A week after its worldwide debut, "American Teen" is already an award winner.
At the Sundance Film Festival award ceremony Saturday night in the American category, director Nanette Burstein won best documentary director for "American Teen.""American Teen," the documentary filmed at Warsaw Community High School during the 2005-06 school year, was picked up earlier this week by movie studio Paramount Vantage. The studio bought the North American distribution rights for the film for $1 million.
"We sold the movie to Paramount Vantage, which is amazing because they only make seven to nine movies a year," said "American Teen" producer Jordan Roberts in a telephone interview this morning. Paramount is also responsible for multi-award winning films like "No Country For Old Men."
Burstein's director award is like a "cherry on the cake," Roberts said. The award is not only a testament to Burstein, he said, but to the film itself.
At the Sundance Film Festival, "American Teen" had a "ton of buzz," Roberts said. They weren't expecting any awards as many of the films and documentaries were very political and covered topics ranging from alternative fuels to Hurricane Katrina. To be included among those films, Roberts said, was great.
Audiences responded well to the film at Sundance and to the WCHS teens in the movie, Roberts said. In 'American Teen,' while many WCHS students appear in the film, the lead subjects are Megan Krizmanich, Colin Clemens, Hannah Bailey and Jacob Tusing. The cast and WCHS Assistant Principal Jennifer Shepherd went to Sundance to see the film.
Asked when the movie will be shown in Warsaw, Roberts said it is something they're talking about with the distributor. There is no time table set, but Warsaw will get to see the film.
Roberts said, "I knew it was a great movie, but I didn't think it would be such a phenomenon. Jennifer Shepherd was a huge part of that as were the kids and their parents."
