Natalie Metzger’s Latest Projects, and How Vanishing Angle Picks Them
Clockwise from left: Metzger, Robinson and Ehrenreich.
On June 17th, 2023, the small-but-mighty production company Vanishing Angle celebrated its 13-year anniversary. “We’re finally a teenager,” Metzger laughs. Natalie Metzger, Spirit Award-nominated producer and Vanishing Angle’s VP of Development and Production, is a name to watch—that is, if you aren’t watching already. Known for producing festival favorites like Thunder Road (2018) and Greener Grass (2019), Metzger—and Vanishing Angle—are staples on the indie circuit, returning to major fests every year with exciting new projects.
For proof, you can check out my earlier interviews with Metzger: at Sundance 2019, where we examined how she broke into the industry by producing low-budget award-winners; and Tribeca 2021, where we explored how Vanishing Angle champions indie filmmakers by prioritizing their voices. Most recently—in collaboration with her VA partner, president and husband Matt Miller—Metzger produced the Tribeca-hit It Ain’t Over, the Yogi Berra documentary released in theaters by Sony Pictures Classics; she also produced Margaret Miller’s Poof, a darkly-comedic short film that played in competition at Cannes (the only American short selected for this year’s festival). And, topping off VA’s run of birthday triumphs, the company had two films in Tribeca 2023: the feature film The Secret Art of Human Flight, a darkly whimsical exploration of grief, and the short film Shadow Brother Sunday, a riveting family drama about two brothers—one famous, one resentful.
What do these two films have in common?
“Unique visions and bold voices,” Metzger asserts. “That’s been our motto from the very beginning. And creating long-term relationships.” Although still a teenager, Vanishing Angle isn’t afraid of commitment. “We want to continue making movies with our friends. Building long-term careers and collaborative paths forward, that’s what makes us tick.”
Metzger oversaw The Secret Art of Human Flight from a distance. Produced by VA’s Tina Carbone and Ben Wiessner (along with Jonathan Lim and Grant Rosenmeyer), Flight was directed by idiosyncratic filmmaker/actor/musician H.P. Mendoza—whose credits include Colma: The Musical (2006), Fruit Fly (2010), Bitter Melon (2018), all cult successes. Metzger is proud that Flight is Mendoza’s first film with Vanishing Angle. “He is really the king of making unusual films economically. So it has been fun for us to help his technique grow into bigger budgets.”
Vanishing Angle is already in development on a new film with Mendoza, which will provide the filmmaker with more resources than Flight. “As a storyteller, he has such a unique tone, he rides a fine line between oddball humor and sincerity. I'm excited to see him continue to expand.”
For the moment, however, Metzger’s focus is on Shadow Brother Sunday—VA’s ‘other’ Tribeca premiere—especially because she produced it herself. Written and directed by one of its leads, actor Alden Ehrenreich (Solo, 2018; Cocaine Bear and Fair Play, 2023), this 35mm short is his directorial debut ... executive produced by none other than Francis Ford Coppola. (The master director has been Ehrenreich’s mentor ever since his debut feature film role in Coppola’s own Tetro, 2009). Metzger was understandably star-struck.
“It was amazing to have Coppola as a guide. And to be able to honor that mentorship that Alden has cherished.”
Their film explores the tenuous relationship between a successful golden child, Jacob (Nick Robinson) and his surly big bro, Cole (Ehrenreich). When Jacob returns home to celebrate a movie premiere with his family, Cole plots to sell Jacob’s laptop to the paparazzi.
So how did Metzger get involved? “Alden and I first connected through a mutual friend in 2019 when he was looking for a producer,” Metzger remembers. It turned out to be a good fit. “Honestly, I cried the first time that I read his script. I completely fell in love with the complexity of that sibling relationship. So often in real life, people actually do want to connect, but because they don’t communicate, they think the other person doesn’t want it. And that really spoke to me.”
Production took place summer 2020, sandwiched between splashy side projects: coming straight off his role in Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the 33-year-old Ehrenreich gained 20 pounds for Shadow Brother Sunday, then shed his extra weight in the following 10 days to shoot Marvel’s Ironheart.
“Alden committed so much to the short,” Metzger attests. “Both as actor and director. He even asked for extra for rehearsals. It was so important to him that the actors be together on location in the house, hanging out like a family for days before we actually filmed.”
As a result, the family drama has a totally lived-in feel—one could even call it Coppola-esque—where they all spar over everything from Cole’s attire to the compromise that comes with fame.
