With documentaries all the rage these days, ThinkFilm will release another of its properties in a film that follows the spirit - though perhaps not the trajectory - of Lost in La Mancha. Like La Mancha, which followed the collapse of director Terry Gilliam's effort to film his dream project, Overnight chronicles the rise and fall of a filmmaker.
Troy Duffy may not be a household name, but he literally turned into an overnight success when Miramax head honcho Harvey Weinstein snapped up the rights to the writer/director's script for Boondock Saints back in the 1990s. Weinstein made an agreement with Duffy that the director's band would be able to perform on the soundtrack and also included a deal where the Miramax head would even buy Duffy the bar where he had worked. Director Mark Brian Smith tells the story of a project gone terribly wrong with plenty of insider footage. He and producer Tony Montana were part of Duffy's production team and since they had their cameras running, they were first-hand witnesses to the director's meltdown when things went south.
Overnight has already screened at Sundance and the Seattle International Film Festival, and viewers have actually stated that Weinstein comes across as a sympathetic figure - no small feat - due to Duffy's emotional and frightening extremes. It sounds as though the film will be a fascinating examination of the filmmaking process - even going back as far as the actual wheeling and dealing that takes place before production even begins. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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