The Polish brothers
Encyclopedia
The Polish brothers are twin filmmakers named Mark Polish and Michael Polish. They began their film career with the 1999 Sundance
debut of their first feature, Twin Falls Idaho
.
The identical twin siblings wrote, directed and starred in the tale of conjoined twins
. Sony Pictures Classics
bought the rights for theatrical distribution of the film, which Janet Maslin
of The New York Times
said had "style, gravity and originality to spare."
Michael Polish, in an interview with Robert K. Elder
for the book The Film That Changed My Life
said much of his own inspiration came from watching Once Upon a Time in America
in his youth.
In 2000, the Polish brothers followed up Twin Falls with Jackpot. The story of a deluded karaoke
singer (Jonathan Gries
) on a tour of American dive-bars. It won the 2001 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award
and the 2001 Seattle International Film Festival
New American Cinema Award. The film was distributed theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics.
In 2002, the brothers were offered the opportunity to make a mainstream film. Instead, they began to put together the independent film Northfork
. When financing collapsed days before principal photography
, the filmmakers signed their house to creditors, and paid for their movie with personal credit cards. Starring James Woods
and Nick Nolte
, Northfork was chosen as an early selection by the Sundance Film Festival, and when the movie premiered at Sundance in 2003, Roger Ebert
called it "a masterpiece."
In 2005, the Polish brothers, along with producing partner Jonathan Sheldon wrote and released The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking
. The book, a how-to guide for first-time, do-it-yourself filmmakers, follows the filmmaking process and gives firsthand accounts of the Polish Brothers’ travails in making their films. The Library Journal said the Polish Brothers "write in a way that illuminates the details more clearly than most technical scribes."
In 2006, the brothers would team with Warner Independent
for their fourth film, The Astronaut Farmer
. The Astronaut Farmer is about a former NASA
astronaut
, Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton
), who has been obsessively building a rocket in his barn. Warner Bros.
released it wide throughout North America in 2007.
The brothers then shot two films back-to-back, just days apart while launching their new production company, Prohibition Pictures along with partners Ken Johnson, Janet DuBois, and Jonathan Sheldon. The Polish Brothers' fifth film, Manure (with Billy Bob Thornton and Téa Leoni
) began shooting May 27, 2008 (and was released at the Sundance Festival in 2009 as The Smell of Success
), and the Polish Brothers’ sixth film, Stay Cool
(with Winona Ryder
, Mark Polish, Chevy Chase
, Sean Astin
, Hilary Duff
, Jon Cryer
, Josh Holloway
) began filming in July 2008 (and was shown at Tribeca Festival in 2009).
In May 2010 the Polish brothers began filming For Lovers Only
. Said to be inspired by the French New Wave and Claude Lelouch's 1966 double Oscar-winner A Man and a Woman
, the romance focuses on a journalist Stana Katic
(Castle
) in Paris on assignment, who runs into a lover (Mark Polish) from her past. Presumably enraptured by reconciliation, the pair flee Paris and travel "by train, car, and motorcycle as their love affair takes them across France from Normandy to St. Tropez."
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
debut of their first feature, Twin Falls Idaho
Twin Falls Idaho (film)
Twin Falls Idaho is a 1999 independent film directed by Michael Polish, who co-wrote and co-stars in the film with his identical twin brother, Mark Polish.-Plot:...
.
The identical twin siblings wrote, directed and starred in the tale of conjoined twins
Conjoined twins
Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of...
. Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
bought the rights for theatrical distribution of the film, which Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said had "style, gravity and originality to spare."
Michael Polish, in an interview with Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder is an American journalist, author and film columnist.- Early life and education :A Montana native, Elder interviewed Ken Kesey for his high school newspaper. The author encouraged Elder to attend his alma mater, the University of Oregon, which Elder did two years later...
for the book The Film That Changed My Life
The Film That Changed My Life
The Film That Changed My Life is a non-fiction collection of interviews compiled by American journalist, author and film columnist Robert K. Elder...
said much of his own inspiration came from watching Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian epic crime film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime...
in his youth.
