A family tragedy forces a man to return to his roots and reexamine his life in Director Kenneth Lonergan’s new drama, Manchester by the Sea.
Lonergan’s film tells the story of a solitary Boston janitor (Casey Affleck) who is shocked to learn that he has been made sole guardian of his 16-year-old nephew (Lucas Hedges) after the sudden death of his brother (Kyle Chandler). He reluctantly returns to the Massachusetts fishing village where his family has resided for generations and is forced to deal with his current situation as well as his past and his estranged wife (Michelle Williams).
Following the November 3 membership screening in New York, Lonergan sat down with Director Bob Balaban (Graves) to discuss the making of Manchester by the Sea. Lonergan also spoke about the film with Director Gus Van Sant (The Sea of Trees) after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on November 13.
In addition to Manchester by the Sea, Lonergan’s credits include the feature films Margaret and You Can Count on Me. He was also nominated for Academy Awards for his screenplays for You Can Count on Me and (with Jay Cocks and Steven Zaillian) for Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Lonergan has been a DGA member since 1999.
You can listen to Lonergan's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find all DGA podcast episodes here.