Special Episode: Sundance 2022- My Old School documentary director Jono McLeod

Director Jono McLeod's stranger-than-fiction documentary My Old
School tells the story of his former classmate, Brandon Lee. In
1993, a new kid joined Jono McLeod's high school class at Bearsden
Academy in Glasgow, Scotland. 16-year-old Brandon claimed to have
been privately tutored in Canada and was incredibly smart, getting
great grades and setting his sights on going to medical school. He
befriended several of his classmates and became quite popular, even
starring in the school play. But two years later, it was discovered
that Brandon was not everything he appeared to be, and his secret
identity became a national scandal in Scotland. Jono had regaled
friends with the tale of Brandon Lee and his old school for years
before he decided it would make a good documentary subject. Brandon
consented to being interviewed for the movie, but on the condition
that he was not shown. Jono decided to use an actor to stand in for
the real Brandon Lee and have the actor lip synch Brandon's actual
words. Years before, Alan Cumming was slated to star in a
fictionalized film about Brandon Lee, but the movie had fallen
through. Fortunately, Jono is also friends with Cumming, so he
asked him if he would like to be in the documentary, albeit without
using his own voice. Cumming was happy to accept the challenge and
they used a method of reverse-ADR to record his lip synch of
Brandon's words with perfect accuracy. For My Old School, Jono
re-built his old classroom as a set for the interviews and invited
his former high school classmates to participate. He knew he wanted
to tell the story from the perspective of the people who were there
and for My Old School to have a sense of humor and lightness to it,
so Jono decided to use animation sequences for depicting any
flashback scenes. He wanted to evoke the look of popular animation
styles from high school shows of the 1990's and he used the popular
MTV series Daria as an inspiration. My Old School premiered at the
Sundance 2022 Film Festival and is seeking sales and distribution.
Find director Jono McLeod: #jonomcleod Sponsored by Hot Rod
Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com The Cinematography Podcast website:
www.camnoir.com YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook:
@cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz