An Update From Toronto!

Click
HERE to view a short interview with Evan Sneider (and Justin Lerner) regarding their recent trip to Toronto on behalf of "Girlfriend."

EVAN'S BLOG - PART V

ON ACTING

I have always loved acting since I was very young. The very first time I acted was in a recreational program's production of Delia Ephron's "How to Eat Like a Child". I still remember that I had so much fun. I continued to act in every school play possible and also in a youth summer theater program, Weston Drama Workshop in plays like "The Philadelphia Story," "Carousel" and "Camelot." My director from "The Philadelphia Story" asked me if I would like to be her assistant director on a middle school's production of "The Music Man." I enjoyed this experience and learned a lot and loved working with this director, but I knew that acting was what I liked to do most.

After post-graduation studies, besides working, I began auditioning for community theaters. So far I've been cast in more than 20 productions! Since I'm I'm a huge Stephen Sondheim fan, two of my favorites have been "Into the Woods" with the F.U.D.G.E. Theater Company and "Assassins" with The Lexington Players. When I was still in school, I was also cast as Doc's assistant in "West Side Story."

Before filming began on GIRLFRIEND, I was in "The Sound of Music" by Stephen Sondheim's mentor (Oscar Hammerstein and his partner Richard Rogers). I've also performed in "Annie Get Your Gun" whose music and lyrics were by Irving Berlin, but was originally produced by Rogers and Hammerstein. I've also appeared in Rogers and Hammersteins's "Cinderella" and "Carousel."

During my filming on THE REPLACEMENT CHILD and GIRLFRIEND I've learned that acting in film is very different than acting in theater. Justin explained it to me by saying acting in theater is 'big' and acting in film is 'small' and more true to real life. There are other differences in theater and film work too. When you are in a play you perform the same story from beginning to end at every performance. When you act in a film you usually prepare for different scenes of the story each day. This was really fun and great for me. I'd get a Call Sheet the night before so I could study the script and be prepared for the scenes we'd be shooting the next day.

Some nights after shooting Justin and I would talk on the phone in case I had any questions or concerns or in case he wanted to talk some things over with me. I think these talks were helpful to both of us.

Another difference between theater and film is the time you work. Plays I've been in have performances mostly at night with a couple of daytime matinees. On a film shoot you might have to work during the day and on other shooting days you might have to stay up all night to shoot night time scenes. As I mentioned earlier, while filming GIRLFRIEND I learned that in film you usually shoot scenes out of order, because of different actor's schedules and availability to work. I usually didn't have a problem with this except on one occasion. I had shot an emotional scene at the the start of filming, but the scene that made me feel emotional was shot much later. I had a hard time when the later scene was shot because I felt my character should respond emotionally. Justin talked me through it, reminding me that when the film was edited together, the way I felt my character should respond is exactly what would be seen. This was a learning experience for me.

I love both theater and film and hope to have the opportunity to do all kinds of acting. I'd like to do more film, television and theater work. I'd like to perform in dramas, comedies, romantic comedies or maybe even a soap opera like "Days of Our Lives"! I'd even like to do commercials and voice-over work!

CLOSING

I am so glad and so lucky that Justin's family moved to Wayland in our junior year of high school and that we became friends. It touches my heart so much that Jerad, Kristina, Justin and everyone that worked on GIRLFRIEND had belief in me and gave me this amazing opportunity. The entire experience of making GIRLFRIEND has been an amazing, incredible fun experience. I loved being able to act every day, to learn so many things and to get to work with everybody who worked on the film, in front of and behind the camera! Many of them are now dear friends to me that I love very much. I have so many wonderful memories of this amazing experience, acting in what I hope is only my first feature length film.

