Thank You a Lot

Last updated
Thank You a Lot
Thank You A Lot Poster.jpg
Directed byMatt Muir
Written byMatt Muir
Produced by Chris Ohlson
Starring Blake DeLong, James Hand, Robyn Rikoon
CinematographyHarrison Witt
Edited byNevie Owens
Music by Hundred Visions, James Hand, Adam Blau
Production
companies
Clearing a Comma, LLC
Distributed by Gravitas Ventures
Release dates
  • March 7, 2014 (2014-03-07)(SXSW)
  • June 3, 2014 (2014-06-03)(DVD and VOD)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Thank You a Lot is a 2014 American drama film directed by Matt Muir. Set in Austin, Texas, the film stars Blake DeLong as a struggling music manager who is forced to sign his estranged father, country music singer James Hand (played by the eponymous country musician).

Contents

The film premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest Film Festival as part of the Narrative Spotlight Section. [1]

Plot

Jack Hand (Blake DeLong) is a hustling music manager of a hip-hop artist and an indie rock band. Jack’s estranged musician father, James Hand, is a respected but reclusive songwriter living and working in Austin. Jack is pressured by his management company to sign his musician father to a deal or lose his job there.

Cast

Background and production

Muir began writing the script for actor and long-time friend Blake DeLong. [2] After seeing James Hand perform in Austin, Muir said he decided to base a character on him:

I walked into a usual haunt on a Tuesday night and saw the most incredible live show of my life. There was a guy who looked like Hank Williams and sang like Lefty Frizzell, but was just… different. He finished his set, said “Thank you a lot,” and walked out. Then he was on NPR. Terri Gross asked him why he finally made a record at age 53. He said: “Ma’am, some people pray for rain… and some people dig a well.” I knew then, that James Hand had to be in my film. [3]

With the script completed, Muir reached out to Hand, who agreed to play the fictionalized version of himself. [4]

Principal photography took place over eighteen days in August, 2012, after a successful Kickstarter campaign. [5] Most of the film was shot in and around Austin, Texas, and features appearances by various locals, including David Wingo, Andy Langer, Sam Wainwright Douglas, and Zell Miller III. [6] All musical performances were captured live. [7]

Release and reception

The film has screened at South by Southwest Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival and others, receiving mostly positive reviews. Austin Film Society-published site, Slackerwood, praised writer/director Muir and noted that DeLong and Hand had a chemistry that was "hilariously realistic". [8] D Magazine and other outlets commended Hand on his performance despite a lack of acting experience. [9] [10] Truth On Cinema praised first-time director Muir and the "immersive on screen experience" he delivered. [11]

For his work on this and other films, producer Chris Ohlson received the Independent Spirit Piaget Producers Award. [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

Simon Philip Raymonde is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player with the Scottish band Cocteau Twins from 1983 to 1997.

Richard Linklater American film director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1960)

Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around 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 romance films, Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the animated films Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); and the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).

South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas, United States. It began in 1987 and has continued to grow in both scope and size every year. In 2017, the conference lasted for 10 days with the interactive track lasting for five days, music for seven days, and film for nine days. There was no in-person SXSW in either 2020 or 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas; both years, there was a smaller online event instead.

Alan Scarfe Canadian actor

Alan John Scarfe is a British-Canadian actor, stage director and author. He is a former Associate Director of the Stratford Festival (1976–77) and the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool (1967–68). He won the 1985 Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in The Bay Boy and earned two other Genie best actor nominations for Deserters (1984) and Overnight (1986) and a Gemini Award nomination for best actor in aka Albert Walker (2003). He won a Jessie Award for best actor in 2005 for his performance in Trying at the Vancouver Playhouse. In 2006 he won the Jury Prize for best supporting actor at the Austin Fantastic Fest in The Hamster Cage and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle honorary award for lifetime achievement.

Ben Steinbauer American film director

Benjamin Jeffrey "Ben" Steinbauer is an American film, television, and commercial director, who is best known for the documentary feature Winnebago Man (2009). Steinbauer has directed other documentaries, including Brute Force (2012) and Heroes From The Storm (2017), as well as episodic television for the PBS show Stories of the Mind and the CBS show Pink Collar Crimes.

Chris Ohlson is an American film producer and director based in Austin, Texas. He is best known for his work on Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, The Overbrook Brothers and Thank You a Lot.

<i>Short Term 12</i> 2013 film by Destin Daniel Cretton

Short Term 12 is a 2013 American independent drama film written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. It is adapted from Cretton's short film of the same name, produced in 2009. The film stars Brie Larson as Grace Howard, a young supervisor of a group home for troubled teenagers. The film was the first leading performance of Larson's career.

<i>6 Years</i> 2015 American film

6 Years is a 2015 American romantic drama film written and directed by Hannah Fidell and starring Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Peter Vack, and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson. Filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass served as executive producers under their Duplass Brothers Productions banner. The film depicts two weeks in the relationship of college students Melanie Clark and Dan Mercer, as their 6-year romance turns violent.

