- Social:
film and TV director
Sean Baker is an American film and TV director.
PROFILE
Sean Baker
Guest
FROM Sean Baker
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
‘The Florida Project:’ Indie film with the feel of a documentary “The Florida Project” takes place in a low-rent motel near Disney World. It follows the wild antics of a 6 year old and her friends who live there. We speak with the director, who likes to cast first-time actors, as well as the actress who plays the mom. The director found her on Instagram.
The Business
Director Sean Baker on 'The Florida Project' The new movie The Florida Project follows a six-year-old girl named Moonee over the course of one summer in a gritty community just outside the gates of Disney World. Moonee, played with panache by now seven-year-old Brooklynn Prince, spends her days exploring the world around the Magic Castle -- the bright purple, ironically named ramshackle motel where she lives with her young mom Halley. With no job and no prospects, Halley is a troubled woman desperate to provide for herself and her daughter, any way she can. Our guest Sean Baker is the director of The Florida Project. You might remember that his 2015 movie Tangerine, which told the story of two transgender prostitutes, was shot entirely using the iPhone 5s. For The Florida Project, Baker did some shots on iPhones but mostly used 35 millimeter film. He tells us why he wanted to use film this time, and how doing so helped inspire discipline on set. He also shares how he cast the trio of young kids who star in the film, and keeping them protected from the adult subject matter addressed in the movie. Baker also talks about working with Willem Dafoe -- the one familiar face in the film.
Recommended
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
What both sides of the US-Mexico border look like as migrants arrive The migrant caravan has started arriving at the border. Thousands are expected over the coming days in Tijuana, where there has already been violence between locals and migrants. North of the border, some 6000 U.S. troops have been waiting. We visit both sides.
Hollywood Breakdown
Awaiting judge's ruling on CNN's lawsuit against the White House CNN sued the president, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and others over the confiscation of reporter Jim Acosta's press pass. Other news networks--including Fox--have expressed support for CNN.
LA Observed
Where the fire started, a checkered past The Woolsey Fire continues to rage at a little more than a third containment today. Areas in, and north and west of, Malibu are feeling the brunt of the impact. But across the Ventura County Line, headed past Point Mugu, and toward Oxnard, is a plot of land that has a lot of history. And controversy. With fires burning inside the grounds of the former Rocketdyne Field Lab, some folks who live nearby are worried.