Me and Orson Welles

In New York City in the fall of 1937, 17-year-old high-school student Richard Samuels meets Orson Welles, who unexpectedly offers him the role of Lucius in Caesar, the first production of his new Mercury Theatre repertory company. The company is immersed in rehearsals at its Broadway theater. Charmed by Welles, Richard infers that he is having an affair with the leading actress while his wife is pregnant. Richard finds ambitious production assistant Sonja Jones is attracted to him.

Welles tells Richard a few days before the premiere that he is worried, because he has recently had nothing but good luck; he fears that he will finally have bad luck with the premiere, and that the play will be a flop. During rehearsals Richard accidentally sets off the sprinkler system, soaking the entire theatre. When accused by Welles he denies having anything to do with the deluge, and suggests that the catastrophe was the bad luck that Welles needed to get out of the way.

Welles decides the entire production crew would benefit from a coupling game, and Richard cheats to ensure he is paired with Sonja. Richard spends the night with Sonja, but becomes jealous when she spends the next night with Welles. He confronts Welles, mentions his pregnant wife, and is fired. An apparent reconciliation follows, and Richard performs on the first night. The anti-fascist adaptation of Caesar is a huge success, but after the premiere, Richard is told that Welles only needed him in order to secure a successful first-night production and, that done, he has again been fired.

The broken-hearted but wiser Richard spontaneously recites lines from Julius Caesar in his high school English class, to his classmates' applause. He later meets up with a likely new girlfriend, Gretta Adler, a young aspiring playwright whom he met in a music store at the film's beginning. With Richard's and Sonja's assistance, Adler manages to get a story published in The New Yorker, and she invites Richard out, to help her celebrate.

Arthur Anderson (Lucius) and Orson Welles (Brutus) in the Mercury Theatre's Broadway production of Caesar (1937)

Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo Jr. adapted the film's screenplay from Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name about a teenager (in reality, the 15-year-old Arthur Anderson, who played Lucius in Welles' production[4]) involved in the founding of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre.[5] After receiving funding from CinemaNX, a production company backed by the Isle of Man film fund, and an offer from Framestore Features to co-finance the film, Richard Linklater came on board to direct Me and Orson Welles.[5] Zac Efron signed on as the lead in early January 2008,[6] claiming he decided to take the role of Richard Samuels because "It's a completely different project than I've ever done before,"[7] while Claire Danes joined the cast as the protagonist's love interest Sonja Jones in late January.[5]

In the theatre, Christian McKay had portrayed Orson Welles in the one-man play Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles at a number of venues, including the Edinburgh Festival[8] and King's Head (London).[9] He reprised the role in the U.S. at the 2007 "Brits Off Broadway" festival,[10] where Linklater saw his performance and then cast McKay as Welles, retaining him over the subsequent objections of the project's producer.[11]

Me and Orson Welles underwent filming in the Isle of Man, Pinewood Studios, London and New York from February to April 2008.[13] Filming in London commenced first in mid-February,[7] before scenes in the Isle of Man were shot February 24–March 14, 2008, where filming locations included Gaiety Theatre and various other parts of Douglas.[14][15] During filming in Douglas, Efron and Danes believe they sighted a ghost, or "supernatural" being, outside a window on set at Gaiety Theatre.[16]

Filming in Britain resumed in late March for six weeks at Pinewood Studios.[17] Other locations included Crystal Palace Park, where a façade of New York's Mercury Theatre was set up for a scene.[18] Actor James Tupper claimed that the best replica of an old New York theater was in England, while many of the actors who filled the company were from the Royal Shakespeare Company.[17] The production crew only briefly visited New York; photographs were taken and footage shot to be added into the film as digital effects. Every exterior shot was filmed on a single street built at Pinewood Studios with a green screen at one end; different angles and slightly altered set designs were used between shots to make the street appear different each time.[19]

Select footage of Me and Orson Welles was screened at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival[20] where financing and sales agency Cinetic Media were looking to sell the film to a distributor.[21] Before its Cannes premiere, The Hollywood Reporter predicted that the film would attract distributors with Linklater's résumé and Efron's teen "heartthrob" status to appeal to a younger demographic,[22] but Me and Orson Welles failed to secure any American acquisitions.[20] Its first full screening was at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, running September 4–13, 2008.[23] In spite of its failure to find a buyer at Cannes, Toronto's co-director Cameron Bailey predicted that it would be "one of the hottest films" in the lineup,[24] Anne Thompson of Variety magazine also believed that the film would be one of "only a few lucky winners" to secure a seven-figure deal.[25]

Again, however, the film's distribution rights were not purchased and it went on to show at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.[26] In May 2009, production company CinemaNX announced that it would distribute Me and Orson Welles itself, sharing marketing and advertising costs with Vue Entertainment.[27] Freestyle Releasing was hired as the US distributor with Hart/Lunsford Pictures in exchange for participation in revenues paid the $4 million prints and advertising cost.[1]

It was screened at the Woodstock Film Festival in September 2009, where Linklater was honored as the winner of the 2009 Maverick Award.[28] it opened the New Orleans Film Festival on October 9, 2009;[29] and it was screened at the St. Louis International Film Festival in November 2009.[30]

The film was released in the US on November 25, 2009,[31] and in the UK on December 4, 2009.[32] IndieWIRE reported, "The do-it-yourself release of Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles got off to a very nice start, averaging $15,910 from its four theaters, the highest PTA of all debuting films. ... While Orson Welles is one the first examples of such a high-profile film going to the DIY route, if it proves successful, it's going to be done a lot more in the future."[33]

On August 17, 2010, Warner released Me and Orson Welles on DVD (ISBN 1-4198-9754-3) for exclusive sale at Target in the United States.[48] Entertainment One Films released the DVD in Canada on the same date.[49] The film has not been released on Blu-ray in the U.S., though it is available in the format in Italy and Germany.

The original motion picture soundtrack for Me and Orson Welles was released on CD November 24, 2009, by Decca Records (5323762).[50]

1. "This Year's Kisses", Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
2. "I'm Shooting High", Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra
3. "Sing, Sing, Sing", Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
4. "One O'Clock Jump", Count Basie and His Orchestra
5. "Ode to Krupa", Michael J McEvoy
6. "Let's Pretend There's a Moon", Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra featuring Eddi Reader
7. "Let's Pretend There's a Moon", Christian McKay
8. "Let Yourself Go", Ginger Rogers
9. "Solitude", The Mills Brothers
10. "Aftershow Jam", Michael J McEvoy featuring Huw Morgan on trumpet
11. "They Can't Take That Away from Me", Fred Astaire
12. "In a Sentimental Mood" (Instrumental), Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
13. "The Music Goes Round and Round", Tommy Dorsey and His Clambake Seven
14. "I Surrender Dear", Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra featuring Eddi Reader
15. "You Made Me Love You", Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra featuring Eddi Reader
16. "Have You Met Miss Jones?", James Langton and His Solid Senders
17. "Sing, Sing, Sing", James Langton and His Solid Senders

• Me and Orson Welles at IMDb
• Me and Orson Welles at Box Office Mojo
• Me and Orson Welles at Rotten Tomatoes
• Me and Orson Welles at Metacritic
• Interview with Arthur Anderson