Festival Predictions

2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Knate Gwaltney’s Cardboard Boxer

Published on November 11, 2014

The Rules of Fight Club. Do talk about this indie feautre. For his feature debut, first time director Knate Gwaltney choose a storyline that is more outrageous than everything he might have produced for the numerous series: Jackass films and television items included. Featuring Boyd Holbrook (who broke out big last year at Sundance with Little Accidents – see still above and might be at the fest with his own short, Peacock Killer), Cardboard Boxer went into production late last year with the young star being joined by the acting ranks of Thomas Haden Church, Terrence Howard, Rhys Wakefield and Macy Gray. On the tech side, Cinematographer Peter Holland (Drunktown’s Finest) lenses.

Gist: This follows a homeless man living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row who finds himself the target of a group of rich, trouble-making teenagers who are paying the underprivileged to fight each other.

Production Co./Producers: Night and Day Pictures’ Michael Roiff (Save the Date) and MJW Films’ Mike Witherill (John Wick)

Prediction: U.S. Dramatic Competition with an equally good chance in the Premieres category. Tribeca a possibility.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic). TBD (international)

[related]2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions[/related]

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).