Irish filmmaker Kirsten Sheridan is preparing to cast her fourth feature film, ‘Mooch’ which she hopes to begin shooting next year.
An adaptation of Dan Fante’s cult US novel of the same name, ‘Mooch’, tells the story of Bruno Dante who is attending AA when he goes back on the mooch, selling computer-printer supplies for a telemarketing company staffed by a motley crew of ex-addicts.
There, he meets former gang-banger, lap-dancer and crack-head, Jimmi Valiente, a beautiful new employee. Bruno puts his job and sobriety on the line as he tries to get Jimmi to fall in love with him, even as she begins doing drugs again.
Sheridan has described the film as her first “indie-American, edgy film”. The feature has been in development at Dublin-based production company Subotica for some time and is planned as a co-production with Hollywood producer Michele Weisler whose recent credits include the upcoming Clint Eastwood movie ‘Trouble with the Curve’.
Author Dan Fante has drafted a script for ‘Mooch’ with actor Danny DeVito.
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Sheridan was speaking following a well-received screening of her latest movie ‘Dollhouse’ at The Light House cinema in Dublin, which was organised by the Irish Film & Television Academy.
‘Dollhouse’, which will be released in Irish cinemas on December 7, is being launched as the first feature film from The Factory, a filmmakers collective in Dublin, which was formed in 2010 by John Carney (Once), Lance Daly (Kisses) and Sheridan.
The film is described as exploring “a night in the life of a group of street teens from Dublin’s inner city who break into a house in an upper class suburb. The break-in quickly moves into a night of frenzy, driven by a series of revelations that will leave lasting marks on each of them, and resulting in an emotional conclusion that they will carry with them.”
Sheridan was joined during the post-screening Q&A by the film’s stars Seána Kerslake, Johnny Ward and Ciaran McCabe.
The director said that her motivation behind making the largely improvised feature was that she had wanted to make a “personal, small and intimate” film following her second feature, the big-budget ‘August Rush’, which starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Robin Williams and was released in 2007.
Sheridan also spoke about how the influence of directors such as Ken Loach on ‘Dollhouse’ in how she made the decision to hold back on revealing key moments of the movie’s plot to the actors until they were actually filming the scenes.
The director also spoke about shooting the feature in the Dublin-house owned by her father Jim Sheridan; the “intense six-month” post-production process and the setting up of The Factory with Carney and Daly.
‘Dollhouse’ will be released on December 7.
