MOVIEMAKER.COM 29PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALLEN FRASER / LIONSGATE
ing on the beach from like, two hours ago.”
It made them more determined to find
the right star. Allen, a 20-year-old Columbia
University writing student who had previ-
ously only been in a short film, made their
short list.
At one point during the decision-making
process, the producers told her over Skype
that there were a lot of stunts involved, and
joked that she should start prepping like
Rocky Balboa. But Allen hadn’t seen Rocky.
“I felt very, very old,” Qasabian said.
“And then, like a week later, she sent the
three of us a video of her, scored with the
Rocky theme, prepping on her arm bike
and using her Harry Potter wand,
because she’s a big Harry Potter nerd
and so are we.”
She got the part. Soon she was in Los
Angeles, meeting Sarah Paulson.
Chaganty, Ohanian, and Qasabian met at
the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Ohanian
was a teacher’s assistant who noticed that
one of his students, Chaganty, was “reallysmart, really talented, had really strong
ideas.” They started collaborating. Qasabian
and Ohanian, meanwhile, had met at an
Armenian networking event—“very glamor-
ous,” she deadpans.
Qasabian was working on another film
when Chaganty and Ohanian asked her to
join them on Searching.
“I had absolutely zero time,” she recalled.
“But I remember I read the very first draft.
I think it was like an outline at the time.
I just remember thinking about the person
who would produce it if it wasn’t me and
feeling really jealous of that imaginary
person. So I said yes. And then ended up
producing essentially two things at once,
but it was the best decision I ever made.”
Orson Welles has been widely quoted
as once saying, “The enemy of art is the
absence of limitations.” With Searching
and Run, Chaganty, Ohanian, and Qasabian
have used cinematic limitations to their
advantage, finding drama in the constraints
of a small screen and an isolated home.SPRING 2020It’s matched their creative goal of telling
small stories with the emotional resonance
of big ones.
“I’ve always wanted to not be the director
that went from a sub-$1 million movie to
a kajillion- dollar movie, but rather to take
these slow measured steps,” says Chaganty.
But like many of us, they may be getting
tired of being so pent-up.
“I think our next movie is going to be like
the biggest open-world movie of all time,”
says Ohanian. MMMovie release dates are in flux lately, so
please check MovieMaker.com for updates
on when Run will be released.KIERA ALLEN AS CHLOE AND SARAH PAULSON
AS DIANE IN RUNON THE SET OF RUN WITH ALLEN, DIRECTOR
ANEESH CHAGANTY (WEARING GLASSES),
AND PRODUCERS NATALIE QASABIAN AND SEV
OHANIAN.