…Internally it speaks to me, as just a human, a person alone. I can watch this movie alone and be a fan. Whether a filmmaker or not, I can be a fan because it has so many symbols and situations that reflect life itself, growing up. Even growing up in the suburbs, you still have friendships the same way these kids have friendships.
In 2000, the Polish brothers followed up Twin Falls with Jackpot. The story of a deluded karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
singer (Jonathan Gries
Jon Gries
Jonathan Francis "Jon" Gries is an American actor, writer and director. He is also credited under the names Jon Francis and Jonathan Gries. He is known for his role in Napoleon Dynamite as Uncle Rico, and more recently as recurring character Roger Linus on Lost...
) on a tour of American dive-bars. It won the 2001 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award
Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award
The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award is presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000 by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers...
and the 2001 Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
New American Cinema Award. The film was distributed theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics.
In 2002, the brothers were offered the opportunity to make a mainstream film. Instead, they began to put together the independent film Northfork
Northfork
Northfork is a 2003 film directed by Michael Polish and written by Michael and Mark Polish. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2003 and later received a limited release in the United States on July 11, 2003. The film stars James Woods, Nick Nolte, Daryl Hannah, Anthony...
. When financing collapsed days before principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
, the filmmakers signed their house to creditors, and paid for their movie with personal credit cards. Starring James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
and Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
, Northfork was chosen as an early selection by the Sundance Film Festival, and when the movie premiered at Sundance in 2003, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
called it "a masterpiece."
In 2005, the Polish brothers, along with producing partner Jonathan Sheldon wrote and released The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking
The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking
The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking is a 2005 non-fiction book by Mark Polish, Michael Polish, and Jonathan Sheldon...
. The book, a how-to guide for first-time, do-it-yourself filmmakers, follows the filmmaking process and gives firsthand accounts of the Polish Brothers’ travails in making their films. The Library Journal said the Polish Brothers "write in a way that illuminates the details more clearly than most technical scribes."
In 2006, the brothers would team with Warner Independent
Warner Independent Pictures
Warner Independent Pictures was the specialty division of film studio Warner Bros. Entertainment. Established in August 2003, its first release was 2004's Before Sunset...
for their fourth film, The Astronaut Farmer
The Astronaut Farmer
The Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 American drama film directed by Michael Polish, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Mark. The story focuses on a Texas rancher who constructs a rocket in his barn and, against all odds, launches himself into outer space.-Plot:Charles Farmer is a former...
. The Astronaut Farmer is about a former NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
, Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
), who has been obsessively building a rocket in his barn. Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
released it wide throughout North America in 2007.
The brothers then shot two films back-to-back, just days apart while launching their new production company, Prohibition Pictures along with partners Ken Johnson, Janet DuBois, and Jonathan Sheldon. The Polish Brothers' fifth film, Manure (with Billy Bob Thornton and Téa Leoni
Téa Leoni
Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni , better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress. She has starred in a wide range of films including Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Deep Impact, Fun with Dick and Jane, Spanglish, Bad Boys, and Ghost Town.-Early life:Leoni was born in New York City...
) began shooting May 27, 2008 (and was released at the Sundance Festival in 2009 as The Smell of Success
The Smell of Success (film)
The Smell of Success is a Initiate Productions film directed by Larry Smith, starring Billy Bob Thornton and Téa Leoni, Kyle MacLachlan and Ed Helms.-Plot:...
), and the Polish Brothers’ sixth film, Stay Cool
Stay Cool
Stay Cool is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Ted Smith, and written by Mark and Michael Polish. The film stars Winona Ryder, Mark Polish, Hilary Duff, Sean Astin, Josh Holloway, Jon Cryer, and Chevy Chase.- Plot :...
(with Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...
, Mark Polish, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
, Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
, Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
, Jon Cryer
Jon Cryer
Jonathan Niven "Jon" Cryer is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer. He is the son of actress–singer Gretchen Cryer. He made his motion picture debut in the 1984 romantic comedy No Small Affair, but gained greater fame as "Duckie" in the 1986 John Hughes-scripted film Pretty in Pink...
, Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
) began filming in July 2008 (and was shown at Tribeca Festival in 2009).
In May 2010 the Polish brothers began filming For Lovers Only
For Lovers Only (film)
For Lovers Only is a romance film directed by Michael Polish, written by Mark Polish and produced by The Polish brothers and Sean O'Grady. The film stars Stana Katic and Mark Polish. The film was expected to be released in theaters in the United States in June, but eventually adopted an online...
. Said to be inspired by the French New Wave and Claude Lelouch's 1966 double Oscar-winner A Man and a Woman
A Man and a Woman
A Man and a Woman is a 1966 French film, written by Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, and directed by Lelouch. It is notable for its lush photography , which features frequent segues between full color, black-and-white, and sepia-toned shots, and for its memorable musical score by Francis Lai...
, the romance focuses on a journalist Stana Katic
Stana Katic
Stana Katic is a film and television actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Detective Kate Beckett in ABC's Castle.- Early life :...
(Castle
Castle (TV series)
Castle is an American comedy-drama television series, which premiered on ABC on March 9, 2009. The series is produced by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios. On January 10, 2011, Castle was renewed for a fourth season...
) in Paris on assignment, who runs into a lover (Mark Polish) from her past. Presumably enraptured by reconciliation, the pair flee Paris and travel "by train, car, and motorcycle as their love affair takes them across France from Normandy to St. Tropez."
Filmography
- Hellraiser: BloodlineHellraiser: BloodlineHellraiser IV: Bloodline is a 1996 horror film and the fourth installment in the Hellraiser series, which serves as both a prequel and a sequel...
(1996) - Twin Cenobite #1 (Michael) - Twin Cenobite #2 (Mark) (acting only) - Twin Falls IdahoTwin Falls Idaho (film)Twin Falls Idaho is a 1999 independent film directed by Michael Polish, who co-wrote and co-stars in the film with his identical twin brother, Mark Polish.-Plot:...
(19991999 in filmThe year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
) (Michael - director, cowriter, actor. Mark - cowriter, actor) - Jackpot (2001) (Michael - director, cowriter. Mark - cowriter)
- NorthforkNorthforkNorthfork is a 2003 film directed by Michael Polish and written by Michael and Mark Polish. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2003 and later received a limited release in the United States on July 11, 2003. The film stars James Woods, Nick Nolte, Daryl Hannah, Anthony...
(2003) (Michael - director, cowriter. Mark - cowriter, actor) - The Astronaut FarmerThe Astronaut FarmerThe Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 American drama film directed by Michael Polish, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Mark. The story focuses on a Texas rancher who constructs a rocket in his barn and, against all odds, launches himself into outer space.-Plot:Charles Farmer is a former...
(2006) (Michael - director, cowriter. Mark - cowriter, actor) - The Smell of SuccessThe Smell of Success (film)The Smell of Success is a Initiate Productions film directed by Larry Smith, starring Billy Bob Thornton and Téa Leoni, Kyle MacLachlan and Ed Helms.-Plot:...
(2009) (Mark only - actor) - Stay CoolStay CoolStay Cool is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Ted Smith, and written by Mark and Michael Polish. The film stars Winona Ryder, Mark Polish, Hilary Duff, Sean Astin, Josh Holloway, Jon Cryer, and Chevy Chase.- Plot :...
(2009) (Mark and Michael, cowriters) - For Lovers OnlyFor Lovers Only (film)For Lovers Only is a romance film directed by Michael Polish, written by Mark Polish and produced by The Polish brothers and Sean O'Grady. The film stars Stana Katic and Mark Polish. The film was expected to be released in theaters in the United States in June, but eventually adopted an online...
(2010, online; 2011, film festival release) (Michael - coproducer, director. Mark - coproducer, writer, actor) - Big SurBig Sur (film)Big Sur is an upcoming film, based on the autobiographical novel Big Sur by Beat Generation poet and novelist Jack Kerouac. The director is independent filmmaker Michael Polish...
(forthcoming, 2012) (Michael only - coproducer, director, writer)