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Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

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Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Fleck (left) and Boden in 2008
Born
Anna Boden

(1979-10-20) October 20, 1979 (age 45)
Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2000–present
Children1
Born
Ryan K. Fleck

(1976-09-20) September 20, 1976 (age 48)
Berkeley, California, U.S.
Alma materNew York University Tisch School of the Arts
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2000–present

Anna Boden[1][2] and Ryan K. Fleck are an American filmmaking duo. The duo rose to prominence for their work on the 2004 short film Gowanus, Brooklyn, which earned the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. They went on to collaborate on the Academy Award-nominated film Half Nelson.[3] Their film Sugar (2008) was honored as one of the Top 10 for 2009 at the American Film Institute Awards; and one of the Top Independent Films at the National Board of Review Awards 2009. They are best known for writing and directing Captain Marvel, which grossed over $1 billion and is one of the highest-grossing films of all time; which made Boden the first woman to direct a live-action movie that has grossed $1 billion.[4][5]

The duo received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as executive producers on the limited television series Mrs. America (2020).[6] They are also known for their films It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010), Mississippi Grind (2015),[7][8] Captain Marvel (2019) and Freaky Tales (2024).

Early life

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Boden was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, where she grew up with a love of movies, English literature, and photography. As a freshman in high school, learned of filmmaking as a medium when joined an upperclassman 'Intro to Film' class and wrote a report on filmmaker Robert Altman.[9][10][11] Boden studied cinema and English at Columbia University in New York City, but took a year off after her junior year to participate in an AmeriCorps program in Seattle, where she helped develop a filmmaking course for students in the Talent Search program.[12] [13][14][15]

Fleck was born in Berkeley, California, growing up there and in Oakland. His stepfather played a background poker player in the John Wayne film The Flying Leathernecks.[16] Fleck attended Diablo Valley College, focusing on theater, acting, writing and directing, before moving to New York to study film at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.[17][11]

After returning for her senior year at Columbia University, Boden took a summer filmmaking course at NYU where she met Fleck, who was working in the film editing department at NYU shortly after graduating there.[15] The two bonded over the works of Robert Altman[9] and, after Fleck had finished his thesis short film Struggle, they decided to collaborate on several student films and began dating.[18][15]

Career

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Together they made the short documentaries Have You Seen This Man? and Young Rebels before they wrote and directed the short film Gowanus, Brooklyn, a sample feature aiming to attract potential financiers to their undeveloped script, Half Nelson.[18][19] The short won a prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and Boden and Fleck were subsequently invited to the Sundance Writer's Lab to receive professional feedback on the Half Nelson film screenplay.[20]

The film did not receive adequate financing for years, with Boden and Fleck often returning to script revisions in-between other projects such as safe-sex shorts for the CDC.[14] Fleck later stated: "We were trying to get it off the ground so we had plenty of time to keep writing and rewriting. I think the time was valuable because I think we made it as good as we could."[21] He also had several disagreements with Boden while writing; though he claims their "back and forth" system of rewriting each other's work has always worked well.[21] Though Fleck was the only of the pair to receive directing credit for the film, he has gone on record and said that the work was an equal divide.[10] The New York Sun described the pair "partners in work and life", stating "They work as a genuine team, from script to finished product. Mr. Fleck directed the film. Ms. Boden produced and edited. Their official titles, however, conceal the fluid way they go about making films."[14]

In spite of the effort in making the script "as good as we could" prior to filming, Fleck encouraged Half Nelson's actors to ad lib and improvise, although he and lead actor Ryan Gosling compromised many scenes in the rehearsal process as Fleck thought that Gosling's ideas were too different from the script in some cases.[21] Half Nelson was well received by critics; with Ryan Gosling's performance earning him a Best Actor in a Leading Role win from the Independent Spirit Awards and nominations from the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Satellite Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Academy Awards.

