Todd Field Reflects on the Film Industry’s Evolution Since 2000: ‘Those Days Are Gone’

This article is part of IndieWire’s 2000s Week celebration.

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When the 2000s began, Todd Field was primarily known as an actor for his roles in “Ruby in Paradise,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” and a couple of Jan de Bont films (“Twister,” “The Haunting”). However, a year into the decade, Field elevated his career by writing and directing “In the Bedroom” (2001), a low-budget indie that became a critical and commercial success, earning five Oscar nominations. According to Field, it was a distinctive time for filmmaking.

“There are many technical advantages for young filmmakers today,” Field told IndieWire, “but getting people to see your work seems harder. The idea that ‘In the Bedroom’ got made, entered Sundance, found a distributor, and that people watched it is remarkable. It was an exciting time for films about human beings, which is always what attracted me to movies.”

Field revealed that he initially aimed to adapt a story by Andre Dubus, the author of the source material for “In the Bedroom,” in the mid-nineties while he was an AFI student. However, he couldn’t secure the rights. “Andre had been burned by another AFI student, so he swore off giving his rights to anyone,” Field explained. Instead, Field worked with his wife, Serena Rathbun, to write “Nonnie & Alex,” a short film that won a Sundance prize and became a calling card for him.

“Working in the ’90s and early 2000s was incredible,” Field recalled. “There was an industry where you could walk through doors, say you were a film student with no money, and people would help you.” One of those helpful individuals was Chris Jenkins, a sound mixer who later worked with Field on both “In the Bedroom” and “Little Children” (2006).

After “Nonnie & Alex” screened at Sundance, Field tried to get a feature going. “The lie was always that after film school and a festival, Hollywood would come calling. That wasn’t true,” Field said. Taking advice from director Carl Franklin, Field wrote an autobiographical coming-of-age story. Though his agent dismissed it, that experience did not deter him.

Field was in England working on “Eyes Wide Shut” with Stanley Kubrick and Tom Cruise when he felt inspired by Kubrick’s unique filmmaking process. “They were not afraid to create their own process, which was very different from the industrial Hollywood method I had known,” Field said.

Encouraged by Kubrick and Cruise, Field used his downtime on “Eyes Wide Shut” to write “In the Bedroom.” However, upon returning to the States, he faced numerous rejections. Eventually, the film found a home with Good Machine and producer Ted Hope. Ross Katz, a young assistant at the time, strongly believed in the project. The film was up and running within 24 months, albeit with some hurdles.

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“I had an actor set for the lead who fell out just weeks before shooting started,” Field said. He reached out to Leon Vitali in London, who recommended Tom Wilkinson. Field cast Wilkinson based on that recommendation.

Field reflected on the scrappy nature of independent films, which allowed for flexibility within tight budgets. He recalled one instance where he convinced Ted Hope to spend $40,000 on a specific technique for driving scenes, something unlikely to be approved in a studio setting.

Field’s second film, “Little Children,” initially intended as a limited series, ended up as a feature film at New Line. Field experienced more bureaucratic battles in this studio setting compared to the flexibility of “In the Bedroom.”

“In the studio environment, there were physical production executives, and you had to negotiate lots of things,” Field said. However, there were some comforts too. “When I needed to work with Tom and requested a hotel room, they agreed—something that wouldn’t have happened independently.” But the studio head, Bob Shaye, was not a fan, only releasing the film minimally until it gained award nominations.

Despite his tough experiences, Field acknowledges the enduring impact of both “In the Bedroom” and “Little Children.” He feels that directors often obsess over the challenges faced during production rather than appreciating their work’s final outcome.

Field’s latest film, the acclaimed 2022 drama “TÁR,” was his most ambitious project and was released by Universal. Yet, he admits the opportunities for making such human-scale films are dwindling. “Studios are constricting. Specialty divisions are now very limited. While there are exciting companies like Neon and A24, the days of studios embracing human-scale films are gone,” Field concluded.