The producers of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer discuss working together to develop Yorgos Lanthimos’ biggest film to date and the Cannes’ Competition contender starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell.
Film producers Sam Lavender, Ed Guiney and Andrew Loew first met the director Yorgos Lanthimos six years ago. At that time, Lanthimos was still living in Athens, Greece. He then moved to London and decided to make a movie in English, The Lobster. This year, at the Cannes film festival, Lanthimos is coming with The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell.
The producers of the film reveal that Lanthimos is not only an extraordinary filmmaker but also a very dedicated and self-contained individual.
“In 2012 Yorgos Lanthimos pitched the idea to us, he presented a long treatment and the level of detail he went into was extraordinary. He had his regular designer designed the script cover that needed to be folded in a certain way and had to be printed out on a paper of the particular quality. Yorgos Lanthimos is very detailed and exact,” reveald Ed Guiney.
“The other thing that happened with the Lobster was when we started putting it together the cast came to us, and we had many people putting out their hands and wanting to work on the film. The arrangements with cast members were very egalitarian as how they will be paid. The breakfast room in the film was actually the breakfast room the whole cast dined at on the set, there was no special hierarchy or special treatments, ” added Guiney.
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
“Honestly, a great thing about Yorgos is that from the every first idea to the final film, the script does not change much”
We have gotten a page and a half pitch on The Killing Of A Sacred Deer which pretty much ended up to be the film we were making. The pitch was very formed in terms of the outline. It was very well thought through and had an identity.
“Honestly, a great thing about Yorgos is that from the very first idea to the final film, the script does not change much,” said the producer Andrew Loew.
Yorgos Lanthimos, the filmmaker of passion and deep thought
“One thing, I do think is important that filmmakers do when pitching projects, is to put context around it. It is important for the filmmaker to be full of passion and certainty about the movie he wants to make and be able to answer questions: “How is this film going to be different? Why is it going to stand out? Uniqueness is what makes the movie successful. You want to be brought to unique voice that is telling you something about the world you have not heard before,” concluded Guiney.
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer stars Colin Farrel and Nicole Kidman and it premieres at Cannes Film Festival on Monday.
Cast:
Colin FARREL – Steven Murphy
Nicole KIDMAN – Anna Murphy
Barry KEOGHAN – Martin
Raffey CASSIDY – Kim Murphy
Sunny SULJIC – Bob Murphy