Movie Star

Bruno Ganz, Jean Seberg's Co-Star in "The Wild Duck" Dies at 77

Legendary film and stage actor Bruno Ganz, 77, died Friday, February 15 in his home in Zurich.  He is best known for his performance as Adolf Hitler in the Oscar-nominated Downfall

His film career took off in the 1970s, when he starred in "The American Friend", Werner Herzog's "Nosferatu the Vampyre", and in Hans W. Geissendörfer's "The Wild Duck" (Die Wildente) with actress Jean Seberg.  It would be Seberg's last film.

The tragic drama was adapted from a popular Ibsen play about the relationship between a mother (Seberg), her ego-maniacal husband (Ganz), and their daughter.  The father never approves of anything the daughter does.

Make a contribution to the documentary project and add your name to the credits!  Every bit helps!  Donations of $100 or more can be tax-deductible.  Visit HOW TO CONTRIBUTE by clicking HERE.  And are we ever grateful!

 

 

"Movie Star" DVD Release Update

Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg* 

NOTE: Our pre-order offer has ended.

We are pleased to share with our DVD Pre-Orderers that the Special Collector's Edition of "Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg" on DVD is being authored and manufactured and will ship in January 2020. We are very grateful for your incredible patience with all of the delays.  

The DVD will feature the film by Emmy® nominated filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr, LTD) and Kelly & Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), including soundtrack music by Amy & Adams**, and BONUS FEATURES:

• Additional Scenes
• Producers audio commentary track
• And more!

This DVD is Region 1 (NTSC).

Watch for the news on the Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg national DVD release in the next few months and how to order!

*Final DVD art and DVD Bonus content is TBD.  The regular retail price for the DVD will likely be $26.99, PLUS shipping and released mid 2020.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions at fourthwallfilms@aol.com.

Thank you again for your kind and generous support of "Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg".  We could not have made it this far without you.  We are deeply, deeply grateful.

With gratitude and warmest regards,

Tammy and Kelly Rundle, Garry McGee
Producers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg

One Frame...

This is a 'frame grab' from Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg.  We will call this shot 'Jean Seberg has arrived'.  

Look at this ONE FRAME and what do you see?  You see just ONE of over 500 photographs, newspaper clippings, movie clips, television clips, documentary and audio clips located and selected for use in the film--archival material that was graciously donated by Jean's family, photographers, movie studios, researchers and writers, the Jean Seberg Collection at the Orpheum Theater, and friends of Jean's who have collected memorabilia, materials, and scrapbooks preserving her story.

Look more closely and you see a script in the foreground--written and rewritten after decades of research, interviewing and transcribing.  

Consider the music behind the image created to breathe life into the film--music like "Going Home" by Amy & Adams.

And, consider those who sat in front of the camera and shared their time and most personal stories of Jean--those who shared their expertise, their understanding and clarification, their fondest light memories, and their darkest reflections.

You don't notice in this ONE FRAME the grant writing, grant applications, grants awarded and grants lost. You likely don't see the project's fiscal sponsors, The Historical Society of Marshall County and The Moline Foundation, nor the fundraising campaigns and the generous support of those who made it possible to keep going year after year.

In this ONE IMAGE you do not see the extensive time spent peeling back layers, trimming and cutting, shaping and reshaping Jean's story during editing.  You don't necessarily see the years of development by the producers; the pre-production, arranging and planning, scheduling, locating, documenting, filming, and keeping the faith always...

This is just ONE FRAME. Consider the magnitude of the thing and how many people it takes to make a film a reality! 

...and consider how very grateful we are to every single one of you.

Tammy & Kelly Rundle and Garry McGee
Producers
Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg

We are in the final fundingraising phase for MOVIE STAR! We know there are many worthy causes out there. We hope you will consider a tax-deductible year-end contribution to MOVIE STAR and help us with our final push to wrap this special documentary project. We need your help to cover the cost of licensing fees, E&O Insurance and DVD manufacturing.  We can't do it without you! Click HERE to find out how you can help and THANK YOU for considering and sharing this fundraiser! #moviestarjeanseberg #jeanseberg

Filmmakers' Commentary Recorded for "Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg" DVD

Work on the Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg DVD continues!  We just wrapped a weekend of recording the filmmakers' commmentary track 'bonus feature' for the documentary. 

