UCLA alumna Catherine Hardwicke says that her UCLA experience is
the gift that keeps on giving. Without a little help from her
friends, she couldn’t have made her directorial debut, a film
that cost less than $2 million.
Hardwicke’s film, “Thirteen,” starring Holly
Hunter, is screening in the prestigious dramatic feature film
competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
As writer and director, the former UCLA film graduate student
wrote this project with a 13-year-old family friend who shares the
screenwriting credits with her, making this project co-written by
one of the youngest credited film writers in history. Inspired by
the difficult times of the young girl, the movie mirrors a very
real experience.
“She was going through a very difficult time, hating her
mother, her father, life, becoming obsessed with fashion,”
Hardwicke said. “She had made a quick switch from good girl
to bad girl.”
The film explores this transformation. The script motivated UCLA
film and television professor Nancy Richardson to join on to the
project.
“The story just rang true, and as it turned out, I knew
the people involved,” said Richardson, who edited the
film.
Dividing her time between graduate and some undergraduate
editing classes, Richardson is also a professional feature film
editor with credits to her name such as “Mi Familia,”
“Selena,” and “Down in the Delta.” At
first, she rejected the project from her long time friend
Hardwicke, but then she changed her mind after reading the script.
She was so impressed she even accepted lower than usual pay to work
on it.
Hardwicke motivated another long time friend and fellow
filmmaker to embark on this low budget production: UCLA alumnus
Elliot Davis, a cinematographer who recently shot such films as
“White Oleander,” “40 Days and 40 Nights,”
“I Am Sam,” and “Out of Sight.”
“I knew we were going to get in,” said Richardson,
who has been to Sundance before. “It’s exactly a
Sundance film; it’s the right combination of risky filmmaking
and talented, dedicated, actors.”
In fact, even while editing the movie, Richardson brought in
brochures of hotels in Park City, Utah (location of the Sundance
festival) to show Hardwicke, convincing her to make her
reservations early. Out of 900 entries, only 16 films were
selected, and Hardwicke’s hotel reservations will not go to
waste.
“Sundance reminds me of why I wanted to make films in the
first place,” Richardson said. “I already told my class
today, I think we are going to win.”