Philip Zlotorynski

Last updated

Philip Scott Zlotorynski (born 1975) is an American filmmaker.

Contents

Early career

Zlotorynski graduated with honors from California State University, Northridge with a degree in film and television production in 1997. He spent two years as head of the Trailer Department for Roger Corman's Concorde-New Horizons.

Notable accomplishments and controversy

After completing the dramatic short Sway in 2001, Zlotorynski went to work on his next short project Walkentalk which gained some notoriety on the festival circuit. [1] My Big Fat Independent Movie marked his feature directorial debut with film journalist Chris Gore. However the film was a box office bomb, earning only $4,655 in box office receipts during its worldwide run, with a production budget of $3,000,000. [2] The film was panned by critics, receiving a low 23% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. [3]

The film was rejected by most major film festivals, but played at other festivals with mixed results. It screened at Cinequest, South by Southwest, San Diego Film Festival, Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Worldfest Houston and the Temecula Valley Film Festival, where it won Best Feature. [4]

A firestorm of internet debate soon erupted over the film's lowbrow treatment of independent film classics and, as a result, the movie suffered a backlash from die-hard independent film fans, many of which considered the film to be blasphemous toward the genre. [5]

Chris Parry, entertainment journalist and film critic for efilmcritic.com, found that the movie targeted films that were too well liked by its intended audience, and a larger audience would not recognize the referenced films. [6]

Zlotorynski co-wrote the dark comedy "Girlfriends Day" with "Mr. Show" alumnus Eric Hoffman. Zlotorynski is a co-executive producer of the thriller "In/Sight" directed by Richard Gabai.

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<i>The Fisher King</i> 1991 film by Terry Gilliam

The Fisher King is a 1991 American fantasy comedy-drama film written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, with Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer and Michael Jeter in supporting roles, the film tells the story of a radio shock jock who tries to find redemption by helping a man whose life he inadvertently shattered. It explores "the intermingling of New York City's usually strictly separated social strata", and has been described as "a modern-day Grail Quest that fused New York romantic comedy with timeless fantasy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtis Hanson</span> American filmmaker (1945–2016)

Curtis Lee Hanson was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Reno, Nevada, Hanson grew up in Los Angeles. After dropping out of high school, Hanson worked as photographer and editor for Cinema magazine. In the 1970s, Hanson got involved in filmmaking starting with participating in the writing of the horror film The Dunwich Horror (1970) and his directorial debut Sweet Kill (1973), where he lacked creative control to fulfill his vision. While Hanson continued directing, he rose to prominence by being involved in the writing of several critically-acclaimed films. This included Daryl Duke's The Silent Partner (1978), Samuel Fuller's White Dog (1982), and Carroll Ballard's Never Cry Wolf (1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Faris</span> American actress and podcaster (born 1976)

Anna Kay Faris is an American actress and podcaster. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie film series (2000–2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Columbus (filmmaker)</span> American filmmaker (born 1958)

Chris Joseph Columbus is an American filmmaker. Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. After writing screenplays for several teen comedies in the mid-1980s, including Gremlins, The Goonies, and Young Sherlock Holmes, he made his directorial debut with a teen adventure, Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Columbus gained recognition soon after with the highly successful Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosanna Arquette</span> American actress (born 1959)

Rosanna Lisa Arquette is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film The Executioner's Song (1982) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the film Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). Her other film roles include After Hours, The Big Blue (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Crash (1996). She also directed the documentary Searching for Debra Winger (2002) and starred in the ABC sitcom What About Brian? from 2006 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nia Vardalos</span> Canadian actress and screenwriter (born 1962)

Antonia Eugenia Vardalos is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. She starred in and wrote the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), which garnered her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, which went on to spawn a media franchise.

<i>Super Size Me</i> 2004 documentary film by Morgan Spurlock

Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he claimed to consume only McDonald's food, although he later disclosed he was also drinking heavily. The film documents the drastic change on Spurlock's physical and psychological health and well-being. It also explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit and gain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Linklater</span> American film director, producer and screenwriter (born 1960)

Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016); and the romantic comedy Hit Man (2023).

Warp Films is an independent film and television production company based in Sheffield and London, England, UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Gore</span> American film critic

Christopher Patrick Gore is an American speaker and writer on the topic of independent film. He founded, edited and wrote for Film Threat magazine and website and other film sites. He was producer, writer or host for several TV series, such as Attack of the Show. He created several films and shorts like My Big Fat Independent Movie. He authored several books on filmmaking.

<i>Backbeat</i> (film) 1994 film by Iain Softley

Backbeat is a 1994 independent drama film directed by Iain Softley. It chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, West Germany. The film focuses primarily on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon, and also with Sutcliffe's German girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr. It has subsequently been made into a stage production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Marshall</span> English filmmaker

Neil Marshall is an English film and television director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He directed the horror films Dog Soldiers (2002) and The Descent (2005), the science fiction action film Doomsday (2008), the historical war film Centurion (2010), the superhero action film Hellboy (2019), and the adventure horror film The Reckoning (2020).

<i>My Big Fat Independent Movie</i> 2005 American film

My Big Fat Independent Movie is a 2005 American independent parody comedy film produced, written and directed by former film critic Chris Gore spoofing well-known independent films, such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Memento, Swingers, Pulp Fiction, Magnolia, Amélie, Reservoir Dogs, Pi, The Good Girl, Run Lola Run, Clerks and El Mariachi. My Big Fat Independent Movie was eventually acquired by Anchor Bay Entertainment distribution and the film was released on DVD. Broadcast cable rights were picked up by CBS Corporation for Showtime, The Movie Channel and Sundance Channel.

Dana Adam Shapiro is an American film director, best known for his directorial work on the 2006 Academy Award-nominated documentary Murderball.

<i>Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)</i> 2001 film by Stewart Sugg

Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) is a 2001 British comedy film written and directed by Stewart Sugg. It features Stellan Skarsgård, Chris Penn, and Paul Bettany.

<i>The Girlfriend Experience</i> 2009 film by Steven Soderbergh

The Girlfriend Experience is a 2009 American slice-of-life drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and starring then-pornographic actress Sasha Grey. It was shot in New York City, and a rough cut was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. The film was also made available on Amazon Video on Demand as a pre-theatrical rental.

<i>Cairo Time</i> 2009 Canadian film

Cairo Time is a 2009 film by Canadian director Ruba Nadda. It is a romantic drama about a brief, unexpected love interest that catches two people completely off-guard. The film won the award for Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009.

Joe Menendez is an American film and television director, who has moved between the film and TV medium his entire career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S.J. Main Muñoz</span> American filmmaker

Summer-Joy "SJ" Main Muñoz is an American filmmaker primarily known for directing television and award-winning short films often of the Western genre or featuring Latino themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Meaney</span> American film director

Patrick Meaney is a film director, screenwriter, producer, comic book writer, and editor, best known for his work as a director of documentaries about the world of comics books, including Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods, Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, She Makes Comics and Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously. He also directed the horror film House of Demons, and his most recent film is the musical romance The Brink Of.

References

  1. The Watercooler: Walkentalk, the-watercooler.com, March 14, 2006, retrieved March 10, 2010
  2. My Big Fat Independent Movie, Box Office Mojo , retrieved March 10, 2010
  3. My Big Fat Independent Movie, Rotten Tomatoes , retrieved March 10, 2010
  4. Winners Announced, Temecula Valley Film Festival, September 20, 2005, retrieved March 10, 2010
  5. Campos, Eric (November 24, 2005), Big Fat Philip Zlotorynski, filmthreat.com, retrieved March 10, 2010
  6. Parry, Chris (March 13, 2005), My Big Fat Independent Movie, efilmcritic.com, retrieved March 10, 2010