The 90-minute commentary features "Movie Star" Producers Garry McGee, and Kelly and Tammy Rundle chatting about the evolution of the project, the making of the film, behind-the-scenes details, and, of course, the lovely and complicated Jean Seberg.

It is exciting to be at this place in the documentary project! Watch for more news on the DVD release.

Jean Seberg Revisted

Jean Seberg would have turned 80 this week.

by Sara Jordan-Heintz
Marshalltown Times-Republican
November 11, 2018

Several lifetimes worth of triumphs and tragedies were packed into Jean Seberg’s 40 years on this earth. Thirty-nine years ago, she died in Paris of an apparent suicide, months shy of her 41st birthday.

The Marshalltown native, who became the darling of French cinema, is remembered as much for her film career as for her political activism and the FBI case in which she was involved.

Seberg’s image continues to grace the pages of modern-day fashion magazines. She has been the subject of several books and documentaries here [Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg among them] and abroad. In March 2018, it was announced Kristen Stewart would portray Seberg in the upcoming film “Against All Enemies.”

In 2011, a local campaign was started to host an annual Jean Seberg Festival, held during the month of her birth. Due to tornado damage sustained at the Orpheum Theater, the Swingin’ 60s Seberg FUNdraiser slated for this weekend was canceled.

“Once the Orpheum is repaired, we will again host events which will feature Jean’s life’s work and make known contemporary artists inspired by her legacy,” coordinator Nancy Adams said. “We believe Jean was a woman ahead of her time; a passionate, talented woman whose art, heart and words touched many and whose impact/effect lingers still. In the interim, locally, Jean’s story is being shared in classrooms at MCC through writing assignments and film showings, and updates on social media. Her worldwide circle of influence knows no bounds — never has.”

She was born Nov. 13, 1938, the second child of Dorothy and Ed Seberg. READ the rest of the story HERE!

Jean Seberg Day October 21 in Iowa

It was October 21, 2016 when the State of Iowa officially recognized international film star and Marshalltown, Iowa’s own Jean Seberg. A Proclamation was signed by Iowa Governor Branstad at the State Capitol declaring October 21 Jean Seberg Day.  Jean's family was joined by a small group of friends to witness the historic moment.

The following afternoon the award-winning documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg was showcased at a special ‘Hollywood Backstories: Remembering Jean Seberg’ event at the State Historical Building in Des Moines.

The free screening packed the theater and a lively Q&A moderated by Liz Gilman of the executive producer of Produce Iowa. Jean's sister Mary Ann Shuey, Movie Star co-producer and Seberg biographer Garry McGee, and Nancy Adams, Curator of Jean Seberg/Orpheum Theater Collection, were the panelists. 

Attendees were then invited to visit the Hollywood in the Heartland Exhibit where a number of Seberg's movie memorabilia were on display.

The memorable event was sponsored by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and Produce Iowa.

The award-winning Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg will be released on DVD in mid 2020. 

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Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg is an award-winning documentary produced by Emmy-nominated filmmakers Garry McGee of McMarr, Ltd., Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. The movie was funded in part with grants from the Iowa Arts Council, Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

View the New "Movie Star" Teaser!

Check out the new "Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg" teaser. In Jean's own words:

 

 

"Movie Star" Filmmakers Receive Emmy-Nomination for New Film on Good Earth

Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films  have received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination for their new documentary Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City. This is the Rundles' fourth Emmy® nomination. The Rundles are co-producers with Emmy® nominated filmmaker/writer Garry McGee (McMarr, LTD) on the award-winning documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg.  

