Olly Blackburn | Part 2

How I Got Greenlit

Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation with Olly Blackburn.

Olly is an award­-winning film director and screenwriter. He trained as an historian and after spending time as a journalist and copywriter found himself working in feature films, television and commercials.

His films include Donkey Punch (Warp Films) and Kristy (The Weinstein Company) and many shorts which have played at major festivals including Telluride, Sundance, Edinburgh, Austin and London. He’s known for cinematic breadth across his work from the cult notoriety of Donkey Punch (released in the US on Magnolia’s Six Shooter imprint with Let the Right One In)

Olly’s feature debut, the controversial thriller Donkey Punch premiered at the Sundance Film Festival – where a Salt Lake City audience member hyperventilated from shock – and has been shown in competition at festivals around the world including Edinburgh, Austin, Amsterdam and Sitges. It was heralded as “expertly made and painfully tense” by The Guardian and branded “the vilest film ever made” by The Mail’s Amanda Platell while in the same paper Baz Bamigboye called for more British films like it, writing that “director Olly Blackburn has a sure, confident touch”. Go figure. The film also has its own Trivial Pursuit question & no, it’s not the question you think it is.

His second feature film Kristy was produced by The Weinstein Company, Electric City Entertainment and David Kirschner/LA Sienega Films and premiered at the 2014 London Film Festival. Sight & Sound called it “beautifully shot” with a story set “within the context of contemporary online anomie and a broader debate about chance versus causality” and mega-fansite iHorror named it Best Horror Sleeper of 2014.

The film we will discuss with Olly is Spike Lee's Crooklyn (1994).

Olly Blackburn

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Alex Keledjian

Alex Keledjian is the creator of Project Greenlight, a documentary television series where executive producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck gave first-time filmmakers a chance to direct their first feature film. In 2018, Alex wrote and directed the film High Voltage starring David Arquette and Luke Wilson.

Ryan Gibson

Ryan Gibson is an Emmy-award winning producer of such films as the critically acclaimed Woe and the upcoming film Slotherhouse. He has worked for over twenty years in all aspects of film development and production.

HBO Max will stream the latest season of the Emmy-nominated TV series Project Greenlight from executive producer Issa Rae and Miramax Television in January 2023.

How I Got Greenlit

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Credits

Alex Keledjian, Host

Ryan Gibson, Host

Edgar Camey, Audio Editor

Pete Musto, Editor

Robert Cappadona, Producer

Jeremiah Tittle, Producer

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