Gwen Shlam's Blog: Obituary: Gary Winick

Visionary film-maker at the forefront of American cinema's digital revolution

The director and producer Gary Winick, who has died of brain cancer aged 49, was at the forefront of American cinema's adoption of digital video (DV), along with more high-profile names such as Steven Soderbergh and David Fincher. Winick believed that the discreet, lightweight equipment involved, and the flexibility it afforded film-makers, could lead to more direct and emotionally authentic movies, citing "the intimacy that occurs with the actors because of the small cameras". His own work, notably the 2002 coming-of-age story Tadpole, provided some persuasive evidence. His DV-oriented production company, InDigEnt (Indpendent Digital Entertainment), gave others the funds and encouragement to experiment for themselves. While he insisted on preparation and professionalism ("Don't think that going digital means you can just 'wing it'," he advised newcomers), spontaneity lay at the heart of his approach: "One of the things I always say is: you just gotta go out and do it, you can't wait for the right time. Nine times out of 10 if you just go out and do it, good things will happen."

He was born in New York City to Alan and Penny Winick. He graduated from Tufts University, Massachusetts, in 1984, before gaining degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the American Film Institute, Los Angeles. In 1986 he edited Carl Franklin's short film Punk before writing and directing five features of his own which gave him experience but brought scant attention. Curfew (1989) and Out of the Rain (1991) were little-seen thrillers, the former so violent that it suffered censorship and certification problems in the UK.

His subsequent movies hinted at a more contemplative sensibility that would emerge in his later work. Sweet Nothing (1995), The Tic Code (1999) and Sam the Man (2001) ? films which tackled, respectively, crack addiction, Tourette syndrome and the life of a blocked, adulterous novelist ? had their defenders among critics, but never found an audience in the crowded marketplace of independent cinema.

By the late 1990s, Winick had caught a glimpse of the digital dawn, and felt invigorated by what he saw. While The Tic Code languished on the shelf awaiting a distributor, Winick went with its cinematographer, Wolfgang Held, to see Thomas Vinterberg's international success Festen (The Celebration). This 1998 drama adhered to the purist stipulations of the Dogme 95 manifesto that Vinterberg had drawn up with three fellow Danish directors, and was shot entirely on DV.

"After the movie ended we couldn't stop talking about how wonderful it was," Winick recalled, "and how liberating digital video must be. We thought about how John Cassavetes worked in the 1960s and 1970s. His films were all about truth of character and setting, and we thought that if he were around now, he'd probably be a big fan of DV. The collaboration Cassavetes had with his actors, the moments he found, were so intimate and truthful. Digital video lends itself to that perfectly."

Winick launched the New York-based InDigEnt in 1999 with financing from the Independent Film Channel and an agreement to produce 10 digital features on minimal budgets. "I wanted this movement to be like the French New Wave," he said, "in which directors told different types of stories and used the language of cinema a little differently, with smaller cameras on real locations."

Early fruits included Richard Linklater's tense chamber-piece Tape (2001), and debut films from actors-turned-directors ? The Anniversary Party (2001), which starred its writer-producer-director team, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming, and Ethan Hawke's Chelsea Walls (2002), with Uma Thurman and Kris Kristofferson. The films faced accusations of self-indulgence, but Winick considered The Anniversary Party in particular to be a turning point because "it was the first film where you had movie stars in a DV film, and I think audiences really didn't distinguish between DV and 35mm".

Winick's own first film under the InDigEnt banner testified to the commercial and artistic potential of DV for US audiences. Made for just $150,000, Tadpole was a Graduate-inspired comedy about a self-consciously intellectual, Voltaire-quoting 15-year-old (Aaron Stanford) yearning after his stepmother (Sigourney Weaver) while also involved with her best friend (Bebe Neuwirth). Its premiere in competition at the 2002 Sundance film festival was followed by a best director prize for Winick and a $5m acquisition by the distributor Miramax. (Less remarked upon was InDigEnt's bold profit-sharing structure, which ensured that Tadpole's crewmembers received substantial payouts.) It was a banner year for InDigEnt at Sundance for another reason: Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity, also produced by the company, won two awards including the coveted grand jury prize. In 2003, InDigEnt's drama Pieces of April earned an Oscar nomination for one of its stars, Patricia Clarkson.

By this time, Winick was moving into the mainstream. His light touch and evident compassion made 13 Going On 30 (2004), starring Jennifer Garner as an adolescent who wakes up in an adult body, better than the average popcorn romcom. Nevertheless, he was perturbed by the sudden rise in production costs represented by the new film's multi-million-dollar budget. "It is incredible when you look at the excess money on a big-scale production such as 13 Going On 30," he reflected. "I said to [the film's producer] Joe Roth, 'You know, you could make 111 InDigEnt films for one 13 Going On 30' and he said, 'Yeah but 111 InDigEnt films wouldn't make as much money as one 13 Going On 30.' It is big business and they've worked it out and although they have excess money and it feels wasteful to me, it obviously is not to them."

The remainder of Winick's career was devoted to movies aimed squarely at the multiplexes. He made an effects-laden, live-action adaptation of EB White's children's novel Charlotte's Web (2006), with a voice cast headed by Julia Roberts, and the comedy Bride Wars (2009), starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson. His last film, completed after undergoing surgery for brain cancer, was the romantic road movie Letters to Juliet (2010).

InDigEnt continued to back unorthodox projects, such as the award-winning Starting Out in the Evening (2007) and Steve Buscemi's dark comedy Lonesome Jim (2005). Box-office rewards proved sporadic. "I think we are pushing the medium," Winick said. "But is it out there in the mainstream? Not yet, because obviously these stories unfortunately don't lend themselves to a big market. But I think for film-makers and people who go to films and want to see something different, we have definitely achieved that goal."

Winick is survived by his parents and his fiancee, Emily McDonnell.

? Gary Scott Winick, film producer and director, born 31 March 1961; died 27 February 2011

Ryan Gilbey

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds