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Sedona Film Festival presents indie comedy “Humboldt County” on October 21
Film’s co-director and co-writer will be in
Sedona to host screenings
Peter Hadley (Jeremy Strong), a promising but tightly-wound UCLA med student, finds himself stranded when he’s deposited at the multi-generational family home of the free-spirited Bogart (Fairuza Balk) in "Humboldt County". The film makes its Arizona premiere on Oct. 21 as part of the Sedona International Film Festival's OctoberFEST of Film. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
It is there, amongst the state’s breathtaking
Redwood forests that marijuana farmers co-exist
peacefully within the rural community. It is there
that Peter Hadley (Jeremy Strong), a promising but
tightly-wound UCLA med student, finds himself
stranded when he’s deposited at the
multi-generational family home of the free-spirited
Bogart (Fairuza Balk), following a one-night stand.
The ensemble cast of "Humboldt County" includes Frances Conroy, Brad Dourif, Madison Davenport, Chris Messina, Fairuza Balk and Jeremy Strong. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
SEDONA, AZ - Oct. 8, 2008 - The Sedona International Film Festival continues its
“OctoberFEST of Film” on Tuesday, Oct. 21 with the
Northern Arizona premiere of “Humboldt County,” a
new independent comedy by Darren Grodsky and Danny
Jacobs. There will be two screenings of the film at
4:00 and 7:00 p.m. at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres.
Grodsky, who co-wrote and co-directed the film, will
be in Sedona to host the premiere and conduct a Q&A
discussion following both screenings.
“Humboldt County” is a story of the human soul in
search of happiness and the unexpected places we can
sometimes call home.
The Austin Chronicle called the film “pitch-perfect,
smart and moving” following its premiere at the 2008
South-By-Southwest Film Festival. FilmThreat lauds
the film as “warm and multi-layered … with
characters so well-defined, the acting so top-notch
and the cinematography so stunning” it is sure to be
a hit. IndiWire says “Humboldt County” is
“singularly enjoyable and warmly entertaining.”
Located on the far North Coast of California and on
the margins of society is a region nicknamed “The
Lost Coast” but geographically known as Humboldt
County.
Frustrated and disillusioned with his life after his professor/father (Peter Bogdanovich) fails him on an important exam, the unworldly Peter at first rejects the welcoming yet eccentric pot-smoking strangers, along with their eclectic group of friends and fellow farmers, but soon allows himself to be embraced by their ideals and begins to see life a bit clearer: despite the smoke.
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Jeremy Strong and Peter Bogdanovich star in "Humboldt County". The film will show at 4 and 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. |
“We set out to make a picture that made us feel the
way many Hollywood films of the 1970s did,” said
Grodsky and Jacobs. “We’ve long been huge fans of
the kinds of narratives that seemed to dominate the
memories of that era: deliberately paced, character
driven dramas that defy convention and genre and
allow their narratives to breathe with life and
vibrancy.”
MEET THE
FILMMAKERS
Darren
Grodsky & Danny Jacobs |
Writers/Directors
Darren and
Danny have been close friends since they
were six years old. Throughout their
childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, their
principal hobby (besides rooting for the
St. Louis Cardinals) was entertaining
their families and friends by performing
their own plays and films. They
separated for the first time to go to
college (Danny attended Stanford and
majored in International Relations while
studying theater, Darren attended
Northwestern and majored in U.S. History
and film), but would subsequently
reconvene in Los Angeles to begin their
career as a filmmaking team.
Danny studied improvisation under the
tutelage of former “Saturday Night Live”
actors Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch at the
Improv Olympic in Chicago. In Los
Angeles, Danny has improvised regularly
on stage at LA’s Second City Theater and
at ComedySportz. In film and television,
Danny has appeared as an actor in
numerous television roles including “The
West Wing”, as well as several films,
including Sony Pictures’ THE CAVERN and
Fox’s upcoming BACHELOR PARTY 2.
Darren studied theater in Chicago at
Northwestern as well as at the city’s
famed Goodman Theatre, performing in
numerous productions. He also studied
improvisation at the original Second
City theatre in Chicago and at Los
Angeles’ Upright Citizen’s Brigade under
such notable teachers as the late Del
Close and Matt Besser. Since moving to
Los Angeles, Darren has worked closely
on various productions with numerous
filmmakers and producers, including
Jordan Kerner, Jon Landau and James
Cameron, and he has acted in over twenty
short films and stage productions.
“Humboldt County” marks Danny and
Darren’s feature debut. It is a highly
personal project in that several
characters are inspired by members of
Darren’s family who have lived in
Humboldt for over two decades. It also
pays extensive homage to motion pictures
from Darren and Danny’s favorite era of
American filmmaking: the 70s. Contained,
character-driven, and truthfully comical
and dramatic, “Humboldt County” is
inspired by a number of masterpieces,
including “Harold & Maude”, “Five Easy
Pieces”, and “The Graduate”.
Darren and Danny are currently
developing their next feature, a
relationship comedy set in New York
City.
“We feel that ‘Humboldt County’ is such a story; it
is a story about the relationship between fathers
and sons, about how career ambition can conflict
with spiritual fulfillment, about the times in our
lives when we have to decide to look forward with
hope or look back with regret.”
“Our film may have found its inspiration in films of
the 70s, but it is a modern story, set in a world in
which a man must strike out on his own to find his
path,” added the filmmakers. “Our protagonist is so
paralyzed by his choices and so intimidated by his
future that it takes the jolt of temporarily walking
away from his life and into the woods far away
from everything he knows and understands for him
to realize how far he’s trekked in the wrong
direction. This is a story about waking up, about
coming to life and about taking your future into
your own hands to make it yours.”
The idea for “Humboldt County” first materialized
five years ago, when Grodzky and Jacobs fled Los
Angeles for a writing retreat in Shelter Cove, a
coastal town in southern Humboldt.
“Darren's aunt and uncle moved into the beautiful
redwood forests of Humboldt County over twenty-five
years ago, and Darren has been visiting them since
he was a precocious, suburban, Midwestern teenager,”
said Jacobs. “Once there, we observed the
fascinating characters, the unparalleled beauty of
the place as well as the fascinating dynamics of the
lifestyle Darren’s family believed in and we knew
immediately that this was the place around which we
would craft our film.”
The title sponsor for the Sedona premiere is Art for
Sedona’s Sake, presented by Thom Stanley. The
lodging sponsor is Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa. The
series is also made possible by a grant from the
Arizona Commission on the Arts and National
Endowment for the Arts and the City of Sedona.
The film will be shown at Harkins Sedona Six
Theatres on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.
Tickets are $10, or $8 for Film Sedona members, and
will be available starting at 3:00 p.m. in the
Harkins lobby. Cash or checks only. Seats are
limited. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in
advance at the Sedona International Film Festival
office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling
282-1177.
For more information, visit:
www.SedonaFilmFestival.com.
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