Team Picture
Encyclopedia
Team Picture is a 2007
mumblecore
drama film
written and directed by filmmaker Kentucker Audley. The movie is as a character study of a young man and his relationship
with an ambitious girlfriend, his dealings with the familial and societal pressures to go to college, and his considerations of a future as a musician.
The filmmaker was named in August 2007 to Filmmaker Magazine
s annual list of "25 New Faces of Independent Film" and is considered an auteur.
It had its premiere at the Memphis Indie Film Festival on October 19, 2007, and was released on DVD by Benten Films on August 26, 2008, containing director commentary, a new epilogue to the film, a short by Audley and deleted scenes.
gave a mixed review of the film, summarizing, "Charming as it is, maybe like Jayasundara's film (The Forsaken Land), "Team Picture" isn't realism but rather a heightened Beckettian void". John Beifuss of Memphis Commercial Appeal praised the film, writing that it was "the richest and most assured local feature in the festival", that it "may represent the most promising feature debut for a Memphis filmmaker", and that the "movie's characters and situations are so recognizable and distressingly funny that they are likely to unnerve viewers who aren't bored by the film's lack of overt drama or puzzled by its home-video esthetic". Conversely, Jennifer Aldoretta of Technique
panned the film as "mediocre and borderline terrible", noting only that writer/director Audley was "the only one involved who seems like he actually knew what he was doing." Monika Bartyzel of Cinematical opined that the film, while "not for moviegoers looking for a fast-paced, tightly written story, Team Picture does have some charm as a sort of dead-pan voyeuristic look into modern slackers." Noel Megahey of DVD Times notes an autobiographical character to the film, noting that the film's lead character is played by the writer-director himself, and compliments by writing "its simple philosophy of taking time to find enjoyment is a sound one and it’s an honest sentiment that arises naturally out of the characters". Nick Dawson of Filmmaker Magazine
opined that the film felt intimately real, writing "Nenninger's is scarily familiar, eschewing overly crafted Hollywood patter for the often comical idiosyncrasies of everyday speech.".
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
mumblecore
Mumblecore
Mumblecore is an American independent film movement that arose at the turn of the 21st century. Filmmakers associated with the movement include Andrew Bujalski, Lynn Shelton, Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Aaron Katz, Joe Swanberg, and Barry Jenkins....
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by filmmaker Kentucker Audley. The movie is as a character study of a young man and his relationship
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
with an ambitious girlfriend, his dealings with the familial and societal pressures to go to college, and his considerations of a future as a musician.
The filmmaker was named in August 2007 to Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis...
s annual list of "25 New Faces of Independent Film" and is considered an auteur.
About the film
Team Picture is about the life of a young man whose interactions at an ordinary job and with his family are a stark contrast to his bohemian home life with friends. Fitting into the khaki pants and shirt tucked in demands of a job is an adjustment for a character apt to strum an acoustic guitar in cutoff shorts while wearing a straw hat by the backyard kiddie pool. The movie also deals with his romantic relationship with a girlfriend.It had its premiere at the Memphis Indie Film Festival on October 19, 2007, and was released on DVD by Benten Films on August 26, 2008, containing director commentary, a new epilogue to the film, a short by Audley and deleted scenes.
Critical reception
Michael Atkinson of Independent Film ChannelIndependent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
gave a mixed review of the film, summarizing, "Charming as it is, maybe like Jayasundara's film (The Forsaken Land), "Team Picture" isn't realism but rather a heightened Beckettian void". John Beifuss of Memphis Commercial Appeal praised the film, writing that it was "the richest and most assured local feature in the festival", that it "may represent the most promising feature debut for a Memphis filmmaker", and that the "movie's characters and situations are so recognizable and distressingly funny that they are likely to unnerve viewers who aren't bored by the film's lack of overt drama or puzzled by its home-video esthetic". Conversely, Jennifer Aldoretta of Technique
The Technique
The Technique, also known as the "Nique," is the official student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia and has referred to itself as "the South's liveliest college newspaper" since 1945...
panned the film as "mediocre and borderline terrible", noting only that writer/director Audley was "the only one involved who seems like he actually knew what he was doing." Monika Bartyzel of Cinematical opined that the film, while "not for moviegoers looking for a fast-paced, tightly written story, Team Picture does have some charm as a sort of dead-pan voyeuristic look into modern slackers." Noel Megahey of DVD Times notes an autobiographical character to the film, noting that the film's lead character is played by the writer-director himself, and compliments by writing "its simple philosophy of taking time to find enjoyment is a sound one and it’s an honest sentiment that arises naturally out of the characters". Nick Dawson of Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis...
opined that the film felt intimately real, writing "Nenninger's is scarily familiar, eschewing overly crafted Hollywood patter for the often comical idiosyncrasies of everyday speech.".
Synopsis
Erik (Kentucker Audley) quits his job at his step dad's (Greg Gaston) sporting goods store, mutually breaks up with his girlfriend Jessica (Shawna Wheeler) and meets a new girl Sarah (Amanda Harris). At a crossroads he decides to travel with Sarah to Chicago. His roommate (Timothy Morton) stays in Memphis to lounge at a baby pool in the front yard and perform at coffee shops.Cast
- Kentucker Audley as David (as [Andrew Nenninger)
- Timothy Morton as Eric
- Amanda Harris as Sarah
- Bill Baker as David's dad
- Greg Gaston as David's step dad
- Chellie Bowman as Hilary
- Shawna Wheeler as Jessica
- Terry Hamilton as David's Mom
- Dana Terle as Linda
- Cole Weintraub as McTyere
Additional sources
- Boston Phoenix, "Notes from underground: Celebrating independents at the HFAHarvard Film ArchiveThe Harvard Film Archive is a film archive devoted to cinema located in the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It maintains a collection of over 9000 films and related documents, and regularly screens films in its 210 seat theater...
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