It’s always exciting to see new talent emerge in the arts, and especially exciting to meet extremely enthusiastic artists. Writer/director Ryan Coogler’s debut feature film, Fruitvale, premiered at Sundance this year where it sold to The Weinstein Company. Now titled Fruitvale Station, the film has played Cannes, LAFF and other film festivals on its way into national release. The film tells the tragic story of Oscar Grant, a Bay Area ex-convict who was shot by police at the Fruitvale stop on the BART line on New Year’s Eve 2008. Coogler’s joy pierces through the tragedy when discussing bringing this story to life, while paying respect to the real life family who suffered the loss years ago.
CraveOnline: So you get to make your film, you get into Sundance, it sells and you even get to go to Cannes, but what is the marketing and nationwide release of your movie like?
Ryan Coogler: Oh man, it’s amazing to think about. It’s kind of surreal to think about to be honest because that’s every filmmaker’s dream, and especially with this project. I wanted to have as many people see it as possible. That was the whole reason I wanted to get into making this project was to tell the story and raise awareness about this situation, create a dialogue both internally and externally about this stuff.
And to go to a domestic film festival first that has released films that have influenced my thought process both as a filmmaker and as a human being, and then to have it acquired by a distributor that is so passionate and has such a reach, both nationally and internationally. Then to go to the international film festival that has platformed some of my favorite movies of all time, it premiered there and to come back and have it gear up for a nationwide release is very surreal. It’s intense. It comes with a lot of work and it’s been really rewarding so far.
The work part is what I’m wondering. It is a dream to get your film out there, but what about the mechanics of it has been surprising?
Right, no, it is. It is very surprising to me. I had no idea about this part of the process and about how this works, and I’m learning every day. It’s really, really intense. It takes just as much effort as actually making the film, which was something I was surprised about. You don’t hear about going and doing press junkets, talking to outlets. You don’t hear about that in film school. It’s been intense but I’m really grateful to do it and happy to do it, talking with these creative people in the media like yourself, they’re creators as well. They’re passionate about filmmaking and they have insight into your film that sometimes I didn’t even have. So it’s been really amazing, but it is very hard work, man. It’s very hard work.
After Sundance, when did talk about clarifying the title to Fruitvale Station begin?
It came up really shortly after The Weinstein Company acquired the film. As a distributor, it’s their job to get the film out to as many people as possible. What they want to do is they want to break down any potential barriers, any particular issues, anything that could keep somebody from engaging. They kind of flagged the title as something and that was something that we worked on. We went back and forth over a lot of things and to me it was very important that the title keep its integrity and keep its place in the community, and they respected that. That’s how we came to Fruitvale Station.
Were there any more drastically different title suggestions?
I think they kicked around some things, you know.
Do you have any posters that just say Fruitvale that are worth something now?
[Laughs] I’m not sure if our posters are worth anything. We definitely still have some of the ones that we took to Sundance that just said Fruitvale. I doubt they’re worth anything. [Laughs]
Will you go watch Fruitvale Station with audiences on opening weekend?
I haven’t thought about it. I’ve been taking it one day at a time. I’ll watch it tonight with the Los Angeles audience. I think that’s an awesome idea, to go out and see it with folks that are being introduced to it in that format, in the format of buying a ticket and going to see it at the local theater. So yeah, that idea sounds amazing. One thing that’s tough though is I’ve seen this film so many times, both through the process of making it and through this process right here. Because watching this happen to this guy is kind of emotionally draining for me still, that’s something that I think about.
Have you seen it with a Bay Area audience yet?
Have not. That’ll happen this week.