Pat Cassidy is an American independent film producer and music manager based in Austin, Texas.

Geoff Marslett is an American film director, writer, producer, animator and actor. His early career started with the animated short Monkey vs. Robot which was distributed internationally by "Spike and Mike's Classic Festival of Animation" on video. and "Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation" in theatres. More recently he directed several successful narrative feature films including MARS as well as producing and acting in the experimental documentary Yakona. He appears onscreen in Josephine Decker's Thou Wast Mild and Lovely which is being released theatrically in 2014. He currently resides in Austin, Texas and splits his time between filmmaking and teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Korea Spotlight Annual music concert in Austin, Texas

Korea Spotlight, originally named K-Pop Night Out at SXSW (KPNO), is an annual concert of South Korean artists held in the United States, organized by Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). It started in 2013, and is a music showcase of the annual SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas.

<i>Deathgasm</i> 2015 New Zealand film

Deathgasm is a 2015 New Zealand independent comedy horror film written and directed by Jason Lei Howden in his directorial debut. The film premiered on 14 March 2015 at South by Southwest and was released in theaters later that year to positive reviews.

Lola Marsh Israeli indie pop band

Lola Marsh is an Israeli indie pop band from Tel Aviv. The band was formed as a duo in 2013 by Gil Landau and Yael Shoshana Cohen (vocals), and was quickly signed by the indie label Anova Music. The group released their first EP, You're Mine, under Universal Records-Barclay in January 2016.

<i>Break Point</i> (film) 2014 American film

Break Point is a U.S. comedy film directed by Jay Karas. The film stars Jeremy Sisto and David Walton as two estranged brothers who reunite and decide to make a run at a grand slam tournament.

<i>Support the Girls</i> 2018 American film

Support the Girls is a 2018 American comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It stars Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Brooklyn Decker, Jana Kramer, John Elvis, Lea DeLaria, and Victor Isaac Perez.

Starcrawler American rock band

Starcrawler is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 2015. The band consists of lead singer Arrow de Wilde, guitarist Henri Cash, bassist Tim Franco and drummer Seth Carolina, pedal steel/guitar player Bill Cash. They have released two studio albums, Starcrawler (2018) and Devour You (2019).

James "Slim" Hand was an American country music singer and songwriter.

Blake Anthony DeLong is an American film, television, and stage actor best known for originating the role of Andrey/Old Bolkonsky in the hit musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. He played the lead role opposite James Hand in Matt Muir's film Thank You a Lot, which premiered on the opening night of SXSW Film Festival in 2014. He is featured in Ava DuVernay's When They See Us on Netflix and played supporting roles in Spike Lee's 2018 film Pass Over, as well as Sister Aimee and Late Night, which both appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. He recently earned praise as axe murderer William Kemmler in the 2020 Sundance film Tesla, by Michael Almereyda. Notable stage work includes Othello at New York Theater Workshop and a turn as David Amram in Illyria at The Public Theater

Emma Seligman Canadian film director and screenwriter

Emma Seligman is a Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for their feature directorial debut Shiva Baby (2020).

Aaron Hillis American film critic

Aaron Hillis is an American writer, film critic, director, film festival programmer, and curator.

References

  1. "SXSW Schedule: Thank You A Lot". SXSW. 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  2. Lakich, Ryan (7 March 2014). "Thank You A Lot makes a star out of an unlikely Austin music legend". CultureMap Austin. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  3. "Project of the Day: A Music Agent Signs His Father in Thank You A Lot". IndieWire . 23 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  4. Freeman, Doug (7 March 2014). "Shadow On The Ground". Austin Chronicle . Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  5. Muir, Matt; Ohlson, Chris; DeLong, Blake. "Thank You A Lot: a movie starring James Hand". Kickstarter . Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  6. Leifeste, Link (7 March 2014). "Thank You A Lot | SXSW Review". Smells Like Screen Spirit. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  7. Rice, Laura (14 March 2014). "Spotlight: A Father, A Son and A Lot of Live Music in Thank You A Lot". NPR.
  8. Cerda, Debbie (25 March 2014). "SXSW 2014: Connecting With Local and Indie Music Through Film". Austin Film Society.
  9. Jorgenson, Todd (3 April 2014). "Your Guide to the 2014 Dallas International Film Festival". Front Row. D Magazine . Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  10. Dennis, Billy (23 April 2014). "There's Plenty To Appreciate in Thank You a Lot". Eastfield News. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  11. Jones, Steven (11 April 2014). "DIFF 2014: 'Thank You A Lot' Has A Lot to Offer". Truth On Cinema. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  12. "30th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations announced". Film Independent. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  13. Donnelly, Matt (10 January 2015). "Film Independent Spirit Awards Gives Out $75k in Filmmaker Grants". The Wrap. TheWrap . Retrieved 11 September 2018.