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- Posted on
26th Dec
- Category:
Diary
I Believe in Unicorns is nominated for a Gotham Award.
We are thrilled that I Believe in Unicorns has been nominated for the Calvin Klein "Live the Dream" grant at the 2012 Gotham Independent Film Awards
and Unicorns actress Amy Seimetz has been nominated for "Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You" for her debut feature Sun Don't Shine.
2012 Gotham Award Nominees:
Best Feature
Bernie
The Loneliest Planet
The Master
Middle of Nowhere
Moonrise Kingdom
Best Documentary
Detropia
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
Room 237
The Waiting Room
Best Ensemble Performance
Bernie
Moonrise Kingdom
Safety Not Guaranteed
Silver Linings Playbook
Your Sister’s Sister
Breakthrough Director
Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky for Francine
Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin for Now, Forager
Antonio Méndez Esparza for Aquí y Allá
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Breakthrough Actor
Mike Birbiglia in Sleepwalk with Me
Emayatzy Corinealdi in Middle of Nowhere
Thure Lindhardt in Keep the Lights On
Melanie Lynskey in Hello, I Must Be Going
Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Kid-Thing
An Oversimplification of Her Beaut
Red Flag
Sun Don’t Shine
Tiger Tail in Blue
Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant
Leah Meyerhoff, director, I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS
Stacie Passon, director, CONCUSSION
Visra Vichit Vadakan, KARAOKE GIRL
Check out more about the awards here
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- Posted on
22nd Nov
- Category:
Diary
We have wrapped second unit photography on Unicorns!
From fields full of fireflies to time lapse memories of sunsets, ferocious six-toed cats to swans sailing across swamps, each day brought a new adventure and each night ended with a home-cooked meal and a promise of magic to come. This portion of the shoot was like being at filmmaker sleep-away camp and I never wanted to go home.
I was lucky to be surrounded by a group of hard-working, talented, like-minded people who stuck with it night and day, rain or shine, with smiles on their faces and laughter on their lips. We trudged through marshes, carried balloons through windstorms, commenced stop-motion animation in the middle of a lightning storm and shot flaming arrows into the night sky.
At one point after everyone had gone to sleep, I found myself standing in an empty field at dawn, having been awake for what seemed like days, with bandages on my fingertips from working with fireworks, holding a lone umbrella over the camera to protect it from the morning dew. And all I could think about was that I could not remember a moment when I had been happier.
Ahh, the things we do for film.
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- Posted on
22nd Nov
- Category:
Diary
Dispatch from the edit room.
We are still deep in the Unicorns edit, weaving together the footage from principal photography into a beautiful tapestry of film. Continuing our partnership with The Edit Center, we recently collaborated with Mollie Goldstein (Pallindromes) and a team of young editors to explore some of the more fantastic possibilities in the dreamscape of Unicorns.
Editing just below a poster of Frozen River, a previous Edit Center project and major film from our Producer Heather Rae, reminds us the finish line is on the way.
Every day is inspiring working with masters of film and mentoring the editors of tomorrow.
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- Posted on
22nd Nov
- Category:
Spotlight
I Believe in Unicorns is one of ten films selected for the IFP Narrative Labs
We are thrilled to be an official selection of the IFP Narrative Labs!
Earlier today, the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) announced the ten projects chosen for the 2012 Independent Filmmaker Labs, a year-long fellowship for first-time feature directors. We are excited to follow in the footsteps of such films as Pariah, Una Noche, and An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and look forward to getting to know the other film fellows. It is an honor to participate and we hope to continue expanding our relationship with IFP throughout the year.
“The Labs are unique in our focus on guiding filmmakers to concretely and constructively plan for their films’ lives beyond post-production, and are tailored to maximizing their opportunities given the particular assets of each film,” says IFP Executive Director Joana Vicente. “With almost 80% of previous Lab projects debuted in festivals and released worldwide, the impact of this has been significant.”
The official selections of the 2012 Labs are:
Bastards of Young by Josiah Signor
Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors
Concussion by Stacie Passon
El Empantanado by Felipe Echavarria
Go Down Death by Aaron Schimberg
Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone
I Believe in Unicorns by Leah Meyerhoff
Karaoke Girl by Visra Vichit Vadakan
Land of Tomorrow by Kimberly Levin
The Forgotten Kingdom by Andrew Mudge
We are thrilled to be in such great company and look forward to getting to know the other film fellows better throughout the week.
