For Duncan Montgomery and Alex Orlovsky, this year’s Gotham Awards highlight the success of a push they made to turn their company High Frequency from the producer of a handful of arthouse titles into a full-blown film financier. It’s a shift that began in 2021, and one that has paid off this year with “Lurker” and “Sorry, Baby,” two films that the company backed and that will compete for best feature.
“They’re very different movies, but they both have distinct points of view,” says Orlovsky. “Nothing can be middle of the road right now.”
Indeed, “Lurker,” a psychological thriller about an obsessed fan who worms his way into a musician’s inner circle, and “Sorry, Baby,” a darkly comic drama about a woman recovering from a sexual assault, were both provocative and utterly unique. Those qualities made them among a handful of films to land distribution deals at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where “Lurker” sold to Mubi for a mid-seven-figure price tag and “Sorry, Baby” was snapped up by A24 for a reported $8 million.
“I still believe that if you can move people, if you can make them laugh or make them cry, you still have the best chance to succeed,” says Montgomery.
Since launching the fund, High Frequency has made nine features, seven of which have been financially successful, Montgomery says. They include the Pamela Anderson comeback vehicle “The Last Showgirl,” the Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard drama “Memory,” and “Roofman,” a dramedy with Channing Tatum that premiered this fall to strong reviews. Made for $19 million, “Roofman” was one of the biggest productions that High Frequency has boarded and came about from a close relationship that Orlovsky developed with director Derek Cianfrance. The pair had previously worked together on “Blue Valentine” and “The Place Beyond the Pines.” And though “Roofman” was more of a single than a home run, earning just over $30 million globally, Orlovsky notes that “we made it for a responsible number.”
With the box office in a shaky place and moviegoers failing to return at pre-pandemic levels, keeping costs low has become more important than ever.
“Things are getting more complicated for our industry, and there’s more unknowns than ever,” Montgomery says. “What’s the theatrical landscape going to look like in five years? What role is AI going to have in the future? But the more unknowns we have, the more we’re doubling and tripling down on the basics. And by basics, I mean invest in good material and good people, and execute.”
Montgomery founded High Frequency in 2014. When he decided to expand he enlisted Orlovsky, a veteran producer whose credits include “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” and “Half Nelson.” The pair grew up together in Dallas and have been friends since they were seven.
“It’s an incredible bonus for us,” says Montgomery. “There’s something interesting about knowing each other since you were that age. It creates a genuineness, because you can close your eyes and see the other person as a little kid and think about all the experiences that you’ve had together.”
On Monday, that shared journey will take them to the Gotham Awards.