An Evening With David Gordon Green

In February 2008, audience members learned how one of today's most prolific indie filmmakers got his break and saw the film that started it all, when The No Budget Film Club, a screening series presented by the No Budget Film School, presented "An Evening With David Gordon Green." Director David Gordon Green ("Pineapple Express," "All The Real Girls," "Undertow") discussed his career and gave a preview of his upcoming films "Snow Angels" and "Pineapple Express." His first feature, the critically-acclaimed $40,000 film "GEORGE WASHINGTON," (2000, 90 min) was shown in its entirety and leading film consultant Peter Broderick guided the candid discussion. Special prizes were given away to audience members who could answer trivia questions related to the film. In addition to props from the film, a special dinner for two with one of the stars was awarded to a lucky filmmaker. A wine reception with David, Peter, and special guests followed and everyone was invited. It was a very special evening.

Hailed as the voice of a new generation of filmmakers when "George Washington" exploded onto the stage in 2000, Green is one of indie filmmaking's busiest figures. Following the unprecedented critical success of his first feature "George Washington," Green was attached to a number of studio projects, including the long-gestating film adaptation of "Confederacy Of Dunces." Unwilling to wait while that project sat in the mud, he made "All The Real Girls" for Sony, starring Zooey Deschanel, which won a Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. He followed with the thriller "Undertow" starring Josh Lucas, Jamie Bell, and Dermot Mulroney in 2004. His fourth feature, "Snow Angels," based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan, featured Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, and Amy Sedaris and premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival; Warner Independent released it in March 2008. His newest film, Columbia's "Pineapple Express," starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, and written and produced by Judd Apatow, was released to in August 2008 and was a huge box office success. In addition to writing and directing, Green has helped shepherd a number of successful features by new filmmakers, including "Great World Of Sound" (Sundance 2007); "Low & Behold" (Sundance 2007); "Shotgun Stories" (Berlin 2007); and "Footfist Way" (Sundance 2006).

His dazzling debut "George Washington" follows several youths in rural North Carolina during a lazy summer that turns tragic. Following graduation from North Carolina School of the Arts, Green moved to LA and was disillusioned with the whole film scene there. He decided to get together with several of his friends from school and go back to North Carolina to make a different kind of movie. Though he had very little money--he borrowed equipment and his cast and crew worked for free--he chose to shoot anamorphic 35mm and eschew the typical low-budget aesthetic common to most no-budget films that were starting to shoot on digital video at that time. He also made the decision to avoid all clichés in plot and characterization. This refreshing depiction of the South struck a chord with festival programmers, audiences, and critics, leading Roger Ebert to describe Green's style as Southern Gothic, a "poetic merging of realism and surrealism." The film premiered at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival and won numerous festival prizes, including the Discovery Award at the Toronto Film Festival. It landed on several year-end Top Ten lists and won Best First Film at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, in addition to four Independent Spirit Award nominations, including one for best first screenplay.