This celebrity insight—which surely was informed by Ehrenreich’s own experience—fascinates Metzger. “There’s this whole other layer of Shadow Brother Sunday where Alden explores the experience of overnight fame and the crazy press circus. And what all that means for personal relationships.” She laughs. “I also thought it was exciting that Alden also chose to play the role of Cole: the older, jealous brother … who’s kind of a loser.”
In her experience as a producer, she often finds herself drawn to less obvious choices. “When a script is as layered as this one, it’s incredibly rich to actually get to make it.” And now Metzger and Ehrenreich are putting together his debut feature. “Alden is currently revising the script. It’s not necessarily an extension of this exact story, but it’s set in a similar world.”
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As for Metzger’s world, it’s admittedly breathless.
Beyond non-stop producing, she also directs. Before her time at Vanishing Angle, she focused on directing documentaries; now, she’s moving into narrative, with a science-fiction bent. Her short film Sleep Study—which fuses the very real nightmare of sleep disorders with the surreal—shows at Indy Shorts this month (in a program with other Vanishing Angle Short Films) and is now available on Hulu. Her feature film Immortal, a sci-fi thriller co-penned by Robert Allaire about a geroscientist working on a cure for death, is adapted from her short of the same name; it’s currently in development with VA. And, most impressive of all, she just produced a newborn child (several months in development). According to her, he needs a bit more work before she’ll be ready to dive back into these other projects.
Literally and figuratively, Metzger and her Vanishing Angle team are family. In an industry so often reflected by the most caustic satires that it produces—see Robert Altman’s The Player, or Jim Cummings & PJ McCabe’s The Beta Test, produced by VA—Metzger and her colleagues provide a breath of fresh air. Even better, their family-first business model proves that when creativity comes before business, it can yield great rewards.
“We like to work with filmmakers on repeat because establishing trust helps everything else fall into place. No matter what project they may want to do next, we know they’ll bring their special something that will make it stand out.”
Essentially, Metzger teams with auteurs, and in return, VA does its best to provide the support they need. “As a producer, witnessing so many different artistic trajectories is fascinating. It further instills the idea that each film needs to be tailor-made.” Examples include Margaret Miller’s need for extra casting time on Poof, and Alden Ehrenreich’s need for extra rehearsal time on for Shadow Brother Sunday.
Creativity first? It’s enough to make filmmakers salivate. Which begs the question that surely occurs to so many: how can you get Vanishing Angle’s attention? While their website kindly disclaims that they don’t accept cold submissions—and Metzger corroborates the intensity of their current slate of projects—she also has some advice on how to make your own work stand out.
Or, wait—that is the advice. Make your work stand out.
“We usually get in touch with filmmakers through word-of-mouth,” Metzger explains. “One of us will see someone’s student film and be like, ‘Hey, you need to check them out.’ Or, ‘Hey, we just read this person's script and they're a really interesting person.”
Poof, Metzger’s recent Cannes premiere, was helmed by first-time writer/director Margaret Miller. Metzger found out about Miller—a playwright—through her collaboration with another writer/director already on Metzger’s radar: the hilarious Dawn Luebbe of Greener Grass. “Margaret and Dawn co-wrote a short documentary that we had at SXSW last year called ‘Dress a Cow.’ After that, we knew we wanted to work together.”
Another film in VA’s pipeline is an LGBTQ Zombie movie set in Bushwick, Brooklyn, directed by Tina Romero—the late legend George Romero’s daughter. “We were already telling people we don’t have the bandwidth to take on new projects. Our slate was completely full. Then Tina came along. And we read her pitch deck and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have to do this project.’ When it’s meant to happen, it happens organically.”
Indeed. A particularly organic example: one of Metzger’s former interns is now one of her writer/directors. “We have a film in development called Under the Lights with filmmaker Miles Levin, who was actually one of our interns. He asked for feedback on his script, and we really loved it and wanted to help in any way we could. Obviously that doesn't happen with most of our interns, but it was a special case where we connected.”
Now, before you decide to apply to become a Vanishing Angle intern (as a work-around their cold submissions policy), remember: positioning yourself isn’t as important as creating great work and connecting on a personal level. Another, much more tangible opportunity to link up with VA is through their Short Film Post Grant. “For short films that have already shot but need help in post-production, we have a grant that offers funds and connects filmmakers with our post-house.” The 2022 winner was No One You Know by Alice Charlie Liu.
How did Liu’s film win them over? “It always goes back to a unique vision and a bold voice, a story from a perspective that we haven’t heard. Of course that can mean so many different things—but that’s the exciting part!”
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