The little studio that could

Tiny ThinkFilm is getting more attention that it's had in its young life, thanks to accolades and praise for "Half Nelson" and the performance of star Ryan Gosling as an inner city teacher struggling with drug addiction.

The gritty drama has been picking up film critic awards, and received Independent Spirit Swards nominations for best feature, best male lead for Gosling, best female lead for Shareeka Epps and best director for Ryan Fleck, who also shares a best first screenplay nomination with Anna Boden.

"Half Nelson" is considered a breakthrough for ThinkFilm. Previously, the company was best known for award-winning documentaries such as the Oscar-winning "Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids" and the Oscar-nominated "Murderball."

Founded by a group of former Lions Gate Entertainment executives, ThinkFilm was bought recently by Los Angeles entrepreneur and producer David Bergstein. Mark Urman, the company's top U.S. executive, spoke from ThinkFilm's offices in New York.

What's it's been like to get this kind of attention?

There's not a day that goes by when someone isn't in a position to read about "Half Nelson." That wasn't the case when it was in active theatrical release. Now, it's part of the dialogue. On the January-February cusp, when this film is about to come out on DVD, if the gods are good, it will be an Oscar nominee in a major category. It would make an enormous difference on DVD.

How important is this to the company as a whole?

It's very important to prove to important filmmakers and important actors that we will match their commitment with our own, and that we can get people to take their work seriously. We can get it noticed, and if we can get it noticed then they can may get the sort of accolades they probably are doing the film for in the first place.

This has been a very defining season for us. We've had an amazing run in a short period with four Oscar nominations in as many years. We started with nothing but a smile on our face, a shine on our shoes and our reputations.

When you first saw "Half Nelson" did you focus immediately on Ryan Gosling?

We thought that the performance would be the thing that would drive the film coming and going. When other people say it's an Oscar-caliber performance you can mount a campaign.

If you're doing it for vanity, for appearance's sake or because someone expects you to do it -- and you're us -- you're an idiot.

How involved has he been in promoting the film?

Ryan is a young man who is a serious actor. He's a little shy. Like many very serious actors, he's not that keen on doing publicity. He's not somebody you go to and say I need you to shill. But he's responding to invitations to show up to accept awards and do the interviews he's comfortable doing.

He's been a grateful, responsible and polite grown up by showing up and acknowledging the fact people are applauding him. People are often asked to strut. I don't think it's in Ryan.