Bret Wood

Last updated

Bret Wood is an Atlanta-based film director and author.

Contents

Film career

Wood was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, [1] and attended the University of Tennessee. After living in New York City, where he was hired by Kino International, he moved to Atlanta, with wife Felicia Feaster. [2]

Wood's most recent film is Those Who Deserve to Die, a supernatural revenge drama inspired by the novella The Avenger by Thomas De Quincey. His 2016 film The Unwanted was based on Sheridan Le Fanu's vampire tale Carmilla. [3] His previous films include The Little Death (2010), Psychopathia Sexualis (2006), and Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films [4] (2002), released by Kino International. His shorts include Judgement (2005), Rapture (2006), Security (2007), and The Other Half (2009).

In February 2007, his feature-length screenplay The Seventh Daughter was developed as part of Emory University's Brave New Works festival of plays. It was later named one of the winners of the first annual Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition. [5] In 2020, The Seventh Daughter was adapted as a ten-episode podcast from iHeart Radio. [6] [7] [8]

In 2018, Wood wrote and directed the scripted podcast "The Control Group for Stuff Media. [9] [10]

As SVP and Producer of Archival Restorations for Kino Lorber, Wood's projects include Pioneers of African-American Cinema [11] (2016), which won the Film Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics and Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers [12] (2018, Kino Lorber), which won a Special Award from the New York Film Critics Circle. [13] [14]

Writings

Wood is the author of the biography Tod Browning: une vie avec les freaks. [15] He also co-authored the book Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Film [16] with his wife, Felicia Feaster. He edited the books Queen Kelly: The Complete Screenplay by Erich von Stroheim and Marihuana, Motherhood and Madness: Three Screenplays from the Exploitation Cinema of Dwain Esper. In 2013, Wood wrote the introduction to Centipede Press's edition of William Lindsay Gresham's Nightmare Alley, [17] and edited an anthology of Gresham's selected works entitled Grindshow. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Avary</span> Canadian producer, screenwriter and director (born 1965)

Roger Roberts Avary is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his work with Quentin Tarantino on the script for Pulp Fiction (1994), for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Academy Awards. Avary has also directed films such as Killing Zoe (1993) and The Rules of Attraction (2002), and wrote the screenplays for Silent Hill (2006) and Beowulf (2007).

Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subjects hidden behind reality. It is sometimes called observational cinema, if understood as pure direct cinema: mainly without a narrator's voice-over. There are subtle, yet important, differences between terms expressing similar concepts. Direct cinema is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence: operating within what Bill Nichols, an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode", a fly on the wall. Many therefore see a paradox in drawing attention away from the presence of the camera and simultaneously interfering in the reality it registers when attempting to discover a cinematic truth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Guy-Blaché</span> French film director (1873–1968)

Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché was a French pioneer film director. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From 1896 to 1906, she was probably the only female filmmaker in the world. She experimented with Gaumont's Chronophone sync-sound system, and with color-tinting, interracial casting, and special effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski</span> American screenwriting team

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are an American screenwriting duo, recognized for their unique approach to biopics. They introduced the term "anti-biopic" to describe their distinctive style of storytelling, which focuses on individuals who might not traditionally be considered worthy of a biographical film. Instead of highlighting conventional "great men," their work often centers on lesser-known figures within American pop culture. Their notable films in this genre include Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, Big Eyes, Dolemite Is My Name, and the series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

<i>Ganja & Hess</i> 1973 film by Bill Gunn

Ganja & Hess is a 1973 American black horror film written and directed by Bill Gunn and starring Marlene Clark and Duane Jones. The film follows the exploits of anthropologist Dr. Hess Green (Jones), who becomes a vampire after his intelligent but unstable assistant (Gunn) stabs him with an ancient cursed dagger. Green falls in love with his assistant's widow, Ganja (Clark), who learns Green's dark secret.

<i>Genuine</i> (film) 1920 film

Genuine is a 1920 German silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene. It was also released as Genuine: A Tale of a Vampire. Director Wiene created Genuine as a follow-up to his massively successful film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, using the same writer and cinematographer who had worked on the earlier film. Production designer Cesar Klein even returned to contribute his bizarre Caligari-like imagery to the film.

Ginger Prince (1942-2015) was a child actress, best known for her roles in a handful of Hallmark Productions pictures. She starred in three of Kroger Babb's productions. She then returned to Atlanta, GA to host a radio program, "Ginger from Georgia".

<i>Savage Weekend</i> 1979 American film

Savage Weekend is a 1979 American slasher film directed by David Paulsen and starring Christopher Allport, David Gale, William Sanderson, and Caitlin O'Heaney. The film follows a woman who retreats to upstate New York with her wealthy boyfriend, her sister, and friend, only to be stalked by a killer in a disfigured mask.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alloy Orchestra</span> American musical ensemble

The Alloy Orchestra was a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It performed its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era on an unusual collection of found objects, homemade instruments, accordion, clarinet, musical saw, and a sampling synthesizer, the group scored and performed with 40 feature-length silent films or collections of shorts. The group is often credited with having helped revitalize the art of silent film accompaniment.

