Forget how John Gulager comes across in conversation, forget his inability to fully articulate his vision for the movie and his somewhat misguided determination to cast his family in the lead roles. None of this matters. The only thing that matters and the primary reason he was chosen as director of Feast is that this man can shoot the hell out of a movie. That was evident right from the start when his short film submission blew the producers away. From that moment on he was their number one choice to direct.
Yes Chris Moore had doubts but about Gulager's ability to properly articulate his plans for the movie not his ability to make a decent movie. At times his fears did seem to be justified. Gulager came across as awkward, bumbling and a bit of a joke especially during preproduction. During a conference call with an important studio executive, he is asked to describe the tone of the movie and can only sit open mouthed and silent prompting the executive to hang up the phone in a rage.
Then later during production itself, cast and crew are frustrated by his lack of leadership but this is due to his inexperience in working with actors and a large crew rather than his inability to direct. I work in the film industry and I know from experience that no one is born knowing how to handle a crew of sixty people and mistakes are made all the time even by the most experienced directors. Gulager is not helped by the hostile attitude of his DP who refuses to meet him even halfway and is more interested in simply making the day rather than the quality of the shots. Gulager is undermined by him every step of the way and crawls deeper and deeper into his shell, even totally shutting down at one point. Near the end of the shoot, Gulager gets the chance to work with a second unit DP who immediately understands what he is trying to do and treats him with respect and and as a result, Gulager's directing becomes much more confident.
The response to the first cut of the movie by both studio executives and producers is overwhelmingly positive and all praise him for a job well done. Sadly, Feast will probably be Gulager's one and only movie, as lacking the ambition and drive of the writers who secured for themselves ICM representation and rewrite work on a Highlander movie just a few weeks after winning the contest, Gulager will undoubtedly slide back into obscurity which will be a shame for both him and for the industry.
Yes Chris Moore had doubts but about Gulager's ability to properly articulate his plans for the movie not his ability to make a decent movie. At times his fears did seem to be justified. Gulager came across as awkward, bumbling and a bit of a joke especially during preproduction. During a conference call with an important studio executive, he is asked to describe the tone of the movie and can only sit open mouthed and silent prompting the executive to hang up the phone in a rage.
Then later during production itself, cast and crew are frustrated by his lack of leadership but this is due to his inexperience in working with actors and a large crew rather than his inability to direct. I work in the film industry and I know from experience that no one is born knowing how to handle a crew of sixty people and mistakes are made all the time even by the most experienced directors. Gulager is not helped by the hostile attitude of his DP who refuses to meet him even halfway and is more interested in simply making the day rather than the quality of the shots. Gulager is undermined by him every step of the way and crawls deeper and deeper into his shell, even totally shutting down at one point. Near the end of the shoot, Gulager gets the chance to work with a second unit DP who immediately understands what he is trying to do and treats him with respect and and as a result, Gulager's directing becomes much more confident.
The response to the first cut of the movie by both studio executives and producers is overwhelmingly positive and all praise him for a job well done. Sadly, Feast will probably be Gulager's one and only movie, as lacking the ambition and drive of the writers who secured for themselves ICM representation and rewrite work on a Highlander movie just a few weeks after winning the contest, Gulager will undoubtedly slide back into obscurity which will be a shame for both him and for the industry.