The Moline, Illinois-based independent production company successfully competed with 42 proposals by 36 other media production companies nationwide to win a contract to produce "Good Earth" for the visitors center at South Dakota's newest State Park, Good Earth at Blood Run.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City tells the fascinating and forgotten story of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark as told by a Native American grandfather to his grandchildren. Produced in 4K, the documentary combines vivid present-day views of the park's scenic vistas and wildlife with dramatic historical reenactments portraying daily life in the year 1650. 

The Good Earth site in Iowa and South Dakota was occupied between 1500 and 1725 by ancestors of the present-day Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe-Missouria tribes, making it one of the oldest long-term habitation sites in the United States.  At its peak around 1650, the site was home to 6,000-10,000 residents--more than Boston (2,000) and New York (New Amsterdam-1,000) in that same year--making It the largest city in what is now the United States.

Good Earth was an important Native trading center for pipestone, bison hides and culture.  The once-vibrant city featured hundreds of lodges, earthen mounds, and a serpent-shaped effigy mound an eighth of a mile long.

Fourth Wall Films is an Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.  The Rundles are the producers of the award-winning The Barn Raisers, Lost Nation: The Ioway series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery; the Emmy® nominated Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT-PBS); Country School: One Room - One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, and the soon-to-be released docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder.

The award-winning documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg by the Rundles and Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Garry McGee will be released on DVD late December/January.

Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films'  other award-winning documentaries on DVD, click HERE!

39 years after her death Jean Seberg is remembered & new documentary film readies for release

40-year-old Jean Seberg was last seen alive on August 30, 1979.  The international actress was discovered in her white Renault automobile several days later, parked not far from her Paris apartment.

Television and radio blasted the news and newspapers headlined the shocking story all over the world.  

The French in particular were moved by the passing of their adopted daughter. They preempted regular television programming with a showing of Bonjour Tristesse to honor the beloved actress from Marshalltown, Iowa.

Jean Seberg's grave in Jean Seberg's grave in Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris, France. (Courtesy/Copyright Michel Ambruster.)

"In France, Jean is still regarded as the quintessential American girl in Paris, the free spirit," noted Garry McGee, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg co-producer and author of Jean Seberg: Breathless. "Scarcely a day passes when someone doesn't stop and linger at the site, bringing an offering--and perhaps, too, another promise never to forget." 

39 years later, the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the famous actress is set for DVD release at the end of the year with PBS broadcasts to follow in 2019. 

"Movie Star is a tale of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." That leaves room for doubt," said Kelly Rundle.  "And you will have to see the film to understand why."

Keep up on all of the Jean Seberg news and the December release of the award-winning documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg by Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.) and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films) on DVD at JeanSebergMovie.com.

A Visual Tribute to Jean's hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa

 

On Thursday, July 19th Jean Seberg's hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa was devastated by a F4 tornado which destroyed and damaged its Main Street business district, homes, historic buildings, many old trees and vehicles.  Fortunately, there was no loss of life and few injuries.

Among the damaged historic buildings were the town's courthouse and the Orpheum Theater Center where Jean watched movies as a teen, and a number of her own films, including her first, Saint Joan, played to packed audiences.

We the producers of Movie Star: the Secret Lives of Jean Seberg decided to create a visual tribute to Marshalltown, Iowa using footage gathered downtown in 2012 for the documentary, and accoustic guitar music by Marshalltown native Mark Adams of Amy & Adams.  The song "Going Home" was the perfect fit for the video piece. Amy & Adams' music is featured in Movie Star.

We wish the residents of Marshalltown all the very best as you rebuild your beautiful city.

Producers Kelly & Tammy Rundle and Garry McGee
Fourth Wall Film & McMarr, LTD

#marshalltownstrong

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Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg producers Garry McGee, Tammy Rundle and Kelly Rundle in front of the Orpheum Theater Center in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Keep up on all of the Jean Seberg news and the December release of the award-winning documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg by Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.) and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films) on DVD at JeanSebergMovie.com.