Sketches of Frank Gehry on DVD August 22nd

Academy Award®-winning director Sydney Pollack (Tootsie, Out of Africa, The Interpreter), inspired by his friendship with renowned architect Frank Gehry, spent five years working on his first feature-length documentary.  The result, the critically acclaimed Sony Pictures Classics’ film, SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY, arrives on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on August 22, 2006 for an SRP of $24.96.

Frank Gehry has been responsible for the design of some of the most stunning buildings in the world, including The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain and the Experience Music Project in Seattle.  As Gehry explains, he begins each project by sketching the design.   This love for the sketch motivated Pollack to try to capture that quality in his film by using a combination of film and Mini DV (digital video). 

Spending countless hours in Gehry’s studio, on building sites, and in his home, this quiet and unobtrusive shooting style has captured, for the first time, the essence of Gehry’s unique architectural process, and his shy and elusive personality.  As a counterpoint, Pollack captures on film the grandeur of some of Gehry’s most remarkable architectural accomplishments.

At the heart of the SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY is the low-key informal quality that Pollack brings to his conversations with Gehry.  In addition, Pollack interviewed many of Gehry’s greatest admirers including actor Dennis Hopper, musician Sir Bob Geldof and entertainment executives Barry Diller, Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz.

Critics were enchanted by both the film and its subject. According to Jan Stuart of Newsday, "We are seduced by the rules-busting fabulousness of Gehry’s output."  Glenn Whipp in the L.A. Daily News stated, "Gehry, a cheerful, energetic, self-deprecating man closing in on his 80th birthday, makes for an engaging subject" and Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly called the collaboration between Gehry and Pollack, "a mutual admiration society."

DVD Special Features

• Q & A with director Sydney Pollack
• Previews
• 1.78 Anamorphic Widescreen