in the US so far.
plumber by Melbourne's Jacobson brothers, was made with $500,000 counting.
made.
Co-directed by Faris and Dayton, who were "in love" with Michael studios that were keen to make it, provided major changes were made. The ping-pong went on for four years before producer Marc Turtletaub became fed up and wrote the cheque himself.
this film and mess with it and change the words," says Greg Kinnear, who plays father to a collection of oddballs including a "Thankfully we had John and Val.
They said, 'No, this is what we want to make,' and they stuck with that."
extremes. At one end are the studio films that get made no matter what.
At the other end are small, independent films that owe their existence to passion and luck.
independent heart could find some of that studio profile," he says.
"If you look back at films of the 1970s, there was very much an at that time.
It seems like the haves and have-nots; the gulf has gotten wider."
There are bridges that span that gulf, however. All the major studios now have divisions devoted to producing smaller, as Sundance.
That was where Little Miss Sunshine was bagged by Fox Searchlight, the boutique arm of the 20th Century Fox megalith, for $US10.5 million. The price set a Sundance record and put big smiles on the faces of the film's co-directors.
Before diving into the uncertainties of filmmaking, Dayton and music videos for groups including REM, Smashing Pumpkins and Red Hot Chili Peppers. They don't hide the fact they had barely any idea of what they were in for.
"We had very little awareness of the studio system or, for that matter, independent film," Dayton says.
"We had never been to Sundance. I'm embarrassed to say that. We really came at this from a very simple point of view, which was how to create the right conditions for this film to be made.
"
Passion for the project was crucial, but so was luck, including casting the film with all their first choices.
to play grandpa, she said, 'Oh my God, this project is charmed!' " Faris says.
"And it did feel like that. It felt like, after all of the heartache of trying to get the movie made, once we got the money, it felt like everything really did fall into place."
could ever encounter.
"
a yin-yang experience.
"We were never willing to make the wrong version of the movie," Faris says. "We [were pressured to cast] a big comedic star to play Richard, somebody who they could sell the whole movie on.
But that would have thrown the whole ensemble off."
question, including the swearing and grandfather sharing a motel bedroom with his grand-daughter and using heroin. Dayton recalls a studio asking, "Could you change it to a softer drug?
"
Thanks to the financing fluke, they didn't have to change a thing. Faris says another big piece of luck came from working with the film's five producers for four years.
"We basically got final cut on the movie," she says.
"For first-time feature directors, that's kind of unheard of. The us. Trust is not something studios are built on.
"
it has to a studio - "we've had the best of both worlds," Faris says.
"platform" release, being released gradually "to allow word-of-mouth to build, rather than this big blitzkrieg ad campaign where you feel like you're being sold on something. [As with 2004's into it.
"
The couple now plan on sticking with film.
here," Dayton says. "To keep it small and to only do something if we really love it.
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