Boden and Fleck have since co-written and co-directed the 2008 film Sugar, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, about a 19-year-old Dominican man who immigrates to the United States to play minor league baseball. The two wrote the screenplay after researching about many Dominican immigrants who arrive in America to play in minor league towns, saying: "The stories we heard were so fascinating that it became what we were writing before we'd even decided it was our next project".[22] They also collaborated on a screen adaptation of Ned Vizzini's young adult novel It's Kind of a Funny Story, which was released on October 8, 2010.[23][24]

In 2012, the duo began work on a gambling movie called Mississippi Grind. The idea for the film came when they would visit riverboat casinos in Iowa. By this point in their career, Boden and Fleck had fully committed to each other, "In the early days of our partnership we had to navigate a lot of issues concerning trust and ego. Nowadays, those issues are almost entirely gone. Having a creative partner who you can wholly trust is a wonderful asset."[25]

In April 2017, Boden and Fleck were hired to direct the Marvel Studios film Captain Marvel.[26] They were previously considered to direct another Marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy.[27] Producer Kevin Feige said of them, "We met with lots and lots of people... and Anna and Ryan just had an amazing way of talking about Carol Danvers and talking about her journey... We want filmmakers that can help us focus on and elevate the character journey so it doesn't get lost amongst the spectacle."[28] The film was released in March 2019, and became a box office success, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. In May 2019, it was revealed they would direct the first two episodes and produce the television show Mrs. America starring Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly.[29] As of January 2020 Boden and Fleck were in talks to direct a Marvel Disney+ series.[30]

Personal life

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Boden and Fleck formerly dated,[31][15] however, contrary to popular belief they are not a married couple (though multiple sources[32][33] continue to erroneously report it). Boden was pregnant at the time of Mississippi Grind's release.[34] Boden is Jewish.[35]

Filmography

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Film

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Anna Boden

Year Title Director Writer Producer Editor Ref.
2006 Half Nelson No Yes Yes Yes [36][37]
2008 Sugar Yes Yes Executive Yes [38]
2009 Children of Invention No No No Yes [39][40]
2010 It's Kind of a Funny Story Yes Yes No Yes
2015 Mississippi Grind Yes Yes No Yes [7][8][41]
2019 Captain Marvel Yes Yes No No [4][42]
2024 Freaky Tales Yes Yes Yes No [43]

Ryan Fleck

Year Title Director Writer Ref.
2006 Half Nelson Yes Yes [36]
2008 Sugar Yes Yes [38]
2010 It's Kind of a Funny Story Yes Yes
2015 Mississippi Grind Yes Yes [7][8][41]
2019 Captain Marvel Yes Yes [4][42]
2024 Freaky Tales Yes Yes [43]

Television

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Anna Boden

Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer 		Notes
2011 The Big C Yes No No 2 episodes
2014 30 for 30 No No Yes Episode: "The Day the Series Stopped"
2014–2015 The Affair Yes No No 4 episodes [2]
2016–2017 Billions Yes No No 3 episodes [2]
2017 Room 104 Yes Yes No Episode: "Red Tent"
2020 Mrs. America Yes No Yes 4 episodes [2]
2024 Masters of the Air Yes No No 2 episodes

Ryan Fleck

Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer 		Notes
2009 In Treatment Yes No No 7 episodes
2011 The Big C Yes No No 2 episodes
2014 30 for 30 Yes No No Episode: "The Day the Series Stopped"
2014–2015 Looking Yes No No 3 episodes
The Affair Yes No No 4 episodes
2016–2017 Billions Yes No No 3 episodes
2017 Room 104 Yes Yes No Episode: "Red Tent"
2020 Mrs. America Yes No Yes 4 episodes
2024 Masters of the Air Yes No No 2 episodes

