By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

James Schamus Making Feature Directorial Debut With His Own Adaptation Of Philip Roth’s “Indignation”

Posted Wednesday, November 12th, 2014 - Comments Off on James Schamus Making Feature Directorial Debut With His Own Adaptation Of Philip Roth’s “Indignation”
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JAMES SCHAMUS TO MAKE HIS
FEATURE DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
WITH HIS ADAPTATION OF
PHILIP ROTH’S NOVEL “INDIGNATION”

Likely Story’s Anthony Bregman To Produce

New York, NY – November 12, 2014 — James Schamus and Anthony Bregman announced today that Schamus will make his directorial debut with his adaptation of Philip Roth’s best-selling novel “Indignation.”  Likely Story is attached, with Bregman and Schamus producing.  Avy Eschenasy and Stefanie Azpiazu will serve as executive producers for Likely Story. The film is set to shoot Summer 2015 in New York.

Set in 1951, INDIGNATION is the story of Marcus Messner, the idealistic son of a humble kosher butcher from Newark, New Jersey. Marcus leaves for Ohio to study at a small, conservative college, where he finds himself at odds with the administration, grapples with anti-Semitism and sexual repression, and pines after a troubled girl.

James Schamus said, “Marcus Messner is an extraordinary character, heartbreakingly open and alive, and Anthony Bregman is an extraordinary producer, heartstoppingly economical; bringing them together for my first feature as a director is as felicitous a match as I could ever hope for.”

Producer Anthony Bregman stated, “It’s been two decades since I met and first started working with James, and I’ve noticed that he’s still figuring out what he wants to be when he grows up.  But in the process, he’s used his boundless creative energy to build two landmark companies, produce dozens of visionary films, and write brilliant, acclaimed screenplays.  His adaptation of Philip Roth’s powerful novel is a delight on its own, and his new shift to directing is a tantalizing prospect for anybody who loves movies.”

James Schamus is an award-winning writer and producer with a diversity of credits ranging from producing the award-winning “Brokeback Mountain” to the blockbuster hit “Hulk,” as well as the critically acclaimed titles “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “The Pianist” and “The Kids Are All Right.” His writing credits include “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “The Ice Storm,” “Eat Drink Man Woman,” and “The Wedding Banquet.” Founder and partner in the highly respected New York based production company Good Machine, Schamus went on to co-found and serve as CEO of Focus Features for many years, overseeing numerous award-winning films through release. He is also a Professor in Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

Anthony Bregman’s recent films include Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher”, Amy Berg’s “Every Secret Thing,” John Carney’s “Begin Again”, and Nicole Holofcener’s “Enough Said.”  Projects currently in post-production include Nima Nourizadeh’s “American Ultra” (starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart), Courtney Hunt’s “The Whole Truth” (starring Keanu Reeves and Renee Zellweger), and John Carney’s “Sing Street” (starring Jack Reynor and Aidan Gillen).  Other titles include the Academy Award-winning “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Synecdoche, New York,” “Please Give,” “Our Idiot Brother,” and “Friends With Money.”  Bregman’s movies have won numerous awards at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Gothams, Indie Spirit Awards, and Cannes, Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals, among others. In 2010 Roger Ebert named “Synecdoche, New York” the Best Film of the Decade.
About Likely Story:

Likely Story is a bi-coastal production company founded by Anthony Bregman in October 2006.  The company recently wrapped production on Courtney Hunt’s upcoming film “The Whole Truth,” starring Keanu Reeves and Renee Zellweger and John Carney’s “Sing Street.” Upcoming releases include Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher,” starring Steve Carell and Channing Tatum, and Amy Berg’s “Every Secret Thing” starring Diane Lane and Elizabeth Banks.  Recent releases include John Carney’s “Begin Again,” starring Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley, Nicole Holofcener’s “Enough Said,” starring Julia Louise Dreyfus and James Gandolfini, Additional Likely Story productions include Jesse Peretz’ OUR IDIOT BROTHER (The Weinstein Company), Nicole Holofcener’s PLEASE GIVE (Sony Pictures Classics), Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman’s THE EXTRA MAN (Magnolia Pictures), Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (Sony Pictures Classics), Stephen Frears’ LAY THE FAVORITE (Radius TWC), Julian Farino’s THE ORANGES (ATO Pictures), Lawrence Kasdan’s DARLING COMPANION (Sony Pictures Classics), Alex Rivera’s SLEEP DEALER (Maya Releasing), and David and Alex Pastor’s CARRIERS (Paramount Vantage).  The company also has a first look deal with graphic novel and comic book publisher Top Shelf Productions.

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon