HARRiSON ATKiNS

A Film by HARRISON ATKINS
2015 / USA / English / Horror, Comedy
83 min/ HD / 2:39 / Dolby 5.1
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LOGLINE
During a drug-fueled weekend with friends, Ruth has a one-night stand with a ghost. Soon after, she
begins to feel a bit...strange.
SYNOPSIS
All Ruth wanted was to get away for the weekend. Escaping to the Hamptons with friends after a
bad breakup, she finds an unexpected connection with Michael, a stranger who shows up in her
room one boozy night. They have great chemistry, and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him.
There’s only one problem: Michael’s a ghost, and a one night stand with him leaves Ruth with aftereffects that can only be described as supernatural. As she suffers through mucous-laden night
sweats, glitchy hallucinations, and the occasional tar-black ooze, her friends become too disgusted
to support her. Ruth must figure out for herself if she can reintegrate into society - or if she even
wants to.
FESTIVALS
Toronto International Film Festival // SITGES // Fantasia International Film Festival
PRESS
“A thoroughly modern ghost story (...) testing the audience as it wavers between terrifying and
deadpan funny.” - LA Times
“Ms. Burdge — all quicksilver emotion and exposed nerve endings — is an endlessly watchable focal
point.” - The New York Times
“A real breath of fresh air in a genre that can sometimes feel stale.” - Modern Horrors
“Draw(s) not only from the lo-fi snapshots of early comedies by Bujalski and Swanberg but, yes, even
the psychological horror of Polanski.” - Newcity
“With a debut this memorable (...) Atkins will be one to watch.” - Paper Mag
“[A] quirky tale of paranormal contact.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“S-s-s-spooky and inventive.” - Cinema Scope
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Lace Crater is a further exploration of my interest in deep, asymptotic intimacies, closenesses that
verge on singularity, and the impossible reconciliation between the human desire for perfect mutual
understanding and the inherent limitation of individual subjectivity. In this case, the central intimacy
of the film is juxtaposed against Ruth’s decaying body, fragmenting social context, and radioactive
psychic experience. This film felt sublime to make, and I have a menagerie of friends and collaborators to thank for helping manifest this strange thing in the world. The trust and love of my crew of
friends over the course of the shoot constantly surprised and humbled me.
Q&A WITH THE DIRECTOR
Tell us about the origins of Lace Crater.
I guess the genesis of the movie came from an almost experimental premise: what would happen if
you combine the darkest, most dread-inducing horror film with something kind of talky and cerebral
and relationship-based. I was watching Begotten by E Elias Merhige. It’s just this really hardcore,
grainy, black-and-white, grotesque horror movie. There’s no dialogue - just cricket sounds through
the whole thing, and most of the characters are faceless cannibals. I was watching that movie and I
started thinking, what if Whit Stillman or Woody Allen directed something like this, and it was sort of
a comedy? That was probably one of the first origins of Lace Crater. But then there were other points
of entry, too. I had been kicking around the idea of making a film about a ghost for a long time; I’ve
just had this prevailing interest in exploring that formal or aesthetic element in narratives for a while,
and I thought this melodramatic concept of exploring an intimacy with a ghost could be really interesting.
How would you describe the tone of the film?
I was really interested in juxtaposing different tones against one another to see if we could make
something new. It sometimes felt like walking a tightrope, but luckily all of the cast and crew were
really on the same page, and I think we found a sort of weird groove. There’s kind of this naturalism
thing going on, but that’s juxtaposed against all of these points of surrealism and absurdity. And that
combination feels really funny to me, but also sometimes really scary. Lace Crater is kind of a mystery, kind of a romance, kind of a horror film, kind of a comedy, kind of something else.
How did Joe Swanberg join the project, and how do you think he influenced the final film?
I’ve known Joe for years, and he jumped on as a producer of the film after I had first started to develop it. He was an amazing resource, not just because he has made so many movies, but also because he makes movies in the right way, really respecting of the process and understanding of the
experience. He wanted to give me the artistic space to make the film the way it needed to be, which
felt like such a luxury for my first feature, while simultaneously helping the movie to be healthy, and
kind of shepherding the process along. On another level, I think I’ve certainly been influenced by his
body of work.
How did you decide to cast Lindsay Burdge as your protagonist?
I met Lindsay on my friend Chris Osborn’s short film Sisters, and we really vibed. I knew I wanted
to work with her, and when Lace Crater started coming together, she was my first choice for Ruth. I
think she’s a mind-blowing actor; she has an extremely complicated mind, and that totally manifests
in the depth of her performances. I also really wanted to collaborate with an actor with whom I felt
like I was on the same page. I think Lindsay’s work really elevated the film. I think she’s a great artist.
Describe the music choices for the film and your collaboration with Alan Palomo of Neon Indian.