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- Posted on
15th Oct
- Category:
Diary
Animated dragons and unicorns oh my!
For the last month I have been living inside an animation cave. Literally.
We have been busy building a miniature forest in my living room, lighting smoke bombs on the roof, melting ice cubes in fast motion, making a dragon puppet breathe bursts of sparklers, igniting doll parts with flame throwers and exploding a cupcake or two.
As always, the process is at least as important as the product and if filmmaking isn’t an adventure then what’s the point?
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- Posted on
8th Aug
- Category:
Diary
I Believe In Unicorns is featured in Indiewire
Bryce J. Renninger writes:
IFP's narrative lab focuses on low-budget features, with budgets below $1 million. Past projects have included Lucy Mulloy's "Una Noche," Terence Nance's "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty," and Dee Rees' "Pariah." The 2012 lab will be IFP's eighth edition.
Films included in this year's lab include Stacie Passon's story of a lesbian prostitute mother "Concussion" (produced by Rose Troche) and Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns."
Read the full article here
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- Posted on
5th Aug
- Category:
Spotlight
Unicorns gallop across the cover of WHOA Magazine
filmmaker Leah Meyerhoff on the cover of Whoa Magazine
Anthony "Train" Caruso writes:
"Staying true to life, the engaging charismatic director chose to return to the San Francisco Bay Area to shoot inside the house she grew up in and cast her own mother in the film. Thus art reflects life reflects art in a beautiful kaleidoscope of abstracted truth. Meyerhoff’s decision to “write what she knew” not only had a profound emotional impact on herself as an artist, but brought a new level of authenticity to the screen. Hopefully by watching this very personal story of family illness and interrelationship violence, other teenagers in similar situations will realize that they are not alone."
A digital download of their entire spring issue is available for purchase here
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- Posted on
25th Feb
- Category:
Diary
We have made it to the end of the beginning. Last month we wrapped principal photography on Unicorns in the San Francisco Bay Area.
From underwater aquatics to aerial acrobatics and fire spinning to disco dancing, each day of shooting brought a new adventure. We carried dolly track over a mountain, built a circus in a windstorm and drove a muscle car leaking mysterious green fluid. Our pathological optimism guided us through endless days and sleepless nights with smiles on our faces and fireworks in our back pockets. Film-making is as much about process as it is about product and this experience could not have been more magical.
Our lead actors Natalia Dyer and Peter Vack were an absolute joy to work with, charming us both on set and off. They were joined by Julia Garner, fresh from Perks of Being a Wallflower, Amy Seimetz, who has been touring the world with The Off Hours and Joshua Leonard, whose directorial debut The Lie hits theaters this fall.
Behind the camera, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke sculpted a fantastical world of light which production designer Katy Rusch promptly filled with glitter. Costume designer Emily Batson sewed scraps into miracles, sound mixer Joe Stillwater wove tapestries of whispers and assistant director Scott Larkin held it all together with chewing gum and laughter. Producers Heather Rae and Mark Mathis led us from underwater depths to trampoline heights, with executive support from David Kupferberg and Robin Leland and production help from Vinay Singh, Stacia Warren, Clio Tegal and Megan Billman.
Meanwhile Jeremy Wong, Satsuki Murashige and Gordon Arkenberg followed focus where fate led them and Brian Gonzalez loaded film with his eyes closed. Ryan Thomas, Matt Stouppe, Michael Lapid and Julien DeBenedictus built complex glowing contraptions and Grace Sloan created a world of whimsy which Rhea Cutillo propped up with dinosaurs and doll parts. Morgan Johnson watched over the wardrobe, Evan Kenward pondered continuity conundrums, Antoinette Yoka crafted eyelashes out of feathers, Simon Lake scouted secret locations, Robin Griswold printed miniature treasure maps and Gentry McShane lured extras into the back of a van while Heather Power and Kevin Wong sprinkled magic everywhere.
All together, we had an incredible cast and crew without which none of this would have been possible. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to those who have helped us thus far and open our arms to those who will be joining us in the future. We are currently gearing up for an additional fantasy shoot and extensive stop motion animation before heading into post production. If you would like to get involved, please drop us a line.
Thank you for joining us on this journey.