It’s not the first time Topic Studios’ EVP of film & documentary Ryan Heller has taken a film he produced to Cannes. In fact, it’s not even his first time with a film directed by Michael Covino: their previous collaboration, “The Climb,” won the Heart Prize in Un Certain Regard at the fest in 2019.
But when Topic debuts its new film – the open marriage comedy “Splitsville,” starring Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Nicholas Braun, Covino and the film’s co-writer Kyle Marvin – in Cannes’ Premiere section on May 19, it will mark yet another high point in what has been a remarkable year for Heller, who began his showbiz career as a guitarist with the indie rock band Aberdeen City.
In January, two documentaries Heller produced (“It’s Never Over: Jeff Buckley” and “Folktales”) received rapturous receptions when they premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and, two months later, Kieran Culkin won a support actor Oscar for a film Heller executive produced, writer/director/star Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain.”
While Heller is having a good year, he’s not immune to the uncertainty wracking the industry, which has been exacerbated by President Trump, who on the eve of Heller’s conversation with Variety announced that he was going to put a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films.
Productions are increasingly looking to shoot outside the U.S., where they can get cheaper labor as well rich incentives, and many are saying this is due, in part, to whatever wins IATSE and the Teamsters scored in their contract negotiations last summer. Have you noticed this trend? Is it affecting the way you choose your shooting locations?
It’s really impossible to generalize. The cost of making movies is high, and I think everybody is looking all over the world for all sorts of opportunities to get money up on screen. We’re shooting Jesse Eisenberg’s new [untitled musical comedy] movie in New Jersey. We made “Theater Camp” and “Shortcomings” in New York. So we certainly don’t actively try to [shoot outside the U.S.]. But the independent film business is quite a complex web of international relationships and incentives, and shooting locations are a small part of that.
When you took “The Climb” to Cannes in 2019, you had no way of knowing that the COVID-19 pandemic would force the fest to cancel the following year. How has your professional world changed since then?
Coming out of the pandemic, the independent films sector was a little slower to come back than others and certainly slower than we all would have liked. Casual moviegoing shifted. It was clear that audiences would still come out for something that was special or felt like an event to them or it really needed to be seen in a communal way. It’s probably just sharpened our focus on how we’re looking at our own movies and making sure we can really stand by those as communal experiences or sort of mini events.
How did “Splitsville” happen? Obviously, you had a preexisting relationship with the filmmaker.
We had a first-look deal with Mike and Kyle and their company, Watch This Ready. We developed a handful of scripts together, including “Splitsville,” and that script just came together in a moment where we felt like we had an opportunity to get the movie made before the end of 2024. It will be released less than a year from when we started shooting it last September, which is quite exciting.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
