Documentary, New York, NY Director(s), Dance, Returning Filmmaker
Cinematographer and documentarian Jody Lee Lipes crafts an intimate, fly-on-the-wall documentary offering a rare peek into the highly-guarded world of professional ballet. The film shadows Justin Peck, the 25-year old choreographer of the New York City Ballet, as he undertakes the Herculean task of creating the company’s 422nd original piece while simultaneously fulfilling his role as a Corps de Ballet member. Lipes chronicles Peck’s creative process from its embryonic stages to its highly anticipated premiere, quietly observing as he balances a roster of musicians, designers, and dancers from this famed institution. Ballet 422 is a powerful celebration of the skill and endurance of Peck and his fellow NYCB dancers—as well as those who remain hidden in the wings.
-Liza Domnitz
CAST & CREDITS
Directed by Jody Lee Lipes
Jody Lee Lipes’ directing credits include HBO's Girls, NY Export: Opus Jazz, a scripted adaptation of a Jerome Robbins’s Ballet that won an Audience Award at SXSW 2010, and vérité documentary Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be the Same, which premiered at SXSW and Hot Docs 2009. His first feature length screenplay, Confederacy, was selected for the 2011 Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the 2012 Sundance Directors Lab. Lipes is also an Independent Spirit Award-nominated director of photography, chosen as one of Variety's “Ten Cinematographers to Watch” in 2011. His cinematography credits include Martha Marcy May Marlene, Tiny Furniture, Afterschool, and Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell.
Director
Jody Lee Lipes
Producer
Anna Rose Holmer, Ellen Bar
Editor
Saela Davis
Associate Producer
Lauren Clifford
Cinematographer
Jody Lee Lipes, Nick Bentgen
Sound Designer
Mark Henry Phillips
Cast
New York City Ballet, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Sterling Hyltin, Amar Ramasar