Rian Johnson’s Production Company Launches New Label, Will Produce Low-Budget Films From New Directors
T-Street, the production company founded byKnives OutandBrickdirectorRian Johnsonand his longtime producerRam Bergman, is expanding its reach.
Their production banner is teaming up with MRC Films, the indie studio that developed and produced movies likeKnives Out,Baby Driver,Ted, andThe Adjustment Bureau, to launch a new untitled label that will produce three to four low-budget movies per year from up-and-coming filmmakers.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, T-Street’sBen LeClairwill oversee day-to-day management on the new label, which is specifically designed to help emerging filmmakers get smaller movies made and out into the world.
“We’ve experienced the importance of having partners like MRC who understand and protect a filmmaker’s vision, and that becomes all the more crucial when you’re navigating these waters for the first or second time,” Johnson and Bergman said in a joint statement. “For us, this is about finding and working with great people as much as it is about making great films.”
This is a perfect example of what can happen when someone in a position of power has an active interest in blowing up the gatekeeping culture that’s been a part of Hollywood since its inception, and instead goes out of his way to reach down and help pull people up in a dog-eat-dog industry. I know some people were disappointed when Johnson was announced as the director ofStar Wars: The Last Jedi, but directing aStar Warsmovie is exactly the type of thing that can launch a filmmaker into household name status and give them a level of clout they didn’t have before, which can then help bankroll future efforts like these. It probably doesn’t hurt that Johnson and Bergmanstand to make $100 million eachfrom their recent Netflix deal for multipleKnives Outsequels, either – that kinda cash can help fund an awful lot of low-budget indies, should they funnel any of it into this new label.
While none of these low-budget efforts have been put in place yet, T-Street is staying busy working on things like theKnives Outsequels, a spy series calledA Cool Breeze in the UndergroundthatBad Education’s Cory Finley is going to direct, andPoker Face, an upcoming case-of-the-week Peacock series starring Natasha Lyonne that will mark Johnson’s first big foray into the TV space as a creator/showrunner/director.
