American Gun
The movie poster for American Gun.
Directed by	Aric Avelino
Produced by	Ted Kroeber
Written by	Aric Avelino Steven Bagatourian
Starring	Linda Cardellini Tony Goldwyn Marcia Gay Harden Donald Sutherland Forest Whitaker
Music by	Schuyler Fisk Peter Golub
Distributed by	IFC Films
Release date(s)	September 15, 2005 (Toronto Film Festival) March 22, 2006 (limited US)
Running time	95 min.
Language	English

American Gun is a 2005 film movie produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut.

Avelino attended Loyola Marymount University and made the film with many LMU alumni^[1], including producer Ted Kroeber.

The film took two and a half years to finance. The central idea came from a "Column One" article in the Los Angeles Times. In addition, the writers were influenced by a friend from the Chicago school district who related stories about how students brought guns to school, not to use them on campus, but because of the dangerous neighborhoods they live in or walk through to attend classes. Avelino was very appreciative of the directitorial advice of Forest Whitaker, one of the film's producers. The first actress attached to the project was Marcia Gay Harden.^[2]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Distribution 3 Cast 4 Awards 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

American Gun centers around three stories dealing with the results of gun use: an inner city school principal (Whitaker), a single mother (Harden), and an A student (Cardellini) who works at her family's gun shop.^[3]

[edit] Distribution

According to boxofficemojo.com, American Gun took in $24,098 in a limited release from one to six theatres in a little over 10 weeks in theatres from March 22-June 1, 2006. It was featured on the IFC program First Take.^[4]

[edit] Cast

• Marcia Gay Harden - Janet Huttenson
• Forest Whitaker - Carter
• Donald Sutherland - Carl Wilk
• Lisa Long - Sandra Cohen
• Chris Warren Jr. - Marcus
• David Heymann - Producer
• Chris Marquette - David Huttenson
• Amanda Seyfried - Mouse
• Nikki Reed - Tally
• Joseph Kell - Security Guard
• Tony Goldwyn - Frank
• Rex Linn - Earl
• Kevin Phillips - Reggie
• Davenia McFadden - Felicia
• Linda Cardellini - Mary Ann Wilk
• Schuyler Fisk - Cicily
• Michael Shannon (as Michael J. Shannon) - Jerry
• Charles Duckworth - Connie
• Todd Tesen - Barry
• Melissa Leo - Louise
• Gary Paul Clark - Supervisor
• Garcelle Beauvais (as Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) - Sarah

[edit] Awards

• Independent Spirit Awards Nominations^[5]
  • Best Feature, Ted Kroeber, producer.
  • Best Male Lead, Forest Whitaker.
  • Best Supporting Female, Marcia Gay Harden.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• American Gun at the Internet Movie Database
• LMU alumni press release about the movie.
• American Gun official site
• IFC "First Take".