<i>Fascination</i> (1979 film) French horror film by Jean Rollin

Fascination is a 1979 French horror film written and directed by Jean Rollin, and starring Franca Maï and Brigitte Lahaie. It focuses on a thief who seeks refuge in a remote château where two mysterious women with potentially sinister intentions are residing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azazel Jacobs</span> American film director and screenwriter

Azazel Jacobs is an American film director and screenwriter. He is the son of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs. His short films include Kirk and Kerry (1997) and Message Machine (2002), and his features include well reviewed The GoodTimesKid (2005), Momma's Man (2008), Terri (2011), The Lovers (2017), French Exit (2020), and His Three Daughters (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Baxter (filmmaker)</span> English filmmaker

Peter Baxter is president and co-founder of Slamdance, and a filmmaker.

<i>Youre Sleeping Nicole</i> 2014 film

You're Sleeping Nicole is a 2014 Canadian drama film directed by Stéphane Lafleur. It was selected to be screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The film had a limited release on 22 August 2014, followed by a general Quebec theatrical release on 29 August 2014. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

<i>The Unwanted</i> 2014 film by Bret Wood

The Unwanted is a 2014 American thriller film written and directed by Bret Wood. It is based on the novel Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu but was transposed from a Gothic tale set in Austria to a Southern Gothic setting. It stars Christen Orr in the title role, a woman who comes to a small town in the Southern US to investigate the mother she never knew. Along the way, she meets Laura and her father Troy, locals who may know something about her mother. It premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival on March 31, 2014, and Kino International released it on DVD on July 14, 2015.

<i>Sembene!</i> 2015 film

Sembene! is a 2015 documentary film focusing on the life of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, who is considered to be the father of African cinema. It is co-directed by Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman. The film's world premiere took place at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015. It also played at the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.

<i>The Song of Love</i> (1923 film) 1923 film by Chester Franklin and Frances Marion

The Song of Love is a 1923 American silent adventure drama film directed by Chester Franklin and Frances Marion, starring Norma Talmadge, Joseph Schildkraut, and Arthur Edmund Carewe. Frances Marion's screenplay is based on the 1922 novel The Dust of Desire by Margaret Peterson.

<i>Variety</i> (1983 film) 1983 American film

Variety is a 1983 American drama film directed by Bette Gordon with a screenplay by Kathy Acker from a story by Gordon. The film stars Sandy McLeod, Will Patton, and Richard M. Davidson. The film follows a young woman who takes a job at a New York City pornographic theater and becomes increasingly obsessed with a wealthy patron who may or may not be involved with the mafia.

Murina is a 2021 internationally co-produced drama film, directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović and Frank Graziano. It stars Gracija Filipović, Leon Lučev, Danica Curcic, and Cliff Curtis. Martin Scorsese served as an executive producer under his Sikelia Productions banner.

Pioneers of African-American Cinema (2015) is a digitally restored anthology collection of independent Black cinema from the first half of the 20th century.

<i>Cinema Sabaya</i> 2021 Israeli film

Cinema Sabaya is a 2021 Israeli drama film, directed by Orit Fouks Rotem and produced by the Israeli production company, Green Productions. It stars an all-female cast, including Dana Ivgi, Amal Murkus, Marlene Bejali, Ruthie Landau, Haula Haj-Divsi, Joanna Said, Yulia Tagil, Asil Farhat, Orit Samuel and Liora Levy. In 2022 the film was chosen as the official Israeli nominee for the Academy Award for Best International Film at the 95th Academy Awards. This followed its Ophir Award win for Best Feature Film. Previously to that, it had also won the Best Debut Film Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. On March 8, 2022, in celebration of International Women's Day, the film was chosen for a special screening at Beit HaNassi, the Israeli President's Residence. In November 2022 it was picked up by Kino Lorber for North American distribution rights.

References

  1. ↑ Stafford, Jeff (December 20, 2013). "The Cinema of Bret Wood: Q&A with the Director". Burnaway.org. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ Farmer, Jim (March 31, 2014). "Preview: Atlanta's Bret Wood explores fathers, daughters (and vampires) in "The Unwanted"". Artsatl.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  3. ↑ Watts, Gabbie (June 9, 2015). "Atlanta Filmmaker Tells A Vampire Story Without The Vampires". WABE. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ "'Hell's Highway'". NPR.org.
  5. ↑ "Atlanta Film Festival 365 - 2009 Screenplay Competition". atlantafilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Podcast, 'The Seventh Daughter,' Is A Callback To The Golden Age Of Radio". WABE. 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  7. ↑ Holman, Curt. "Local scripted podcasts craft spellbinding tales". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN   1539-7459 . Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  8. ↑ "Immerse Yourself In New Narrative Podcast The Seventh Daughter". BIN: Black Information Network. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  9. ↑ "Listen Free to the Control Group on iHeartRadio Podcasts".
  10. ↑ "Films directed by Bret Wood". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  11. ↑ "Pioneers of African American Cinema".
  12. ↑ "Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers".
  13. ↑ "New York Film Critics Name 'Roma' the Best Film of 2018". 2018-11-29.
  14. ↑ "Bret Wood". BFI. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  15. ↑ "Lalibrairiedujouet.net".
  16. ↑ "Images - Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Film". imagesjournal.com. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Nightmare Alley". centipedepress.com. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Grindshow". centipedepress.com. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Atlanta's Bret Wood to restore films by pioneering female directors". ARTS ATL. 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.