Ryan Fleck
Encyclopedia
Ryan K. Fleck is an American
film director
, cinematographer
, editor
, and screenwriter
best known for directing and writing the 2006 film
Half Nelson
and the 2008 film
Sugar
. He is known for his collaborations with fellow filmmaker Anna Boden
.
, California
and raised in Berkeley and Oakland
, California
. He attended New York University
's Tisch School of the Arts
where he studied film. At this time he met Anna Boden on the set of a student film and, after he finished his thesis short film Struggle, they began dating and decided to collaborate. Together they made the short documentaries Have You Seen This Man? and Young Rebels before they wrote and he directed the short film Gowanus, Brooklyn, a sample feature aiming to attract potential financiers to their undeveloped script, Half Nelson
. The short won a prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival
and Fleck and Boden were subsequently invited to the Sundance Writer's Lab to receive professional feedback on the Half Nelson screenplay. The film did not receive adequate financing for years, and while trying to initiate the project, Fleck explains: "We were trying to get it off the ground so we had plenty of time to keep writing and rewriting. I think the time was valuable because I think we made it as good as we could." In spite of the effort in making the script "as good as we could" prior to filming, Fleck encouraged Half Nelson' s actors to ad lib and improvise, although he and lead actor Ryan Gosling
compromised many scenes in the rehearsal process as Fleck thought that Gosling's ideas were too different from the script in some cases. He also had several disagreements with Boden while writing; though he claims their "back and forth" system of rewriting each other's work has always worked well. Half Nelson was well received by critics and got nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for Ryan Gosling. Many other nominations went to Ryan Gosling for his role as Dan Dunne.
Fleck and Boden have since co-written and co-directed the 2008 film
Sugar
, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
, about a 19 year-old Dominican
who immigrates to the United States to play minor league baseball. The two wrote the screenplay after researching about many Dominican immigrants who arrive in America to play in minor league towns, saying: "The stories we heard were so fascinating that it became what we were writing before we'd even decided it was our next project". They have also completed a screen adaptation of Ned Vizzini
's young adult novel It's Kind of a Funny Story
, which was released on October 8, 2010.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, editor
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
, and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
best known for directing and writing the 2006 film
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
Half Nelson
Half Nelson (film)
Half Nelson is a 2006 American drama film directed by Ryan Fleck and written by Anna Boden and Fleck; it stars Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. The film was scored by Juno Award winning Canadian band - Broken Social Scene. Gosling received an Academy Award nomination for lead actor...
and the 2008 film
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Sugar
Sugar (2008 film)
Sugar is a 2008 sports drama film directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, a. k. a. Sugar , a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty...
. He is known for his collaborations with fellow filmmaker Anna Boden
Anna Boden
Anna Boden is an American film director, cinematographer, editor, and screenwriter best known as the co-writer of the 2006 film Half Nelson. She is known for her collaborations with fellow filmmaker Ryan Fleck.- Life and career :...
.
Life and career
Fleck was born in BerkeleyBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and raised in Berkeley and Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
where he studied film. At this time he met Anna Boden on the set of a student film and, after he finished his thesis short film Struggle, they began dating and decided to collaborate. Together they made the short documentaries Have You Seen This Man? and Young Rebels before they wrote and he directed the short film Gowanus, Brooklyn, a sample feature aiming to attract potential financiers to their undeveloped script, Half Nelson
Half Nelson (film)
Half Nelson is a 2006 American drama film directed by Ryan Fleck and written by Anna Boden and Fleck; it stars Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. The film was scored by Juno Award winning Canadian band - Broken Social Scene. Gosling received an Academy Award nomination for lead actor...
. The short won a prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and Fleck and Boden were subsequently invited to the Sundance Writer's Lab to receive professional feedback on the Half Nelson screenplay. The film did not receive adequate financing for years, and while trying to initiate the project, Fleck explains: "We were trying to get it off the ground so we had plenty of time to keep writing and rewriting. I think the time was valuable because I think we made it as good as we could." In spite of the effort in making the script "as good as we could" prior to filming, Fleck encouraged Half Nelson
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Thomas Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. He first came to public attention as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club and went on to appear in other family entertainment programmes including Are You Afraid of the Dark? , Goosebumps , Breaker High and Young Hercules...
compromised many scenes in the rehearsal process as Fleck thought that Gosling's ideas were too different from the script in some cases. He also had several disagreements with Boden while writing; though he claims their "back and forth" system of rewriting each other's work has always worked well. Half Nelson was well received by critics and got nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for Ryan Gosling. Many other nominations went to Ryan Gosling for his role as Dan Dunne.
Fleck and Boden have since co-written and co-directed the 2008 film
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Sugar
Sugar (2008 film)
Sugar is a 2008 sports drama film directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, a. k. a. Sugar , a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty...
, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008 Sundance Film Festival
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu.-Films:...
, about a 19 year-old Dominican
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
who immigrates to the United States to play minor league baseball. The two wrote the screenplay after researching about many Dominican immigrants who arrive in America to play in minor league towns, saying: "The stories we heard were so fascinating that it became what we were writing before we'd even decided it was our next project". They have also completed a screen adaptation of Ned Vizzini
Ned Vizzini
Edison Price "Ned" Vizzini is an American writer who is the author of books for young adults. He is best known for his novel Be More Chill. He has been a columnist for the New York Press since his teens.-Life and career:...
's young adult novel It's Kind of a Funny Story
It's Kind of a Funny Story (film)
It's Kind of a Funny Story is a 2010 comedy-drama film written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, an adaptation of Ned Vizzini's 2006 novel of the same name. The film stars Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, and Viola Davis...
, which was released on October 8, 2010.
Director
- Struggle (2002)
- Have You Seen This Man? (2003)
- Gowanus, Brooklyn (2004)
- Young Rebels (2005)
- Half NelsonHalf Nelson (film)Half Nelson is a 2006 American drama film directed by Ryan Fleck and written by Anna Boden and Fleck; it stars Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. The film was scored by Juno Award winning Canadian band - Broken Social Scene. Gosling received an Academy Award nomination for lead actor...
(2006) - SugarSugar (2008 film)Sugar is a 2008 sports drama film directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, a. k. a. Sugar , a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty...
(2008) - It's Kind of a Funny StoryIt's Kind of a Funny Story (film)It's Kind of a Funny Story is a 2010 comedy-drama film written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, an adaptation of Ned Vizzini's 2006 novel of the same name. The film stars Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, and Viola Davis...
(2010)
Writer
- Struggle (2002)
- Gowanus, Brooklyn (2004)
- Half NelsonHalf Nelson (film)Half Nelson is a 2006 American drama film directed by Ryan Fleck and written by Anna Boden and Fleck; it stars Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. The film was scored by Juno Award winning Canadian band - Broken Social Scene. Gosling received an Academy Award nomination for lead actor...
(2006) - SugarSugar (2008 film)Sugar is a 2008 sports drama film directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, a. k. a. Sugar , a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty...
(2008) - It's Kind of a Funny StoryIt's Kind of a Funny Story (film)It's Kind of a Funny Story is a 2010 comedy-drama film written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, an adaptation of Ned Vizzini's 2006 novel of the same name. The film stars Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, and Viola Davis...
(2010)