Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck | |
|---|---|
 Fleck (left) and Boden in 2008 | |
| Born | Anna Boden (1979-10-20)October 20, 1979 (age 46) Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Children | 1 |
| Born | Ryan K. Fleck (1976-09-20)September 20, 1976 (age 49) Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New York University Tisch School of the Arts |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 2000–present |
Anna Boden[1][2] andRyan K. Fleck are an American filmmaking duo. The duo rose to prominence for their work on the 2004 short filmGowanus, Brooklyn, which earned the Grand Jury prize at theSundance Film Festival. They went on to collaborate on theAcademy Award-nominated filmHalf Nelson.[3] Their filmSugar (2008) was honored as one of theTop 10 for 2009 at theAmerican Film Institute Awards; and one of the Top Independent Films at theNational Board of Review Awards 2009. They are best known for writing and directingCaptain Marvel, which grossed over $1 billion and is one of thehighest-grossing films of all time, making Boden the first woman to direct a live-action movie that has grossed $1 billion.[4][5]
The duo received aPrimetime Emmy Award nomination as executive producers on the limited television seriesMrs. America (2020).[6] They are also known for their filmsIt's Kind of a Funny Story (2010),Mississippi Grind (2015),[7][8] andFreaky Tales (2024).
Boden was born and raised inNewton, Massachusetts, where she grew up with a love of movies, English literature, and photography. As a freshman in high school, learned of filmmaking as a medium when joined an upperclassman 'Intro to Film' class and wrote a report on filmmakerRobert Altman.[9][10][11] Boden studied cinema and English atColumbia University inNew York City, but took a year off after her junior year to participate in anAmeriCorps program in Seattle, where she helped develop a filmmaking course for students in theTalent Search program.[12][13][14][15]
Fleck was born inBerkeley, California, growing up there and inOakland. His stepfather played abackground poker player in the John Wayne filmThe Flying Leathernecks.[16] Fleck attendedCastro Valley High School andDiablo Valley College, focusing on theater, acting, writing and directing, before moving to New York to study film atNYU'sTisch School of the Arts.[17][11]
After returning for her senior year atColumbia University, Boden took a summer filmmaking course at NYU where she met Fleck, who was working in the film editing department at NYU shortly after graduating there.[15] The two bonded over the works ofRobert Altman[9] and, after Fleck had finished his thesisshort filmStruggle, they decided to collaborate on several student films and began dating.[18][15]
Together they made the short documentariesHave You Seen This Man? andYoung Rebels before they wrote and directed the short filmGowanus, Brooklyn, a sample feature aiming to attract potential financiers to their undeveloped script,Half Nelson.[18][19] The short won a prize at the 2004Sundance Film Festival and Boden and Fleck were subsequently invited to the Sundance Writer's Lab to receive professional feedback on theHalf Nelson film screenplay.[20]
The film did not receive adequate financing for years, with Boden and Fleck often returning to script revisions between other projects such as safe-sex shorts for the CDC.[14] Fleck later stated: "We were trying to get it off the ground so we had plenty of time to keep writing and rewriting. I think the time was valuable because I think we made it as good as we could."[21] He also had several disagreements with Boden while writing, though he claims their "back and forth" system of rewriting each other's work has always worked well.[21] Though Fleck was the only of the pair to receive directing credit for the film, he has gone on record and said that the work was an equal divide.[10] TheNew York Sun described the pair "partners in work and life", stating "They work as a genuine team, from script to finished product. Mr. Fleck directed the film. Ms. Boden produced and edited. Their official titles, however, conceal the fluid way they go about making films."[14]
In spite of the effort in making the script "as good as we could" prior to filming, Fleck encouragedHalf Nelson's actors toad lib and improvise, although he and lead actorRyan Gosling compromised many scenes in the rehearsal process as Fleck thought that Gosling's ideas were too different from the script in some cases.[21]Half Nelson was well received by critics; with Ryan Gosling's performance earning him a Best Actor in a Leading Role win from theIndependent Spirit Awards and nominations from theCritics' Choice Movie Awards,Satellite Awards,Screen Actors Guild Awards, andAcademy Awards.
Boden and Fleck have since co-written and co-directed the2008 filmSugar, which premiered at the2008 Sundance Film Festival, about a 19-year-oldDominican man who immigrates to the United States to play minor league baseball. The two wrote the screenplay after researching about many Dominican immigrants who arrive in America to play in minor league towns, saying: "The stories we heard were so fascinating that it became what we were writing before we'd even decided it was our next project".[22] They also collaborated on a screen adaptation ofNed Vizzini's young adult novelIt's Kind of a Funny Story, which was released on October 8, 2010.[23][24]
In 2012, the duo began work on agambling movie calledMississippi Grind. The idea for the film came when they visited riverboat casinos inIowa. By this point in their career, Boden and Fleck had fully committed to each other; "In the early days of our partnership we had to navigate a lot of issues concerning trust and ego. Nowadays, those issues are almost entirely gone. Having a creative partner who you can wholly trust is a wonderful asset."[25]
In April 2017, Boden and Fleck were hired to direct theMarvel Studios filmCaptain Marvel.[26] They were previously considered to direct another Marvel film,Guardians of the Galaxy.[27] ProducerKevin Feige said of them, "We met with lots and lots of people . . . and Anna and Ryan just had an amazing way of talking aboutCarol Danvers and talking about her journey. We want filmmakers that can help us focus on and elevate the character journey so it doesn't get lost amongst the spectacle."[28] The film was released in March 2019, and became a box office success, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. In May 2019, it was revealed they would direct the first two episodes and produce the television showMrs. America starringCate Blanchett asPhyllis Schlafly.[29] As of January 2020[update] Boden and Fleck were in talks to direct a MarvelDisney+ series.[30]
Boden and Fleck formerly dated,[31][15] however, contrary to popular belief they are not a married couple.[32][33] Boden was pregnant at the time ofMississippi Grind's release.[34] Boden isJewish.[35]
| Year | Title | Directors | Writers | Producers | Editors | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Half Nelson | Ryan Fleck | Yes | Anna Boden | Anna Boden | [36][37] |
| 2008 | Sugar | Yes | Yes | Executive | Anna Boden | [38] |
| 2009 | Children of Invention | No | No | No | Anna Boden | [39][40] |
| 2010 | It's Kind of a Funny Story | Yes | Yes | No | Anna Boden | |
| 2015 | Mississippi Grind | Yes | Yes | No | Anna Boden | [7][8][41] |
| 2019 | Captain Marvel | Yes | Yes | No | No | [4][42] |
| 2024 | Freaky Tales | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | [43] |
| Year | Title | Directors | Writers | Executive producers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | In Treatment | Ryan Fleck | No | No | 7 episodes |
| 2011 | The Big C | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | 30 for 30 | Ryan Fleck | No | Anna Boden | Episode: "The Day the Series Stopped" |
| 2014–2015 | Looking | Ryan Fleck | No | No | 3 episodes |
| The Affair | Yes | No | No | 4 episodes[2] | |
| 2016–2017 | Billions | Yes | No | No | 3 episodes[2] |
| 2017 | Room 104 | Yes | Yes | No | Episode: "Red Tent" |
| 2020 | Mrs. America | Yes | No | Yes | 4 episodes[2] |
| 2024 | Masters of the Air | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
| TBA | Criminal | Yes | No | No | 4 episodes |
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