into Sundance. 

[Producer] Ron Yerxa called me and told me the news...for days after I was jumping up and down and my ego  drifting high up into the clouds until my wife brought me back to earth. I'm so excited to open my first movie at this amazing festival.

If you had to make the film all over again, would you do anything different?

I don’t think I would do anything different. Off course I've learnt a great deal especially from my actors...but in all I just loved the process and the finished movie even with its little imperfections here and there…which hopefully only I will see.

What’s next for your film?
We are going to compete at the Berlin Film Festival in February, which I'm also really excited about.

Do you have distribution? If so, when and how can people see it and if not, what are your hopes for the film?

We are hoping somebody will pick up the movie in Sundance.

Can you provide any advice to other filmmakers who dream of getting their films made and into Sundance?
“Have Stamina” is something Terry Gilliam signed in a book for me at a book signing in London 1998. Now I know what he meant and couldn’t agree more.

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