independent producers Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell are launching a production company that will specialize in movies in the $10 million to $30 million budget range.
The "Blue Valentine" and "Half Nelson" producers have raised a multimillion dollar fund that will let Electric City Entertainment develop their projects.
But the plan isn't to develop a bunch of projects. It's to make movies.
"If we're developing it, we know how to get this movie made," Patricof told TheWrap. "And if we don't know how we're going to get it made, we're not going to develop it."
He said that by properly developing projects, the new shingle will find financiers.
"Right now we're in one of the greatest times for independent filmmakers," Patricof said. "If you have a great script and a great filmmaker and a great cast, you can get it financed."
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Their first projects include "Coward," based on Ed Brubaker's graphic novel, which David Slade will direct and Brubaker will adapt; "Hate Mail," written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden; and "Muscle," an HBO series that "Blue Valentine" director Derek Cianfrance is adapting.
They also are partnering with Tim Burton on "Big Eyes," a script written and directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
Their seven-member team also includes Crystal Powell and Katie McNeill, who will run the production department and Mark Tuohy, who will head development.
Patricof and Howell have secured financing for more than 20 films in less than several years. Their first, "Half Nelson," starred Ryan Gosling. They now have worked with Gosling on three projects.
Howell said that while they plan to make "elevated genre" films, that doesn't mean horror.
"We mean it in the sense that it's a drama, but it's a crime drama," she said. "It could be comedy, horror, thriller — any of it."
They recently wrapped production on "The Place Beyond the Pines," starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Rose Byrne.
Their offices will be in West Hollywood.