I was listening to this Japanese artist named Aki Tsuyuko during the gestation of the film, and really connected to the tonal landscape of her music and wanted to geolocate the film somewhere in
that range. Simultaneously, I knew I wanted to work with Alan because he has such a brilliant artistic
mind, is really engaged with cinema, really gets it. We were sending one another tracks throughout
the writing process, kind of honing in together on the wavelength of the movie. We were both interested in blurring the line between music and abstract sound, and I feel like a lot of Alan’s work in the
film veers into this really interesting, murky territory between one and the other.
As a young filmmaker coming out of Northwestern University, what kind of projects are you interested in making? What stories do you want to tell?
I love weird movies - I’m interested in the weirdest movies out there. In general I want to make narratives that access new tones, moods, textures, and feelings, because that’s the potential that I believe
cinema has. In fact, that’s my favorite thing to think about. I’m hoping to make films that I would
want to see –– from really dumb, gaggy, absurd comedies to character-based relationship movies.
Horror films are really interesting too; there’s a lot of potential for experimental formal language in
horror filmmaking, and I find that really exciting.
Which movies inspire you in general, and which inspired Lace Crater specifically?
Near the beginning of the pre-production process, I made a list of films that felt like reference points.
On one side, there were films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Leos Carax, Andrezj Zulawski, Carlos
Reygadas -- but then there were also films by Joe Swanberg, Noah Baumbach, Whit Stillman, and
Josephine Decker. Josephine’s films Butter On The Latch and Thou Wast Mild And Lovely were both
huge for me. I was also thinking about Polanski -- especially Repulsion and The Tenant. In general,
I’m very interested in occupying this dissonant space between naturalism and surrealism, and I think
a lot of the feel of the film is derived from collisions between different reference points. I encouraged
my director of photography Gideon de Villiers to react impressionistically to the chaos and emotional color of the scenes. We tried to stay very open, and let the thing evolve in a way that always felt
honest and unified.
How did you shoot the special-effects scenes, both with Ruth suffering from her strange symptoms
and her initial ghostly encounter with Michael?
My good friend and practical special-effects guru Ben Gojer, who is based in Chicago, came onboard relatively early in the process, and we had lots of long phone calls before the shoot to cognize
how we would pull off the effects gags. He did makeup throughout the entire movie, created latex
prosthetics and masks, and manifested a variety of uncanny liquids. We also had to meticulously
pre-plan all of the effects shots, as a means to figure out how to hide effects within frames, for example. Ben is a genius and we’ve worked together a lot before, so the special-effects process felt like a
series of fun challenges and puzzles for us to solve together. Meanwhile, my friend Rachel Birnbaum
built Michael’s costume, along with art director Alejandro Ovalle. I had a pretty specific idea of how
Michael should look, and the development process mainly consisted of iterating versions of the costume in my living room and making discoveries until it felt right.
Harrison Atkins
Director, Writer, Editor
Harrison Atkins is an American independent filmmaker. His
short film Chocolate Heart premiered at SXSW in 2014,
and screened at international festivals including Sarasota,
Maryland, and Marfa. His next short Blissful Banquet premiered at the 2015 Maryland Film Festival, won the Grand
Jury Prize at the Oak Cliff Film Festival, and is a Vimeo Staff
Pick. Lace Crater is his first feature film.
CAST
LINDSAY BURDGE
Ruth
Lindsay Burdge (Ruth) is an actress and producer from Pasadena, Ca. Most
recently, she appears in Karyn’s Kusama’s The Invitation, and the Hannah
Fidell film 6 Years, both which premiered at SXSW 2015. She also starred
in Fidell’s A Teacher, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Lindsay made her debut acting performance in First Winter, which she
also produced, and can be seen in other recent films such as The Midnight
Swim and Wild Canaries. On the other side of the camera she worked as
a producer and casting director on festival favorites Gimme The Loot and
Lily.
PETER VACK
Michael
Peter Vack is an actor and filmmaker from New York City. Vack was the
lead on Doug Liman’s cult series I Just Want My Pants Back for MTV and
is currently on Amazon Studio’s critically acclaimed Mozart In The Jungle
starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Lola Kirke and Malcolm McDowell and created
by Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola, and Paul Weitz. Indiewire named
Vack one of “The 21 Biggest Indie Breakout Actors of 2014.” Peter’s recent
film roles include: Leah Meyerhoff’s I Believe In Unicorns (SXSW 2014),
Hannah Fidell’s 6 Years (SXSW 2015), Sara Violet Bliss and Charles Rodgers’s Fort Tilden (Winner Narrative Feature Competition SXSW 2014), and
Nancy Meyer’s The Intern starring Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway.
