Entertainment · Film · 3 hrs ago
How Half Nelson Became a $700,000 Indie Success
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden made Half Nelson, which reached cinemas in 2006 as their feature debut.
They filmed it for just $700,000, and it went on to gross $4.9 million worldwide.
The story follows Dan, a middle-school teacher with an addiction, and Drey, the student who discovers his secret.
Ryan Gosling earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for playing Dan.
Before making the feature, Fleck and Boden developed its ideas in a short film called Gowanus, Brooklyn, which won a 2004 Sundance Grand Jury Prize.
That success helped clear a path for the feature, which showed how a small independent film could find an audience and earn major recognition.
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s 2006 film Half Nelson turned a $700,000 production budget into $4.9 million in global box office.
The film earned star Ryan Gosling his first Best Actor Oscar nomination.
Fleck and Boden developed the story around Dan Dunne, a middle-school teacher struggling with addiction, and his student Drey.
Before making the feature, the filmmakers made the short Gowanus, Brooklyn, which won the 2004 Sundance Grand Jury Prize.
The film followed a long effort to secure backing for the feature.
- Who
- Filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden made the film, starring Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps.
- What
- Half Nelson was an independent drama about a teacher struggling with addiction and a student who discovers his secret.
- When
- It arrived in 2006.
- Where
- The story is set around a middle-school teacher and student; the sources do not state the filming location.
- Why
- Fleck and Boden drew on flawed characters and themes of isolation and addiction, and on young people’s difficulty affecting change.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Fleck and Boden began writing the story.
Their short film Gowanus, Brooklyn won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize.
Half Nelson arrived in theaters.
- Production budget
- $700,000
- Global box office
- $4.9 million
- Release year
- 2006
- Sundance award
- Gowanus, Brooklyn won the 2004 Grand Jury Prize
- Oscar nomination
- Ryan Gosling received his first Best Actor nomination
1 source
What people are saying
The thing about not yet being a professional filmmaker is you’ve got time until someone greenlights your movie, so there was lots of time
[Dan] understands how history, politics and change work outside of himself but he can’t quite get it under control within himself.
We had this script but literally didn’t have anybody to give it to, so we made a short because that was something we did know how to do.
When we first started writing in 2002 or 2003, it felt like a lot of young people had all this energy but didn’t know how to affect change in the world around them