PR04 2023

And it is arguably the case that most producers shy away from risk, and only a few see it as breeding ground from which their work can grow - and a minefield for artistic discovery. One thinks of the late Ed Pressman, who gave American cinema some of its greatest moments over the course of his long career, by launching and accompanying the journeys of such young and risky unknown filmmakers as Terence Malick, Brian de Palma, and Oliver Stone to worldwide fame. Or Christine Vachon, whose courageous projects back in the 90s were crucial to the foundation of the New Queer Cinema in the USA .

Jen Gatien has always put her love of cinema and the art of storytelling ahead of all reason and financial risk since beginning her career in the late noughties. And like a rare gem, she is the one in a new generation of independent producers whose work lives up to the »Maverick« label.

In 2007, when director Deborah Kampmeier cast 12-year-old Dakota Fanning for her film »Hounddog«, a scene involving her caused a scandal. The juxtaposition of media excitement about a very young, new Hollywood star and the issue of sexual violence against minors culminated in a heated controversy. A ban on the film was demanded, theatrical distribution hardly possible. As the producer, Jen Gatien sided with the director and the young star, defending the film's artistic and narrative autonomy. The importance of enabling a filmmaker to realize their vision and making the decision to do so, even against her own financial interests, was put to the test with this – her first - major film.

Her next project was artistically almost even more risky – giving free rein to the “enfant terrible” of American independent cinema, Abel Ferrara, with a film without a script and bringing stars like Dennis Hopper, Grace Jones and Ethan Hawke in front of the camera. The documentary about New York’s legendary Chelsea Hotel became one of the most beautiful and sensitive films in the career of Ferrara - another New York legend himself.

From then on, Gatien has given impetus to American independent cinema with her projects whose stories always move on the fringes of society, nurturing new young talent both behind and in front of the camera. Pearls of soulful cinema have been created under her watch and wings. And stars were born. »Holy Rollers« gave young Jesse Eisenberg a breakout role. Paul Dano received critical raves for his role in »For Ellen«. Riley Keough shone in »Jack and Dianne«. And the debut feature of Xan Cassavetes, the daughter of John Cassavetes - the godfather of American independent cinema, premiered in Venice: »Kiss of the Damned«, an elegiac vampire film that returned the erotically charged genre to adult viewers in the teenage »Twilight« times.

Daughter of the iconic »Limelight« Club owner Peter Gatien, Jen grew up in the culturallly defining times of NYCs Nightlife artists and filmmakers. And survived its Giuliani-era gentrification. Her heart and core is Manhattan. Her distance from Hollywood only solidifies her inherent instinct for subjects that are firmly anchored in life - and in life on the fringes of society. In the tradition of producers like Pressman and Vachon, who also hail from New York, like the best auteurs, a common thread is revealed in their oeuvre – as Mavericks.