Jonathan Levine: Life After "Wackness"

I just interviewed Ross Partridge today, whose film, Baghead, won major kudos at Sundance this year. I’ll post that interview in the next day or so, but the reason I mention it here is because Ross mentioned the film The Wackness, which took home an audience award at the recent L.A. Film Festival.

Jonathan Levine, who wrote and directed The Wackness, has set up two new projects. One is “Positive,” a romantic thriller set on Martha Vineyard’s that will be produced by Wackness producer Occupant Films.

It centers on a 20-something who visits his fiancee’s family on the Vineyard only to be seduced by her younger sister. A mid-2009 start date is planned.

Levine is also penning the screenplay for “Echelon Vendetta,” an espionage thriller based on David Stone’s novel. The story centers on a “cleaner” — a CIA operative in charge of keeping dirty laundry from being aired in public –who after the death of a friend investigates the mysterious deaths of several agents.

These both sound interesting. I love seeing filmmakers earn kudos at film festivals and then moving onward and upward. Levine says he’d like to do a mix of indie and studio projects.

Image: Jonathan Levine, The Wackness, Occupant Films, 2008