Ponsoldt pitches Off the Black
Former Perfect Pitch winner goes to Sundance

By Martin Kelley
Editor-In-Chief

James Ponsoldt calls Athens, Georgia, home even though he's now a New York city slicker after getting his bachelor's at Yale and an MFA in directing from Columbia. His short films have enjoyed an impressive run in festivals around the world, including the Atlanta Film Festival, where Ponsoldt won the 2003 Perfect Pitch competition. He's now added Sundance to his list of conquests, as his first feature, Off the Black, premiered at this year's festival.

Director James Ponsoldt (right) shares a laugh with Nick Nolte and Sally Kirkland. (photo courtesy James Ponsoldt)

In the film, Nick Nolte plays Ray, a youth baseball umpire who also works in a wrecker yard. He endures the jibes of irate local fans in his umpiring gig, as well as powerful bouts of loneliness each night...which are spent alone watching baseball and drinking beer with only his dog for companionship.

After a close call results in a loss to their team, the star pitcher and some teammates seek revenge by trashing the ump's house. The young pitcher is caught in the act by Ray, who orders him to clean up the mess and make amends if he doesn't want the police—or worse, his dad—to find out. This difficult situation ignites a reaction between Ray and David (the pitcher) that evolves into a father-and-son-like relationship which fills holes in both their lives for a time.

The patient development of the story belies the work of a first-time feature director. Ponsoldt makes it look easy as he coaxes excellent performances from Nolte, Trevor Morgan, newcomer Sonia Feigelson, and Timothy Hutton. I was able to catch up with the busy filmmaker to discuss his experiences at Sundance and more.

CinemATL: What made you want to be a filmmaker?

JP: My family. My grandfather was an artist. He was a surrealist, though he made his living painting covers for books—he painted a ton of Agatha Christie covers—and my mom writes short stories. I was exposed to a lot of great movies and books and art when I was young. When I was four I decided I wanted to be a cartoonist and write stories. Sometime in high school I sort of combined the pictures and the stories and began making short films; I've been making them ever since.

CinemATL: Do you have any major influences or inspirations?

JP: My grandfather, William Teason. But besides him, I think I'm equally inspired by directors, artists, cartoonists, photographers, writers, and songwriters.

Nolte and Ponsoldt discuss a scene during the shooting of Off the Black. (photo courtesy James Ponsoldt)

CinemATL: What challenges were the most difficult in getting Off the Black made?

JP: Not having enough time or money—though every independent film faces those obstacles. I think time is the single most important thing...I would have liked to simply have an extra week to shoot the movie. The stress that comes with shooting six or seven pages a day is huge, and it requires you to prepare every single detail, because you can't afford to waste time. Also, and this is perhaps the thing that prevents most people from making a feature, it's not easy in the beginning when you're the only one who believes in your vision. When everything is done and you're on stage at Sundance it's great, but the years spent writing and rewriting, raising money, convincing people to help you...well, that can be a lonely, challenging time. Making movies is hard. The best advice I ever got was this: if you can imagine yourself doing anything else, even for a second, do it. Filmmaking is for people who are addicted to movies.

CinemATL: You won the Atlanta Film Festival's Perfect Pitch in 2003. Can you talk about how that may have helped you along in your career?

JP: Winning the Perfect Pitch competition was wonderful in that it both gave me the confidence that comes with some kind of validation, and made me think that maybe I wasn't completely nuts for pursuing filmmaking. It also gave me a sense of community with other Georgians involved with the film industry—I've met so many great people with IMAGE, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the Georgia Film Commission. They're all so kind and supportive. It's easy to feel very alone in the film industry, and it's nice to have a peer group. Finally, forcing myself to pitch a story in front of a room full of people was surreal, but ultimately very helpful. You constantly have to pitch your stories in some way or another, and love it or hate it, it's a good skill to have.

CinemATL: Being from Athens, do you have any plans to make films in the South?

JP: Absolutely. It's my dream. The first film I went to festivals with was a half-hour short called Coming Down the Mountain. It was about a family grappling with OxyContin addiction in eastern Kentucky ; we shot in Harlan and Whitesburg, Kentucky. And I spent the first 18 years of my life living and breathing Athens and Georgia, so I've certainly got some stories I'd like to tell there. Many of my favorite filmmakers make films regionally—John Sayles, Terrence Malick, Julie Dash, Ross McElwee, Victor Nunez, Alexander Payne—and I think the authenticity that is born from specific details is invaluable. There's no rule that says every film has to be made in Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto, or a suburb of Chicago...though you might believe that if you look at most studio films.

CinemATL: Describe the feeling of being part of the Sundance Film Festival. Has the festival experience been everything you expected?

JP: The festival is simply...overwhelming. There's just so many people, so many films, and such a corporate presence—whether it's studios, magazines, automobiles, vodka, or lotion—that it feels like half of Los Angeles has been crammed into a tiny mountain town. The vibe when you walk down Main Street is that you're being advertised to, or people want to sell you something, or in some cases—like if you have a film there—people want to sell you. It's easy to lose perspective at Sundance.

This all being said, there are so many wonderful movies—from all over the world—and my main goal was just to watch lots of films and meet other filmmakers. I had very little time during the first five days—most of our screenings and press took place during the first weekend—but as the crowds thinned out later in the week, I started watching four movies a day. It was wonderful. And I met some great people. Most importantly, it was mind-blowing to show my movie at the Eccles in front of 1,300 people and listen to them laugh and, in some cases, cry. Films are meant to be shared. And there's very few places where it's as exciting to share your film as it is at Sundance.

CinemATL: Was Nick Nolte's dog really UGA [the mascot of the University of Georgia Bulldogs ]? If so, can you talk about how you were able to attract a star of that caliber to your film?

JP: Nick's dog wasn't UGA, unfortunately. That being said, I was born and raised in Athens, I grew up in a UGA family—my father teaches at the university, and my sister goes to school there—so I was certainly conditioned to love bulldogs. And I went to [Yale] where the mascot was also a bulldog, so that pretty much sealed the deal.

Martin Kelley is a local screenwriter and filmmaker. He is a co-founder and co-president of the Atlanta Screenwriters Group. Martin's screenwriting credits include "Loaded Dice," "Behind the Nine" (Echelon Entertainment) and "Vicious" (M.T.I. Home Entertainment).

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