Wes Anderson puts pen to paper in latest ‘short’ film
Houston-born director Wes Anderson is back in the news this month as he premiered his latest film project, “Montblanc: 100 Years of Meisterstück,” at the Paramour Estate in Los Angeles. The three-minute short, starring Jason Schwartzman, Rupert Friend and Anderson, was made to celebrate the 100th birthday of Montblanc’s Meisterstück pen.
If you’re an Anderson fan, don’t worry. You don’t have to travel to California and be invited to some swanky soiree to see the commercial. You can actually watch it from the comfort of your home on YouTube. But that’s not all that the filmmaker is up to these days. Here are five things you probably didn’t know.
1. Anderson is releasing his own pen next year
As part of his partnership with Montblanc, the Germanbased manufacturer of high-end writing utensils, the filmmaker is coming up with his own pen to be released next year, according to Vogue. That pen will be marketed under the name of “Schreiberling,” which is German for “Scribbler.”
2. Yeah, but when is his next film coming out?
real
Anderson’s next film is called “The Phoenician Scheme” and is in production in Germany with stars Bill Murray, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed and Benicio del Toro. No release date as of yet. 3. Will the new movie be
less Wes Anderson-y?
Mum’s the word on this one, though he did tell the French outlet Le Monde, “My next feature film will be linear, with Benicio Del Toro in every shot. I can’t tell you much more than that, except that it will be about espionage, a father-daughter relationship and, let’s say, with a rather dark tone.”
4. So that’s why he didn’t show up to the Academy Awards to receive his first-ever Oscar.
Longtime Anderson fans were puzzled that he didn’t show up to pick up his golden statue for “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” which won in the live-action short category and is his first Oscar win. But, as he told the Hollywood Reporter, shooting on “The Phoenician Scheme” was due to start in Germany the day after the Oscar ceremony. Also, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Anderson received $1.5 million euros in funding from Germany to help make “The Phoenician Scheme,” so, yeah, he wasn’t going to bail on that.
5. With Anderson involved in two projects with German connections, is he living in Germany now?
Anderson lives in Paris and has been based there since 2005, after spending much of his adulthood in New York City after he left Houston.