References

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  1. ^ "Anna Boden". TVGuide.com. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d viapiuser (December 16, 2019). "Anna Boden". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  3. ^ Harvey, Dennis (January 24, 2006). "Half Nelson". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c April 03, Joey Nolfi; EDT, 2019 at 12:57 PM. "'Captain Marvel' tops $1 billion at global box office". EW.com. Retrieved January 21, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "'Captain Marvel' Is the First Female Superhero Movie to Gross $1 Billion Worldwide". Yahoo Finance. April 4, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  6. ^ "Outstanding Miniseries Nominees / Winners 2020". Television Academy. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden Return to Their Sundance Roots With Mississippi Grind". Vanity Fair. January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Scott, A. O. (September 24, 2015). "Review: 'Mississippi Grind' Keeps Its Cards Close". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Van Bergen, Jamie. "A Good Team". DGA. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Tobias, Scott (October 8, 2010). "Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden". AV Club. Archived from the original on September 11, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Are Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Married?: Personal Life, Family, Children". Earn The Necklace. March 6, 2019. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  12. ^ "Directors' Bios Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck-Jovenes Rebeldes". Cinema Tropical. April 10, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  13. ^ "People In Film: Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden | It's Kind of a Funny Story". Focus Features. Archived from the original on March 2, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  14. ^ a b c Hope, Bradley (March 22, 2006). "Brooklyn Filmmakers Take the Lead". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d "Anna Boden '02 Wins with Half Nelson". Columbia College Today. August 1, 2007. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  16. ^ Wigon, Zachary (January 22, 2015). "Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden Return to Their Sundance Roots With Mississippi Grind". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "Interview with filmmaker Ryan Fleck - Pete's Popcorn Picks". Diablo Magazine. October 1, 2010. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Ross, Matthew. "25 NEW FACES OF INDIE FILM 2004". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  19. ^ Carnevale, Rob. "Half Nelson – Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden interview". IndieLondon. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  20. ^ Gent, A. "Half Nelson Q & A With Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden". IO Film. Archived from the original on May 27, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  21. ^ a b c Murray, Rebecca. "Exclusive Interview with Half Nelson Writer/Director Ryan Fleck". About.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  22. ^ "Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Sugar". The Reeler. January 15, 2008. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  23. ^ Sciretta, Peter (November 30, 2009). "Ryan Fleck's It's Kind of a Funny Story Begins Production". /Film. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  24. ^ Subers, Ray (May 19, 2010). "MPAA Ratings: 'Toy Story 3,' 'Grown Ups,' 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' & More". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 22, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  25. ^ Macaulay, Scott (January 24, 2015). "Five Questions for Writer/Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck about their Sundance Premiere, Mississippi Grind". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  26. ^ Kroll, Justin (April 19, 2017). "'Captain Marvel' Finds Directors in Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  27. ^ Kit, Borys (August 18, 2012). "James Gunn in Talks to Direct Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  28. ^ David, Erik (April 20, 2017). "Exclusive: Kevin Feige on Why Marvel Chose Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden to Direct 'Captain Marvel'". Fandango. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  29. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (May 14, 2019). "Sarah Paulson, Uzo Aduba, Rose Byrne, James Marsden Join Cate Blanchett in FX Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  30. ^ Kit, Borys (January 22, 2020). "'Captain Marvel 2' in the Works With 'WandaVision' Writer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  31. ^ A 'Funny Story' about two directors. The Los Angeles Times. October 7, 2010.
  32. ^ "Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck to Direct "Captain Marvel"". womenandhollywood.com.
  33. ^ Scott, A.O. (April 2, 2009). "Diamond in the Rough". New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  34. ^ Pritchard, Tiffany (January 25, 2015). "Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Mississippi Grind". Screen Daily. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  35. ^ In Woodys footsteps: Indie filmmaker pushes her boundaries and finds success. The Jewish News of Northern California. September 28, 2012.
  36. ^ a b "Half Nelson". TVGuide.com. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  37. ^ Dargis, Manohla (August 11, 2006). "In 'Half Nelson,' a Student Knows a Teacher's Secret". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  38. ^ a b "Tom Shone talks to Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck about neo-neorealism cinema". the Guardian. May 14, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  39. ^ Anderson, John (February 23, 2010). "Children of Invention". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  40. ^ Dargis, Manohla (March 11, 2010). "That American Dream: Scheme and Scramble". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  41. ^ a b Chang, Justin (January 25, 2015). "Film Review: 'Mississippi Grind'". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  42. ^ a b Scott, A. O. (March 5, 2019). "'Captain Marvel' Review: Brie Larson Takes a Trip to the '90s". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  43. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (November 16, 2022). "Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis And Jack Champion Among Those Joining Ensemble Of eOne And Macro's 'Freaky Tales' From Ryan Fleck And Anna Boden". Deadline. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
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