Tyler Davidson Close-Up: Cleveland to Sundance

Tyler Davidson lives and breathes film. A successful producer whose credits include Swedish Auto starring January Jones (Mad Men), and The Year That Trembled, Davidson has established his company, Strange Matter Films, right here in Cleveland. A quiet man whose intelligence runs deep and whose full comprehension of the business of movies runs deeper, Davidson has positioned himself wisely at that ideal Tipping Point of cinematic success.

Thanks to Cleveland’s recently green-lit film tax incentive and his intuition for collaborating with the right people at the right time, Davidson’s new feature, Take Shelter, starring Academy Award-nominated Michael Shannon (Agent Nelson Van Alden, Boardwalk Empire) and soon-to-break Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life), has just been escalated to powerful recognition and distribution credibility: Sundance recently accepted Take Shelter into competition in its prestigious and highly selective film festival.

Adding further credence to the project, on the heels of the announcement of the Sundance lineup, Vanity Fair just named Take Shelter its “most anticipated film of Sundance 2011.”

“I read a lot of scripts, but there was something special about the way (writer-director) Jeff Nichols made this work as a satisfying drama and a frightening thriller at the same time. It reminded me a bit of Close Encounters of the Third Kind – how that film is a family-centric drama at its core, but with these elevated science fiction elements as well. I saw a little bit of Kubrick’s The Shining in there, too, which never hurts.”

When choosing where Take Shelter would be filmed, Davidson pressed for Cleveland, and with the Greater Cleveland Film Commission’s assistance, flew in Nichols to give him a sense of what was possible. Says Davidson, “We put 600 miles on my car in two days, driving around Northeast Ohio. Jeff needed flat treeless land and wide horizon lines, and we found both south and west of Cleveland.”

Additionally, the 25% tax incentive was instrumental to the economics of the production. Once this was secured and once Nichols was on board, everything else moved quickly. “We shot here this past summer with a very ambitious schedule. We had a lot of locations and a lot of characters, but not a lot of time. I’m amazed that we got through the shoot in one piece.”

Tapping into the Cleveland crew talent as well as hiring college interns from numerous N.E. Ohio colleges including CSU, Tri-C and John Carroll, the producer leaned on casting agent Lillian Pyles, who has also done local casting on C-Town movies such as The Soloist, Antoine Fisher and The Oh in Ohio. “Jeff was really impressed with the amount of good actors here.”

The journey from initial script interest to production and now to festival acceptance has been one year, an incredibly short time frame given everything that transpired during these twelve months. Nichols had a previous relationship with Shannon from his acclaimed debut film Shotgun Stories, released in 2007. According to Davidson, Nichols and Shannon “have a tremendous trust for one another. There’s a shorthand communication between them. Michael brings intensity to the set every day that translates into remarkable performance. He’s a great guy and a total pro.”

Building this A-team around the project is already shining its bright light. “I got the (Sundance) news from Nichols. It was unbelievable. The first person I told was my wife,” Davidson shared with a group of Tri-C film students, before generously taking time out of his busy schedule to listen and to provide feedback on their pitches and screenplays.

A family man who manages the work / life balance at a time his reputation continues to build, Davidson gives back to his community through film production that boosts cultural and economic development. He offers this advice to young Cleveland filmmakers: “Follow your dream and don’t be constrained by where you live. Your environment is what you make of it.”

As Davidson and Nichols put the finishing post-production touches on Take Shelter and prepare for Sundance, a big focus returns to home base. “Ideally, if they like it, we would love to have the film make its local debut at The Cleveland International Film Festival. That would be tremendous.”

Adds Davidson, “Premiering and positioning at festivals (like Sundance and CIFF) has become such a key part of the distribution process for independent films.”

Given the kind of movies the CIFF likes to screen, the producer’s history with the festival (Swedish Auto played as the Opening Night film in 2007), and his relationship with the city, CIFF seems like a natural fit for Take Shelter.

As Davidson begins the festival journey with Take Shelter, building his sales and publicity team, he keeps his eye on the final, desired goal. “Ultimately, the audience has to respond to it. That’s really the only thing that matters.”

Strong intuition, laser focus, a tremendous work-ethic – Davidson returns most of his emails within one business day – and the ability to work with people of all backgrounds, all the while anticipating viewers’ taste, position Davidson for long-term success in an industry that, while a century old, is still relatively new to this area. As the business model of content continues to evolve and as N.E. Ohio expands its cinematic presence, no doubt Davidson’s star will continue to rise. And, with Take Shelter, he’s launching Cleveland with him.

News and updates on the film can be found on the Take Shelter Facebook page: http://Facebook.com/takeshelter.

Alex Sukhoy, a globally-networked creative and business professional with nearly 20 years of corporate management experience, is founder and manager of Creative Cadence LLC, a growth planning, career development and original content agency. Alex teaches screenwriting at Tri-C and, in 2006, she was profiled in BusinessWeek.com. Her novellas, Chatroom to Bedroom: Chicago and Chatroom to Bedroom: Rochester, New York, are currently available on Amazon.com.