Variety’s Artisans web series visited Starburns Industries where Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s Anomalisa was made to get in on the inner workings of how a character is sculpted for a nuanced, layered, complex dramedy.
They chatted with sculptor Carol Koch and, as you might imagine, there was a great, insightful collaboration between her and Kaufman & Johnson.
Already, Anomalisa is racking up awards buzz before its hit limited release.
As you might know by now, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s latest film takes stop motion animation to a whole new level by making an all out dramedy.
The subtlety involved in such a project is staggering as is showcased in this behind-the-scenes featurette.
If you’re already hooked, fortunately, you won’t have to wait to much longer to see it as Anomalisa will start playing in select cities on Dec. 30th.
It may not be a lot, but Anomalisa racked up 4 nominations.
Thought provoking dramas comprise the majority of this year’s field of nominees at The Film Independent Spirit Awards with such excellent entries as Spotlight and Diary of a Teenage Girl.
However, comedies, albeit thought provoking ones, found their way in.
Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa, which we have only heard praise for, is up for Best Feature, Best Director (w/Duke Johnson), Best Screenplay, and Best Female Lead (Jennifer Jason Leigh).
The brilliant Swedish existential comedy A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence from Roy Andersson is up for Best International Film.
You can the rest of the nominees here.
Hopefully, either or both will take home a statue to offer something not so sobering in the field of winners. The ceremony takes places at the end of February next year.
It’s been far too long since we’ve seen some of Charlie Kaufman’s work on the big screen (2008 to be exact) and it’s been a long time coming since we saw Kaufman’s latest movie, Anomalisa, get a nice chunk of change on Kickstarter.
After heaps and heaps of praise at festivals, there’s a full trailer that you can and should watch now. It’ll probably change the way you view stop motion animation from now on.
Look for Anomalisa in limited release on Dec. 30th, then wider release come January 2016.
(via Deadline)
Anomalisa is set for a limited theatrical release on Dec. 30th.
What started as a stop motion that received a whole lot of love on Kickstarter has gotten a whole lot of love on the film festival circuit.
The brilliant Charlie Kaufman wrote and co-directed, with Starburns Industries’ Duke Johnson, Anomalisa, which Paramount Pictures has acquired while at the Toronto International Film Festival for distribution very soon.
So, come Christmas time, we’ll get to see both Star Wars and Kaufman’s vision of “a man crippled by the mundanity of his life”. Sounds pretty great to us.
(via Deadline)
If anything, we’re glad to see that Fox is still riding high on high concept comedy after Last Man on Earth.
Grady Hendrix’s novel which centers on a large scale Ikea-esque furniture store that’s haunted is being adapted into a series with the likes of Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Chuck), Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich), and more involved.
Fox has ordered a put pilot meaning we should be able to see something of how this amalgam of genres in an atypical setting is realized. Hopefully, that’ll happen sooner rather than later.
(via Deadline)
The Arthur Herzog novel I.Q. 83 has been in the process of being adapted for the big screen, but has stayed in “development hell” for over a score of years. Various adaptations of the story of how a virus that dumbs people down (perhaps a sort of prequel to Idiocracy) haven’t been able to get the project moving forward much.
However, with the addition of Steve Carell starring and Charlie Kaufman writing a new adaptation over at Paramount, there might be hope yet. We’d be thoroughly taken aback if the two of them can’t get this to work.
(via Hollywood Reporter)
Despite being a home for proven, unique voices, FX has passed on Charlie Kaufman’s pilot How & Why.
Perhaps, the story that follows a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is otherwise clueless about life doesn’t fit quite as nicely as FX would like with the current run You’re The Worst, Married, and Louie.
Still, How & Why is being shopped around and we hope it lands somewhere to see John Hawkes star as the mostly clueless Goodman Hesselman and Michael Cera play his boss.
Sally Hawkins & Catherine Keener Join Charlie Kaufman’s FX Pilot ‘How And Why’
Charlie Kaufman’s pilot How and Why at FX is still in play and he’s gathering a solid cast in Catherine Keener and Sally Hawkins.
Knowing this makes what FX will order from their development slate all the more enticing.
Michael Cera, John Hawkes Join FX’s Charlie Kaufman Pilot
Are you surprised that the cast of FX/FXx’s line-up of pilots is shaping up? First, Zach Galifianakis in a Louis C.K. pilot, and now Michael Cera and John Hawkes in a Charlie Kaufman pilot.
Just cross your fingers to maybe see these go to series.
FX Orders Coen Brothers Series Based on Fargo and Charlie Kaufman Pilot
In addition to all lovely programming that you’re doing with the comedy off-shoot FXx, keep the wonderful work on the development slate FX.
We’re loving it.