My Kid Could Paint That (2007)

Director:

Amir Bar-Lev

Release Date:

18 October 2007 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary | Family | Mystery

Tagline:

Inspiration or Manipulation? You Decide.

Plot:

A look at the work and surprising success of a four-year-old girl whose paintings have been compared to the likes of Picasso and has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Plot Keywords:

Art | Painting | Artist | Little Girl | Mother Daughter Relationship

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Amir Bar-Lev	...	Himself
Anthony Brunelli	...	Himself
Elizabeth Cohen	...	Herself
Jonathan Crosby	...	(voice)
Ron Curtis Jr.	...	(voice)
Michael Kimmelman	...	Himself
Laura Olmstead	...	Herself
Mark Olmstead	...	Himself
Marla Olmstead	...	Herself
Zane Olmstead	...	Himself
Celeste Russi	...	(voice)
Tara Sands	...	(voice)
Stuart Simpson	...	Himself
Jackie Wescott	...	Herself

Directed by
Amir Bar-Lev

Produced by
Amir Bar-Lev	....	producer
John Battsek	....	executive producer
Stephen Dunn	....	co-producer
Richard Klein	....	executive producer: BBC
Sara Nolan	....	associate producer
Andrew Ruhemann	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Rondo Brothers

Cinematography by
Matt Boyd		(director of photography)
Nelson Hume
Bill Turnley

Film Editing by
Michael Levine
John W. Walter		(as John Walter)

Production Management
Christopher Kenneally	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Ryan Carroll	....	sound recordist
Mark Garcia	....	adr mixer
Marlena Grzaslewicz	....	supervising sound editor: 701 Sound
Eric Offin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Sacco	....	dolby sound consultant
Ira Spiegel	....	sound effects editor: 701 Sound
Ryan Zappin	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Amir Bar-Lev	....	additional camera operator
Bryan Donnell	....	additional camera operator
Guy Fiorita	....	additional camera operator
Jason Lelchuk	....	additional camera operator
Rachel Libert	....	additional camera operator
Jenna Rosher	....	additional camera operator
Jenna Rosher	....	camera operator
Laleh Soomekh	....	additional camera operator
John W. Walter	....	additional camera operator (as John Walter)
Dan Zappin	....	additional camera operator

Animation Department
Anthony Kraus	....	animator: Noisy Neighbor Productions
Stefan Nadelman	....	animator: Tourist Pictures

Editorial Department
Anne Alvergue	....	additional editor
Tricia Chiarenza	....	color timer
Will Cox	....	on-line editor: Final Frame
Penelope Falk	....	additional editor
Liam Lawyer	....	additional editor
Aaron Lubarsky	....	additional editor
Sandy Patch	....	assistant on-line editor
Gabriel Rhodes	....	additional editor
Trevor Ristow	....	additional editor

Music Department
Jeff Daniel	....	music supervisor: Rock River Music
Mariusz Glabinski	....	music editor
Jeff Booth Diamond Ring	....	music licensing: Rock River Music (as Jeff Diamond)
Jeff Booth Diamond Ring	....	music supervisor: Rock River Music (as Jeff Diamond)

Other crew
Jessica Berman Bogdan	....	clearances (as Jessica Berman-Bogdan)
Jessica Berman Bogdan	....	researcher (as Jessica Berman-Bogdan)
Paul Brennan	....	legal services: Sloss Law Office
Peter Broderick	....	consultant
Jonathan Crosby	....	consultant
Carl Deal	....	archival consultant
Winston Emano	....	publicist
Craig A. Emanuel	....	legal services: Loeb & Loeb (as Craig Emanuel)
David Fox	....	legal services (as David Fox Esq.)
Steven Gravatt	....	production intern
Jo Haslam	....	production intern
Peter Jaszi	....	legal services
Noah Kistler	....	production intern
Julia Landau	....	production intern
Melanie Vi Levy	....	production intern (as Melanie Levy)
David Magdael	....	publicist
Holly Cara Price	....	clearances
Holly Cara Price	....	researcher
Benjamin Rutkowski	....	production intern
Steve C. Schechter	....	legal services (as Steven C. Schechter)
Tina Shaerban	....	production intern
Emi Takahara	....	production intern
Stephen Trapp	....	production intern
Anne Stulz	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• A&E IndieFilms
• Axis Films
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• Passion Pictures

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Classics (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• A&E Television Networks (2007) (USA) (TV)
• A&E IndieFilms (2007) (USA) (TV)
• LK-TEL (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2008) (Argentina) (all media)

Other Companies

• Arts Engine  fiscal sponsorship
• Creative Artists Agency (CAA)  distribution advisory services
• Donna Daniels Public Relations  publicity
• Ovasen Post Production  post-production services and facilities
• Ovasen  post-production services and facilities
• Submarine Entertainment  distribution advisory services
• Tandem Sound  sound post-production

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | UK:12 | Ireland:PG

Filming Locations:

Binghamton, New York, USA

Company:

A&E IndieFilms

Quotes:

Michael Kimmelman:All writers, all storytellers, are imposing their own narrative on something. I mean, all art in some ways is a lie. It looks like a picture of something, but it isn't that thing, it's a representation of that thing... Your documentary is itself going to be a lie...

Movie Connections:

References "The King of Queens" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Always Be

An interesting film but loses focus in the second half

A new sensation has arrived in the modern art world – what started out as paintings sold for a few hundred dollars in a local restaurant has seen the artist garner national and international press coverage, well-selling shows in New York and comparisons to the world of classics. Thing is, the artist is a four year old girl called Marla, who apparently is painting these oils without help from either parent – who are both quite taken aback by the interest and profitability of their daughter. Filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev spends hundreds of hours with the family, from the rise to fame into the period where Marla's work comes under question.

It was a fellow reviewer that mentioned this documentary to me a while back and when I saw it on television recently I decided to check it out. For the first half of the film I was catching up with the story as I had never seen or heard anything about this little girl before. To those already familiar with her then I suspect the first half of the film will not that that engaging but for me I found it interesting. Via the media coverage Bar-Lev is able to put questions like "what is art?" on the table even if he personally doesn't do much with them. The problem comes in the second part of the film because it is here where an interesting "last segment on the news" story gets more complex. Questions are asked and the answers are unconvincing – with limited evidence to silence the doubts. Nothing is ever conclusive and Bar-Lev cannot do a "Theroux" and coax anything out of the parents of value. I still found it interesting because the paintings are hard to believe and I was starting to wonder myself – particularly when you see Marla actually painting herself and they do look more like kid's stuff than the impressive creations on sale. But Bar-Lev doesn't seem sure what to do with this and as a result the film stutters to an unsteady conclusion where really it needed to be conclusive – even if that conclusion is inconclusive (if you see what I mean).

As it is though, this documentary is interesting and it is only a shame that someone more able could have had the access Bar-Lev did, just to see how it could have turned out rather than how it did.