Grosse Pointe Farms

Cinematographer, GP native returns to discuss his work on ‘Like Crazy’

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Provided photo by Fred Hayes, courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush Productions LLC From left, director of photography John Gulesarian and co-writer/director Drake Doremus work on “Like Crazy,” their critically acclaimed new film. Provided photo by Fred Hayes, courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush Productions LLC From left, director of photography John Gulesarian and co-writer/director Drake Doremus work on “Like Crazy,” their critically acclaimed new film.

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — The local movie theaters that left him wide-eyed as a child may be only a memory, but they live on in the creative vision of cinematographer John Gulesarian.

The Grosse Pointe Park native, who graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in 1994, collaborated with director Drake Doremus on the indie hit “Like Crazy,” which was purchased by Paramount Vantage and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize this year.

Gulesarian will be back home to talk about the art of cinematography and life on the “Like Crazy” set during a program at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 in Cleminson Hall at Grosse Pointe South High School. The event is co-sponsored by the Grosse Pointe Public Library and The Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education, and is free and open to the public.

Organizers aren’t able to screen “Like Crazy,” although they’re hoping to be able to at least show the trailer or clips from the film. Still, they say they’re thrilled to welcome Gulesarian back to the halls he walked as a teen.

“We’re just delighted to be able to host the event and recognize his achievements,” said Diana Howbert, an audiovisual reference librarian for the Grosse Pointe Public Library. She said this is also a “wonderful opportunity for local students,” especially those interested in filmmaking.

Locally, “Like Crazy” opens Nov. 11 at the Landmark Main Art Theatre in downtown Royal Oak. It stars Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones and Jennifer Lawrence in a story about young love gone awry when a British college student (Jones) who falls in love with an American student (Yelchin) finds herself cut off from him when she’s forbidden from being in the United States after she overstays her visa. The film, whose realism is attributed to its use of improvisation by the actors, has drawn rave reviews from critics across the country. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said the movie “brings a compelling intimacy and heart-stopping delicacy to showing the push and pull of love, longing and regret.”

Gulesarian has been pleasantly surprised by the success of “Like Crazy,” which has been wowing audiences and critics.

“I think we all knew we were making something special, but you can still never know how it is going to be received by an audience,” he said in an email interview from the road last week, as he crisscrossed the country for work on another project. “It wasn’t until audiences started seeing the movie at Sundance that we knew the extent of that.”

The 35-year-old Gulesarian earned a bachelor’s degree in film from Columbia College in Chicago, where he also worked as an assistant instructor and freelance cinematographer. In 2003, he was accepted into the prestigious American Film Institute in Los Angeles, from which he graduated with a master’s degree in cinematography in 2005. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

“I realized I wanted to be a cinematographer when I was really young,” Gulesarian said. “I was always fascinated by cameras, and loved watching movies at the Woods and Esquire theaters.”

He began learning the craft at South, where he studied under Julie Corbett, Ph.D., the retired director of instructional television for the Grosse Pointe Public Schools. Corbett, now making films and running her own company, said she knew the “very quiet but creative” Gulesarian was gifted as a high school student in her TV programming classes.

“(He was) extremely creative and very involved in technology,” she recalled. “He was a real geek. He could grasp the concepts of television production equipment and editing equipment extremely quickly, and with his creativity, he could make them talk.”

Gulesarian said those classes at South were “very important” to his formative development as a filmmaker.

“South’s TV program is something that is very unique, and was hugely influential to my career path,” he said. “Dr. Corbett really encouraged me to do something that I was passionate about, and gave me the freedom to experiment and find my own voice. I get really upset these days when I hear about school systems cutting arts programs, because to some students, these are the programs that will help shape their futures.”

Gulesarian met Doremus at AFI, and they started working together in 2006. Their first project, a short film called “The Shirt” that he said they made for $500, was a official selection of both the 2006 Gen Arts Film Festival and the Redbank International Film Festival. They’ve also worked together on other projects, including the 2009 feature film “Spooner,” and most recently, they shot an as-yet untitled forthcoming film in New York that stars Jones — in what Gulesarian said is “a much darker role” than her “Like Crazy” character — alongside Guy Pearce and Amy Ryan. The very busy Gulesarian, whose credits include TV pilots, commercials, promotional videos, short and feature-length films, Web programs and music videos for such artists as Maroon 5, Ben Folds and Aimee Mann, spent last week in Los Angeles, Honolulu, Phoenix, Vermont and New York City as he worked on a new project. But, he’s not complaining.

“I would like to continue to work on stories I am passionate about and that hopefully mean something to the people who watch them,” he said.

Seating for the Nov. 15 talk is limited, so anyone interested in attending should make reservations as soon as possible. Howbert said Cleminson Hall, where the presentation will take place, only holds about 150 people; the auditorium wasn’t available that evening. South is located at 11 Grosse Pointe Blvd. For reservations or more information, visit www.gp.lib.mi.us or call (313) 343-2074, ext. 222.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer K. Michelle Moran at kmoran@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1047.