By Rachel Kalina
Dey's company, Silverwood Films, is based in Los Angeles, California, and "Half Nelson" was its second produced film to go to Sundance. "Stephanie Daley," a film due out in September that stars Amber Tamblin and Tilda Swinton, was the first. Silverwood is co-owned with Lynette Howell, who resides in England. Dey and Howell met through a mutual friend ‹ '74 MHS graduate, Michael Nostrand.
"It's an unusual start," Dey said of how Silverwood came about and ending up producing two films that went on to Sundance ‹ especially since he has a background in music rather than film.
Dey, who went to Manhattan School of Music, said he can remember participating in MHS school musicals by playing piano and helping backstage. According to Nostrand, Dey has been a close friend of his since these high school days at Malverne.
Although Nostrand is not an actor, he did shoot about 18 hours worth of behind-the-scenes footage for "Half Nelson," which was filmed over a period of 28 days in Brooklyn last June.
"I started in the business as an actor," Nostrand said, "I have been acting for 25 years. I have experience with TV, film, Broadway and commercials. When Doug got involved with Silverwood, he asked me to do odds and ends for them."
As to how Dey and Howell decided they wanted to take part in making "Half Nelson," Dey called it a "crapshoot." Silverwood is constantly receiving scripts, but picking any one of them can be a gamble.
"We knew Ryan Gosling was attached to it," Dey said of the "Half Nelson" script, "and that's what you want to see, someone of his caliber. He loved the script."
Nostrand also had good things to say about the actor, who plays a drug-addicted yet passionate teacher.
"Ryan gosling was terrific in the movie," he said, "and he was very articulate about what he does. He's very down to earth and a very nice guy. He lived in Brooklyn while we shot the film and walked to work; there was no movie star ego."
The entire experience of producing Half Nelson, especially in such a short time frame, seems to have been a positive one for Dey and Nostrand.
"When Doug and I first went on the set," Nostrand said, "I knew something special was going to be happening. I said to him, 'this is the calmest film set I've ever been on.' They're usually kind of chaotic. It was highly unusual that everything was running like clockwork."
Dey agreed with Nostrand's assessments, and said the entire process was "very collaborative."
"Being on time helps," he added. "We came in on time and under budget. In the independent film world you have more freedom. You're not working within the confines of the studio machine," Dey said.
Half Nelson has received two thumbs up from Ebert and Roeper, and while it didn't win a juried prize at Sundance, it did win the independent movie poll comprised of critics and journalists who attended Sundance on www.indiewire.com.
"The film has been getting rave reviews," Dey said. As a result, he said, "I think they upped the release from 70 theaters to 136."
Silverwood films currently has four films in development and hopes to start shooting one in Morocco.
Dey thought the movie's opening in the town where he went to high school was a bit strange, but he is pleased with the experience.
"Producing 'Half Nelson' was just a great experience from start to finish," he said. "It's really taken off and gotten a lot of great press. It's really put us on the map."
Comments about this story? RKalina@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
