Since the addition of Dennis Hopper as chairman of the board in 2003, CineVegas has steadily increased in prestige and influence, and that growing clout has also extended to the films awarded the festival’s Grand Jury Prize. The festival can be the first step toward greater success for the winning films and the directors behind them. Here’s a look at what happened to past years’ winning films once the festival ended.
G.I. Jesus (2006)
Directed by Carl Colpaert
A Mexican national, offered U.S. citizenship in exchange for enlisting in the military, comes back to America from Iraq and experiences mental trauma and difficulty re-adjusting.
What happened next? After CineVegas, the film was picked up for distribution and played in about 15 cities earlier this year; it showed at the Century Suncoast in Vegas at the end of March. A DVD release is set for later this year.
What’s the director up to now? Colpaert, a veteran producer and director, will be directing an “existential thriller” called The Passengers, shooting this fall.
In Memory of My Father (2005)
Directed by Christopher Jaymes
A dying Hollywood producer with a large dysfunctional family asks one of his sons to document his final days and the wake that follows.
What happened next? “[CineVegas] basically put the film on the map,” says Jaymes, “and then from there we went on to play something like 50 festivals and won about 10 more awards.” Two different distributors picked up the movie, but both were new companies and ran out of resources before they were able to get it to theaters. Jaymes is now looking for a new distributor, and has had some preliminary interest.
What’s the director up to now? “Even more so than helping the film, [CineVegas has] helped me,” Jaymes says. He’s got two TV pilots out for development, and is mulling over a few potential directing projects.
The Talent Given Us (2004)
Directed by Andrew Wagner
Wagner’s real-life mother, father and two sisters star in this story of a family on a cross-country road trip to track down their absent brother (played briefly by Wagner himself).
What happened next? “Winning the festival made all the difference,” Wagner says. “Before CineVegas, it was unclear that this film with extremely humble beginnings was going to have a chance to reach people in the real world.” The film went on to play the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005, and Wagner and his wife distributed it themselves to theaters in over 30 cities. It’s since aired on the Sundance Channel and is now available on DVD.
What’s the director up to now? Wagner’s second feature, Starting Out in the Evening, starring Frank Langella and Lauren Ambrose, played Sundance in January of this year, and will be released in November by Roadside Attractions.
Dallas 362 (2003)
Directed by Scott Caan
A young man struggles to make a better life for himself while being tempted back into criminality by his delinquent best friend.
What happened next? The film received limited theatrical distribution from ThinkFilm and is now available on DVD.
What’s the director up to now? As an actor, Caan continues to work steadily (he’s in a little film called Ocean’s 13 at this year’s CineVegas). His second film as a director, The Dog Problem, played the Toronto Film Festival in 2006, and is currently in very limited release, also courtesy of ThinkFilm.