At Oscar time, we always hear about the Oscar experiences of all the actors and directors, we hear what they're wearing, but very rarely do we see what the Oscar experience is like for those nominated in such categories as Best Sound, the documentary categories, or the short film categories. I intend to change this as I present a special series of articles that will chronicle the Oscar experience of Lexi Alexander and her crew that worked on Johnny Flynton, so we can see what it's like to be a part of the biggest night of the year for the film industry when you're not Martin Scorsese, Nicole Kidman, or Jack Nicholson.
I was privileged to see Johnny Flynton at the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Alabama last year, and I was deeply moved by the film, and I had the privilege of briefly meeting Lexi and participating in a Q&A after the film. It was particularly noticeable for the film to return to Birmingham to be shown, as Lexi actually shot the film in Birmingham. The story of how the film was made is just as interesting. The original events actually took place in a small town in Germany. In search of locations and some local help on the project, she contacted Alan Hunter (former MTV veejay) and his brother Hugh who run a production company in Birmingham called Hunter Films. She said she wanted to make this film, and inspired by her passion, and their drive to get more films shot in Alabama, Alan and Hugh signed up as co-producers and the production was underway.
The film was shot in various small towns around Birmingham, and wrapped photography on May 19 of 2002. The film was the purest example of successful independent filmmaking, as the producers had to scrape support from everywhere they could. They had less than $100,000 to work with, but you certainly can't tell that from the final product. The film is beautifully photographed, and solidly acted and directed. It's a film which can stand up with any great feature film. Once the film was completed, it became the talk of various film festivals, until the ultimate triumph came last Tuesday, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Johnny Flynton, this labor of love for not only Lexi but so many other people involved in the film, was one of the five nominees for Best Live Action Short Film.
