Founded by Louisvillians Ed Hart and Bruce Lunsford, both accomplished businessmen and each recipients of Louisville’s "Entrepreneur of the Year" award (Hart in 1995 and Lunsford in 1988), Hart/Lunsford Pictures (HLP) has been producing independent films since 2004. In partnership with production companies in New York and Los Angeles, Hart/Lunsford Pictures can boast that its last nine feature films have made their debut at such prestigious venues as the Sundance Film Festival (4 films), the Toronto International Film Festival (2 films), and NewYork’s Tribeca Film Festival (3 films). In addition, HLP’s films have garnered a number of awards, among them the Audience Award at Sundance, as well as the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance (both for “Grace is Gone,” 2007), the International Critics Prize at the Festival of American Cinema in Deauville, France (“Grace is Gone,” September, 2007), the Jury Award at Chicago’s Gen Art Film Festival (“Bart Got a Room,” June, 2008), Best Feature Film at the Asheville Film Festival (“Bart Got a Room,” November, 2008), the HBO Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Provincetown International Film Festival (“Dirty Girl,” June, 2011), and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Fresno Reel Pride Festival (“Dirty Girl,” September, 2011).
HLP focuses on character-driven films, with budgets ranging between $3 and $5 million. Among the talent to appear in HLP’s movies are (in alphabetical order): Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Billy Crudup, John Cusack, Claire Danes, Zac Efron, Ginnifer Goodwin, Milla Jovovich, Frank Langella, Lucy Liu, William H. Macy, Virginia Madsen, Tim McGraw, Michelle Monaghan, Mandy Moore, Matthew Perry, Mary Steenburgen, Hilary Swank, Juno Temple, Dwight Yoakam, Dianne Wiest, and Tom Wilkinson. (For more details, click here.)
HLP funds projects at various stages in their evolution. The company has provided funds for development (but only for projects with a completed screenplay, director, and lead talent attachments), production, and self-distribution P&A.
When considering projects, HLP naturally weighs their potential for commercial success, but also gives equal weight to compelling storylines involving important social themes and/or meaningful character development.
Hart/Lunsford Films
| Film Title | Release Date | Actors |
|---|---|---|
| Dirty Girl | October 7, 2011 | Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Tim McGraw, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, and introducing Jeremy Dozier |
| Me and Orson Welles | November 25, 2009 | Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Christian McKay |
| Bart Got a Room | April 3, 2009 | William H. Macy, Cheryl Hines, Alia Shawkat, and introducing Steven Kaplan |
| Birds of America | October 21, 2008 | Matthew Perry, Ben Foster, Ginnifer Goodwin, Lauren Graham, Hilary Swank |
| Diminished Capacity | July 4, 2008 | Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen |
| Trucker | October 9, 2009 | Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Fillion, Benjamin Bratt, Jimmy Bennett |
| Watching the Detectives | August 12, 2008 | Cillian Murphy, Lucy Liu |
| Grace is Gone | December 7, 2007 | John Cusack |
| Dedication | August 24, 2007 | Billy Crudup, Mandy Moore, Tom Wilkinson, Bob Balaban, Dianne Wiest |
| How You Look to Me | July 3, 2007 | Frank Langella, Laura Allen |
