HUFFINGTON
06.17.12
SOREN MCCARTY/WIREIMAGE (WILLIAMS), SCOTT GRIES/GETTY IMAGES (OL’ DIRTY BASTARD)
CINEMA VÉRITÉ
their producing career began
falling into place. Rudin, who
was entering into a new deal
with Miramax, came to them
with an offer that would rescue the partners from the
existential anxiety of the previous winter. In exchange for
an upfront fee, they would
serve as his eyes and ears in
the independent film world.
The arrangement gave
them extraordinary access to
emerging filmmakers eager
for Rudin’s attention. And, it
forced Knudsen and Van Hoy
to take a systematic approach
to surveying the landscape of
independent film. “We recognized Mumblecore a full six
months before it was called
anything,” Van Hoy says, referring to the loose collective
of D.I.Y. filmmakers whose
talky, ultra-low-budget creations had a media moment
last decade. “Our report was
called ‘The Movement That
Has No Name.’”
The Trick To Making Movies
Knudsen has a saying he
likes to repeat: “We want to
make films, not talk about
LEFT: The Wire
actor, Michael
K Williams, will
play the late
Wu Tang Clan
rapper Ol’ Dirty
Bastard in Old
Dirty White Boy.
RIGHT: Rapper
Ol’ Dirty Bastard
in 2003.