Don't Give Up: A filmmaker looks back at the Sundance short that got his foot in the door

Guest Post by Tze Chun



Writer/director Tze Chun, whose credits include Children of Invention, Cold Comes the Night and ABC's Once Upon a Time, looks back at the short film that jumpstarted his film and television career, ten years later.

Ten years ago this weekend, I directed a short film called Windowbreaker. The budget was $600, I shot it in my childhood home, and the crew consisted of three people, including my producer Bryan Wilson, who also acted in the movie. The kids in this movie were kids my mom knew from the neighborhood. My mom acted in the movie. The lighting kit was $70 for the weekend. The other crew consisted of my girlfriend (now wife)'s little sister and her little sister's best friend. I rented expendables from the same suburban camera lighting rental place where I rented lights for my senior project in high school.

Tze Chun's Cold Comes The Night in theaters & VOD

Starring Bryan Cranston and Alice Eve



The indie thriller Cold Comes The Night, co-written and directed by Tze Chun, opens in theaters and is available on VOD on Friday, January 10. It's a cool little crime drama starring Bryan Cranston, Alice Eve and Logan Marshall-Green, about desperate people caught up in a desperate situation... and of course, a bundle of money. And it's been getting some great reviews. I've seen it, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

If you're in New York City or Los Angeles, you can actually check out a couple of screenings followed by Q&As with Tze (and co-writers Osgood Perkins and Nick Simon, or producer Mynette Louie). See below for the Q&A schedule. First, here's the trailer:

Sound and Fury Podcast Episode 14: Tze Chun

Happy New Year, podcast listeners! In honor of 2014, we are back with Episode 14. This edition features filmmaker Tze Chun, co-writer/director of the indie thriller Cold Comes The Night, starring Bryan Cranston and Alice Eve. The movie opens in select theaters and VOD on Friday, January 10, so I sat Tze down to talk about the film, his career, and the art of portraiture, among other things.

A crazy big thank you to everyone who's supported the show so far. To catch up on previous episodes, check out the archive. To stay up-to-date with future episodes as soon as they drop, be sure to subscribe. You can also find Sound and Fury on services like iTunes and Stitcher, where you can rate and review the show.

So without further ado, here's my conversation with Tze Chun:

Watch Tze Chun paint posters for Cold Comes the Night

Time-lapse video shows writer/director painting alternative posters for his indie crime thriller



Hey, movie fans. You'll want to know about this. The indie thriller Cold Comes The Night, directed by Tze Chun, and starring Bryan Cranston, Alice Eve and Logan Marshall-Green, opens in theaters this Friday, January 10. It's an awesome, well-acted little crime drama about desperate people in a desperate situation.

So check this... Tze is not only a talented writer and director, he's also a painter. Seriously. He painted a sweet portrait of Ryan Gosling that became the theatrical poster for the 2006 film Half Nelson.

To promote the release of Cold Comes The Night, Tze painted a series of four alternate posters for the film, posted exclusively by Paste. They're pretty badass. To top it all off, here's a really cool time-lapse video of Tze painting the posters, guided with layouts by art director Jeremy Cox:

Bryan Cranston stars in Tze Chun's Cold Comes the Night

Oh snap. Almost missed this while I was on vacation last week... For fans of Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, check him out in the trailer for the upcoming thriller Cold Comes The Night, directed by Tze Chun.

Alice Eve stars as a motel worker struggling to make ends meet. When she finds a dead body and a bag of money in one of the motel rooms, she and her young daughter are taken hostage by a Russian criminal (Cranston) who comes calling for the money. Take a look: