Logo text
This past awards season, Hull and Harper Creator Cooper Rafe and his star Lili Reinhart rocked a fantastic reception for Song Song Bluethe biographical film in which Kate Hudson received an Academy Award nomination. The room was filled with voters from across the awards bodies, and Rife had an agenda: spread the word about Reinhart’s performance before the upcoming Emmy Awards season.
“We don’t have the money to do a big show and an after-party, so we kind of snuck in and said, ‘Hey, have you seen the show?’ Hull and Harper“You look to see who Hugh Jackman is talking to, and then you go and talk to them afterward,” Raife says now over Zoom. You see who Kate Hudson is hugging, and then you go and hug them…. Then we did some other events and the people we met the first time would come up and say: “Oh my God, she’s amazing.”
Rafe has learned that this is what it takes. The 29-year-old director entered the world of independent films with his first two films, Shithouse and Real smooth cha chawhich most recently sold to Apple TV+ for $15 million after its 2022 Sundance premiere. After his planned next film was cancelled, Raife instead turned to television — a medium he doesn’t deal with very often Hull and Harpera nine-part limited series examining the dysfunctional relationship between siblings with the same name (Raife and Reinhardt). Raiff created briefly at FX, and went on to finance and produce the project independently, with a star-studded supporting cast including Mark Ruffalo and Betty Gilpin; Mubi acquired the rights after its Sundance premiere and released it over the summer to critical acclaim.
But Mubi isn’t known for episodic distribution, especially not in the Emmy payout space; The Television Academy’s remit tends to be limited to the most visible projects on the campaign trail, given the sheer amount of content available to sift through. Rafe understood all of that, so, on Reinhardt’s behalf, he took matters into his own hands. “I don’t watch the Oscars or the Emmys, but I know people watch them and watch things because things win awards or are nominated for awards — my favorite movie last year was Emotional value“No one had heard about it until the awards campaign and people started talking about it,” says Rife. “I want to say yes to everything I can to perform in front of people and have a nightly performance in front of people. I just think it’s a tremendous performance.”
***
The awards world campaigns have taught Rafe the current state of show business and how to move forward as an independent filmmaker at a perilous time for the industry. Raife describes Ryan Coogler as his filmmaking idol and calls Coogler his directorial debut Fruitvale station His favorite movie – but seeing success Sinnersa relatively commercial enterprise that won Coogler his first Oscar, opened his eyes in a new way. Specifically, Raife was stuck describing Coogler once Sinners As a “croissant”: an accessible product, it hides its complex process and exacting artistry.
“I’m working on a movie now and trying to lean more into making croissants,” he says. “I want to find a way to make a living in this industry, and I want to figure out how to raise a family in this industry and continue to make films that I believe in. Because he truly believes in it. Sinners — It’s a great movie — but it’s a croissant. Fruitvale station Not on a croissant.” You get the sense that Rafe is referring to his earlier works in the same vein.
As for Hull and Harper? “Lena Dunham was a huge supporter of it, and she was like, ‘You’ve got to start selling this as that.’ Fanny and Alexander,“I watched it and thought, ‘We’re doomed,'” Reif recalls adding to Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 film. It’s amazing, but it’s boring even me, there’s no one who’s going to say, “Hey, who wants next?” Fanny and Alexander“”
It’s not as if Rife was operating wildly outside the mainstream, of course — Real smooth cha cha It won the Audience Award at Sundance and was easily the biggest sell-out at that year’s festival. “If we make Cha cha “Now, there won’t be that sale — but that’s not that moment now,” Rife says. “Now all they care about is the awards. That’s what’s on my mind: If I want to make a movie the way I want to make it, it’s got to win an Oscar. I’ve got to buckle down and say, ‘This guy is going to win an Oscar if I buy this and market it the right way.’
“Is it the worst thing in the world that in order for something to have an Oscar? No,” Rife continues. “Right now, I’m making a movie that goes back to the ’80s and ’90s. I’m shooting it on film. It’s a road trip movie. I know how to sell it.”
***
TV works differently, of course – and Hull and Harper In a class of its own. Narratives also matter when it comes to landing an Emmy, and Reinhart has a compelling story, having starred in more than 100 episodes of the hit teen series. Riverdale Before new depths are revealed in this relatively niche project. She won the Best Actress award at Series Mania, Europe’s largest television festival, in a race that also included Long bright riverAmanda Seyfried.
“It was the proudest thing I’ve ever done as an actor,” Reinhart said. Hollywood Reporter last year. “I’m an independent girl at heart. People wouldn’t know that because I was on the CW show for seven years.” Now about what she brought to the show, Raife adds, “It takes someone who’s wise and very emotionally deep and can dance around some bad stuff in an easy way — and she was.”
But Rife also hopes his show will be recognized because it avoids the rhythms of traditional commercial television. “When we were trying to sell it, I kept being told, ‘There’s a lot of silence, and looking into the characters’ eyes,’” Reif says. “It was like, ‘They want this if the show is 80 percent less staring at someone in a bathtub.’” And I say, “Well, this is why I watch movies.” I watch movies to see the character in the bathtub, staring at something and flashing it. “This is what matters to me.”
***
Hull and Harper Now streaming on Mubi.
