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Writer / Director – Matthew Gentile and Editor – Matt Allen
Friends and fellow American Film Institute vets, Matthew Gentile and Matt Allen, turned their long walks in Los Feliz into a collaborative indie filmmaking venture that would become their first project together, AMERICAN MURDERER. Prior to this film, Matthew Gentile was biding his time as a script reader and making a name for himself directing short films. Meanwhile, ACE Eric Zumbrunnen Fellowship winner Matt Allen was racking up experience as an assistant, working with Oscar®-nominated editor Matt Chesse on features such as CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (2018).
Based on a true story, AMERICAN MURDERER follows Jason Derek Brown (Tom Pelphrey), a charismatic con man bankrolling his extravagant lifestyle through a series of scams. On Brown’s trail: Lance Leising (Ryan Phillippe), a dogged FBI special agent determined to put Brown behind bars. When Brown’s funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet, pitting himself against Leising in a deadly game of cat and mouse — and becoming the most unlikely and elusive fugitive on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
Making AMERICAN MURDERER
In our discussion with Matthew and Matt, we talk about:
- Finding your people in Hollywood
- Going from script reader to script writer
- The power of pre-vis for indie filmmaking
- Getting too big for your “shorts”
- Budgeting for kindness
The Credits
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