JENNIFER KIM
Claudette
Jennifer Kim attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts at the Stella Adler
Studio as well as London’s Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts. Film credits include The Bourne Legacy, First Winter, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Wild Canaries, Obvious Child, and Female Pervert. Television credits
include recurring roles on Amazon’s Mozart In The Jungle and NBC’s The
Blacklist as well as roles on Rescue Me, The Good Wife, 666 Park Ave, and
Elementary. Most recently, Jen made her off-Broadway debut in Branden
Jacobs-Jenkins new drama “Gloria” at the Vineyard Theatre. A Los Angeles native, Jen lives in Brooklyn and enjoys reading, taking photographs,
crocheting, indigo dying, watching films, painting, pottery, reiki, the list
goes on…
KEITH POULSON
Keith
Keith Poulson is a Brooklyn based actor, filmmaker and musician. His
acting credits include Bob Byington’s Somebody Up There Likes Me, Alex
Karpovsky’s Red Flag, Alex Ross Perry’s Listen Up Philip and Queen of
Earth, Michael Bilandic’s Hellaware, Amazon TV’s Mozart In The Jungle, as
well as Nathan Silver’s forthcoming Stinking Heaven and Joanna Arnow’s
short film Bad At Dancing, which won the Silver Bear Prize at the 2015
Berlin Film Festival. In addition to his film work, both in front of and behind
the camera, Keith served for years as a touring musician in the NYC-based
bands Bishop Allen & Air Waves.
CREW
JOE SWANBERG
Producer
Joe Swanberg has directed many acclaimed feature films and web shows, including Hannah Takes
the Stairs, Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas, Digging For Fire and the IFC.com series Young
American Bodies. He also co-directed and acted in the breakout horror film, V/H/S, in addition to his
acting work in films like You’re Next, The Sacrament, and Thou Wast Mild and Lovely. His films have
premiered at Sundance, Berlin, and SXSW and regularly appear on TV and in film festivals and theaters around the world.
ADAM KRITZER
Producer
Adam Kritzer is a writer, educator, organizer and filmmaker. Upon graduating college, he was hired
by his mentor, Peter Sellars, to adapt to the screen Desdemona, a stageplay by Toni Morrison. He
produced, and acted as a Genital Arm in Chocolate Heart, which premiered at SXSW 2014 and then
screened at festivals across the country. He wrote, directed and produced Good Funk, which is currently in post-production. Lace Crater is his first feature as producer.
LAWRENCE DAI
Producer
Lawrence Dai is an American independent film producer. He currently works as the writers’ production assistant at The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. He once watched the movie Julie & Julia
every day for a year. Lace Crater is the first feature he’s produced.
GIDEON DE VILLIERS
Director of Photography
Gideon De Villiers is a cinematographer on the move. He recently completed production of Good
Funk, directed by Adam Kritzer, and a feature documentary titled Almost Sunrise for Emmy-nominated filmmakers Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco. You might often find Gideon and his camera repelling down the side of a mountain, time-lapsing the intricate motions of the earth, or asleep on top of
a sailboat.
LUCAS GREEN
Production Designer
Lucas Green is a Brooklyn-based artist and production designer from Spokane, WA. Along with several short films, including Harrison Atkins’ Chocolate Heart, he has designed two feature films; Lace
Crater being his first. Outside his film career, Lucas paints, sculpts, and performs carpentry. He considers Lace Crater to be one of his most satisfying creative collaborations.
CREDITS
CAST
Lindsay Burdge
Peter Vack
Jennifer Kim
Andrew Ryder
Chase Williamson
Keith Poulson
Joe Swanberg
William Nadylam
Steve Girard
Kati Skelton
Drigan Lee
Betsey Brown
Ruth
Michael
Claudette
Andrew
Ryan
Keith
Dean
Doctor Sal Gricky
Club Guy
Katya
Drigan
Maybe Susan
CREW
Written, Directed, and Edited by
Harrison Atkins
Produced by
Executive Producers
Co-Producer
Associate Producers
Unit Production Manager
Assistant Director
Director of Photography
Assistant Camera, Gaffer, Post-Production Supervisor
Key Grip
Production Design
Art Direction
Costume Design
Special Effects Makeup
Production Sound
Casting Assistant
Locations Manager
Post-Production Sound
Original Score
Colorist
Stills Coordinator
Lawrence Dai
Adam Kritzer
Joe Swanberg
Eddie Linker
Peter Gilbert
Chris Osborn
Barry Holden
Nina Yankowitz
Adam Kritzer
Kati Skelton
Gideon de Villiers
Daniel Johnson
Stephen LoRusso
Luke Green
Alejandro Ovalle
Rachel Bimbaum
Kati Skelton
Ben Gojer
Allistair Johnson
Betsey Brown
Mark Lukenbill
Harrison Atkins
Nathan Ruyle
Alan Palomo
Marc Ripper
Russell Yaffe