Craig Schlattman (died December 9, 2014) was an American director,
writer, producer, and cinematographer, best known for his Independent
features, At Ground Zero starring Thomas Jane (credited as Tom
Elliott), and The Seller starring Brian Brophy.Schlattman started his
career in photography, shooting black-and-white photographs and
printing mural size prints, and large-scale color photographs of
particular beauty with an interest in experimentation and movement.
After exhibiting in numerous group and one-person shows, he was picked
up by the Susan Spiritus Gallery in Newport, California with a body of
work depicting pseudoscientific experiments full of humor,
intelligence, and a sort of political whimsy.Throughout his still
photo career, Schlattman was producing [avant-garde], experimental
films that were earning him a reputation in the art film world. The
short subjects Slap and Bag, both funny, brutal, and formalist in
context, won Directors Awards at the Sinking Creek Film Festival (now
known as the Nashville Independent Film Festival), and traveled all
over the world in many film programs and festivals, including a
traveling show with Stan Brakhage, and Michael Snow, and screenings at
the Museum of Modern Art. Schlattman called Submitting (produced by
Rutger Hauer) "the worst film I've ever made", but it nonetheless went
on to win a Silver award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film
Festiva, a Bronze Award at the Athens International Film Festival, and
a Certificate of Merit from the Chicago International Film Festival,
which were the only festivals entered. Heroic and Furious, two hard to
get documentaries about filmmaking behind the scenes of big Hollywood
productions, have been shown at the Ann Arbor and Wiesbaden Film
Festivals, and have the reputation of being very unconventional films
in cinéma vérité or direct cinema style, which is not what the
studios would like to have seen about their films, hence the problem
in showing and purchasing them.Very much a part of the resurgence of
independent filmmaking in the early 1990s, Schlattman said that he
waited a couple of years with a feature script he wanted to shoot
before running into two actors he thought perfect for the part; Thomas
Jane, and Aysha Hauer. Schlattman met them through a mutual
acquaintance shooting something for a new director and thought they
were perfect for the parts of Thomas Pennington and Aysha Almouth in
his first feature, At Ground Zero. He picked for his subject marginal
characters tied together by love and drugs in an extended traveling
family on the road. At Ground Zero premiered at the Rotterdam
International Film Festival to enthusiastic, full houses, and went on
an extensive festival run in the US and Europe.
writer, producer, and cinematographer, best known for his Independent
features, At Ground Zero starring Thomas Jane (credited as Tom
Elliott), and The Seller starring Brian Brophy.Schlattman started his
career in photography, shooting black-and-white photographs and
printing mural size prints, and large-scale color photographs of
particular beauty with an interest in experimentation and movement.
After exhibiting in numerous group and one-person shows, he was picked
up by the Susan Spiritus Gallery in Newport, California with a body of
work depicting pseudoscientific experiments full of humor,
intelligence, and a sort of political whimsy.Throughout his still
photo career, Schlattman was producing [avant-garde], experimental
films that were earning him a reputation in the art film world. The
short subjects Slap and Bag, both funny, brutal, and formalist in
context, won Directors Awards at the Sinking Creek Film Festival (now
known as the Nashville Independent Film Festival), and traveled all
over the world in many film programs and festivals, including a
traveling show with Stan Brakhage, and Michael Snow, and screenings at
the Museum of Modern Art. Schlattman called Submitting (produced by
Rutger Hauer) "the worst film I've ever made", but it nonetheless went
on to win a Silver award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film
Festiva, a Bronze Award at the Athens International Film Festival, and
a Certificate of Merit from the Chicago International Film Festival,
which were the only festivals entered. Heroic and Furious, two hard to
get documentaries about filmmaking behind the scenes of big Hollywood
productions, have been shown at the Ann Arbor and Wiesbaden Film
Festivals, and have the reputation of being very unconventional films
in cinéma vérité or direct cinema style, which is not what the
studios would like to have seen about their films, hence the problem
in showing and purchasing them.Very much a part of the resurgence of
independent filmmaking in the early 1990s, Schlattman said that he
waited a couple of years with a feature script he wanted to shoot
before running into two actors he thought perfect for the part; Thomas
Jane, and Aysha Hauer. Schlattman met them through a mutual
acquaintance shooting something for a new director and thought they
were perfect for the parts of Thomas Pennington and Aysha Almouth in
his first feature, At Ground Zero. He picked for his subject marginal
characters tied together by love and drugs in an extended traveling
family on the road. At Ground Zero premiered at the Rotterdam
International Film Festival to enthusiastic, full houses, and went on
an extensive festival run in the US and Europe.
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