#henry butash

[wh2m]

→ "Henry Butash On The Making Of The Atlantic City Story With Broadway Stars Mike Faist And Jessica Hecht"

“I think where Mike’s so great is just, even when he’s not delivering dialogue, he’s just giving such a strong performance with his looks. You can always feel him thinking when you look at him—you can see him thinking. Which is sort of the mark of really good film acting, at least.”

[unrequitedscene]

→ “Henry Butash On The Making Of The Atlantic City Story With Broadway Stars Mike Faist And Jessica Hecht

“I took a very loose approach to the film. I wanted there to be something spontaneous about it; something authentic and true to life. It just felt like if I forced them into one thing, it would be like the air got sucked out of the room. It would just feel stale and stilted. I didn’t want that; I wanted it to be very organic and alive. Mike Faist and Jessica Hecht – there was a lot of room and we had a lot of takes where we had just gone through the script and talked deeply about the characters and the story. But then, once we had that foundation, we had the freedom to then wander off in a really exciting way. We did a lot of takes where Mike and Jessica knew what the purpose of the scene was narratively. But then, they weren’t tied down to a specific line of dialogue or anything like that. They just acted off of each other and worked together. We did a lot of scenes where I would tell Mike and Jessica to just surprise me. They both consistently shocked me with the things they would think of spontaneously. That was the most exciting part! And a lot of times, it was those takes that ended up in the film. Just because they felt so organic, real and natural.”

[jilllovesmike]

The full interview.

[michaelshannon]

For my fellow Mike Faist people, just thought I’d throw out a PSA that the Victoria Film Festival is offering digital screening tickets for The Atlantic City Story in February!

The film festival will be running from February 4–13. Once you’ve purchased a ticket for the movie, you will have the option to watch it any time during that time window. Tickets cost $13.33, and becoming a VFF member (which you have to be to purchase any tickets) costs $2. Happy watching!

[thefilmstage]

Terrence Malick collaborator Henry Butash has made a quietly profound directorial debut with The Atlantic City Story. Read our review.

Poster by @antoniostella.