The Producers

Doug Pray’s exuberant portraits of subcultures and maverick individuals include the Emmy Award-winning ”Art & Copy,” a film about creativity and advertising; “Surfwise,” the amazing odyssey of the Paskowitz surfing family; “Big Rig,” a 40,000 mile road film about independent, long-haul truck drivers; “Infamy,” an intense journey into the lives and art of six notorious graffiti writers; “Scratch,” a celebration of hip-hop DJs and turn-tablism; and his first film, “Hype!,” which told the story of the emergence and explosion of the early ‘90s Seattle grunge music scene, and remains on Rolling Stone’s Top 10 list of Best Rock DVD’s of All Time. Doug has directed dozens of commissioned short films and documentary-style commercials for a wide range of major clients, including an AIDS awareness campaign, which also won him his first Emmy. He lives in Los Angeles where he is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and The Directors Guild of America.

Levitated Mass is produced by Jamie Patricof, a co-founder of Electric City Entertainment. Patricof has made a series of films with actor Ryan Gosling including his first feature Half Nelson, which won the Spirit and Gotham Awards, as well as an Oscar nomination for Gosling; Blue Valentine, also starring Michelle Williams; and The Place Beyond the Pines. His latest feature project, Mississippi Grind, stars Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn and Sienna Miller.
 
Patricof's documentary projects include Confessions of a Superhero and ESPN 30 for 30's Straight Outta L.A., directed by Ice Cube. He has also executive produced VH1 specials on rap star Ludacris and a tribute to the seminal hip-hop group Run DMC and Jam Master Jay. Prior to that, he produced the Emmy-Nominated The Life, a 32-episode ESPN behind-the-scenes series documenting athletes’ lives off the field. Patricof was also an executive producer for the The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo.

Electric City most recently wrapped production on Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden’s Mississippi Grind starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn and Sienna Miller. They are also in post on Tim Burton's Big Eyes starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz with The Weinstein Company, and are coming off the Focus Features release of Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond The Pines. Founded by Lynette Howell and Jamie Patricof, Electric City was launched in 2012. After seven years of working on prominent independent films under the Hunting Lane and Silverwood banners that include Academy Award nominated films Half Nelson and Blue Valentine, the duo decided to join forces to produce cutting edge, auteur-driven film and television projects.

Making The Film

“At first, it was all about the rock. My father is a geologist, so I grew up running around in quarries, and I’m a big fan of boulders and natural structures of the Southwest. The mere idea of being able to film a two-story tall rock rolling by a Southern California drive-thru was enough. But as I learned about Michael Heizer’s artwork, his intentions for Levitated Mass, and a bit about his “western maverick” character, the film gained momentum. As a filmmaker, I’ve always been drawn to people and subcultures that seem misunderstood by mainstream society, and Heizer fit that interest. Plus, the basic, “can they do it?” story about the physical challenges of the sculpture’s construction and the inordinate bureaucratic and logistical hurdles that LACMA—along with the construction, engineering, and transport companies—had to overcome to make it happen. The whole enterprise, on some level, seemed so absurd to so many people, and it seemed the movie might be able to ask again the eternal question of “What is art?” in a large-scale, very public arena.  Heizer doesn’t happen to be the kind of artist who likes to talk about his art or his past. More than anyone I’ve ever met, he lets his artwork speak for itself. In an age of non-stop media noise, I respect and admire this trait. Heizer did, however, give us rare access to his process and thoughts during the making of his 'Levitated Mass', and that forms an essential part of the film.”