Deadline’s The Contenders: Why ‘Me And Earl And The Dying Girl ‘ Became More Than A Movie For Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

One of the big hits out of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival was unquestionably Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me And Earl And The Dying Girl  which not only took the top prize but also was picked up by Fox Searchlight which released the picture in June. As I said in my review of the film this was not a teen movie , but rather a human film that happened to be about teens. It was also a deeply personal story not only for Gomez-Rejon but also  the screenwriter, and book author, Jesse Andrews.   Gomez-Rejon came to Deadline’s big awards season event last month at the DGA Theatre , The Contenders Presented By Deadline , to tell a packed audience of AMPAS voters and key guild members the story behind the film.   Sitting on the Fox Searchlight panel  Gomez-Rejon  talked about how he identified with the story of a young filmmaker and expressed himself in the making of the movie, which also contains several clever movies within  the movie.  He also talks about how a young writer who had never even seen a script, much less written one  got hold of Final Draft and turned in one of the true gems of this year. Click on the video link above to watch our conversation.