One of the films playing at SXSW this year was Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. His latest being a documentary about the life of actor, playwright and performance artist Spalding Gray. This documentary had its world premiere a few months earlier in Park City, Utah. Not at Sundance but rather at [...]]]>

One of the films playing at SXSW this year was Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. His latest being a documentary about the life of actor, playwright and performance artist Spalding Gray. This documentary had its world premiere a few months earlier in Park City, Utah. Not at Sundance but rather at Slamdance, the other Park City film festival.

After the screening in Austin, Texas, there was a Q&A with the films producers where they answered questions about their plans for the DVD release and the release of other Gray performances to DVD. “We hope to see a box set come out through the Criterion Collection in 2011, but the deal’s not done yet.” Gary’s widow/producer, Kathie Russo chimed in, “it’s a real shame that not even Swimming To Cambodia is out on DVD, so this is a great opportunity to finally get this stuff out there.”

The set is rumored to include other works like Swimming To Cambodia (Jonathan Demme), Monster In A Box (Nick Broomfield), Gray’s Anatomy (Steven Soderbergh) and And Everything Is Going Fine (Steven Soderbergh).

Both Soderbergh (Schizopolis, Traffic, Che) and Demme (Silence of The Lambs) are already in the Criterion Collection so it’s not out of reach to think a box set is forthcoming. (Especially when producers are in talks with Criterion.)

Spalding Gray committed suicide in 2004 by presumingly jumping off the Staten Island Ferry and drowning in the East River. He went missing on January 10, 2004 and was found dead on March 7, 2004. It is believed that the last movie he watched was Tim Burton’s Big Fish.

In my opinion, when this set will come out, it seems like it will be most likely an Eclipse boxed set. A set of films focusing around a center theme, writer or figure by different filmmakers sounds like an Eclipse set to me. Nevertheless, this still would be a great addition to the Criterion, Janus, Eclipse family and I am looking forward to more news about this release.

Source: The Playlist || Photo: Noah Greenberg – Boston Globe