WRAP-UP. A MESSAGE FROM EVAN:

To Our Supporters, Fans, Family and Friends:

I'm looking forward to all the fun stuff that can happen for our film GIRLFRIEND. I want to thank every single person who has donated to Indiegogo to help get our wonderful film out to as large an audience as possible. Everyone who worked on the film put a lot of effort and love into it. Each of your donations will help spread the love and help us reach our goal. Please continue to tell about GIRLFRIEND and our Indiegogo campaign. "Like" GIRLFRIEND on Facebook and post the Girlfriend-Indiegogo link (www.indiegogo.com/girlfriend-2) there too! Spread the love by continuing to get the word out to family and friends. Every little bit helps and counts.

Again, thank you all so very much for your help and generosity to help GIRLFRIEND be released in as many theaters as possible.

Remember to keep checking in here on Shaun's blog and GIRLFRIEND's official site for updates.

EVAN'S BLOG - PART IV

After work on GIRLFRIEND was complete, and a little waiting time, you can imagine how excited everyone from the film was to learn that GIRLFRIEND was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival!!!

But before I write about TIFF I want to tell you a story about a hard time for me.

SHAUN (my man) AND ALOT OF REALLY NICE PEOPLE

Long after filming ended, when the GIRLFRIEND trailer was first up on YouTube, I read some very nice comments and some not very nice comments about me. One night after seeing a lot of only mean comments I called Shaun O'Banion (my man) because I was very upset by these mean comments about me. We had a long talk on the phone and Shaun helped me so much. After I spoke to Shaun I felt much better. I also spoke to Jeff Castelluccio (my friend) who made me feel better too. I feel very close to both of them. They are such good friends to me. This time was very difficult for me, but I learned that with friends like Shaun, Jeff, Justin, other people from the film, friends and family that were loving kind and supportive to me, I know I can get through times like this. But even more kindness was coming my way.

After this experience, Shaun spread the word about what I went through reading the mean comments about me on YouTube, and took the time to collect encouraging loving messages from around the world (some from many of you) and created an amazing scrapbook for me. Shaun wrote me a letter that I treasure, and filled this scrapbook with the wonderful messages he collected from so many kind and loving people, complete strangers and family and friends. I even got a message from Sylvester Stallone!

Shaun also included photos from filming and all kinds of scrapbook film decorations. He never told me about this because he wanted it to be a surprise. Late one afternoon, when we were all in Toronto, resting up before one of our screenings, Shaun called to see if he and Justin could come to our room because they had something for me. That's when Shaun gave me the amazing scrapbook (and one of the movie's posters!). Shaun told me he wanted to use the same internet that caused me pain to help make me feel better. I thank Shaun so much and want to thank all the people who took the time and sent wonderful comments to me. It really means so much to me and helped me so much. I treasure the scrapbook and Shaun's and everyone's kindness. This experience taught me that although there are many mean people in this world, there are many more nice people. I just wish everyone would be kind to each other.

TORONTO AND TIFF

All I can tell you about Toronto and TIFF is that it was AMAZING! If you haven't read Shaun's 3 part blog about this experience yet, please read it. You will get to see and read about what a wonderful fun time it was in Toronto. If you go to his September 2010 archives Shaun does a wonderful job telling a lot more details (like when I met Harvey Weinstein!) and has photos you won't see anywhere else.

Besides all the interviews, photo shoots, parties and of course the 3 screenings, it was so much fun to get to see so many people I had worked with on GIRLFRIEND again. It was such a fun reunion with everyone. I also met new friends Jeremy and Judd who worked on PR for the film. Of course I loved being so busy with so many interviews and all the attention, but the reason we were at TIFF was for GIRLFRIEND's premiere.

All three screenings were SOLD OUT, we got standing ovations, and positive reviews. How perfect is that?! It was a lot of fun doing the Q&As after the screenings too. I loved when I made people laugh. It was a long but really fun day when reporter Steve Pond, from 'The Wrap' entertainment website, followed me throughout my day. He also interviewed me and called me "TIFF's New Star!" He is a really nice guy.

It was so hard for me to leave Toronto, but I think it was hard for everyone. We all had such a wonderful time and everyone loved our movie.


CHECK BACK SOON FOR PART V!

S

EVAN'S BLOG - PART III

It was so very much fun working on GIRLFRIEND.

I've learned so much from this experience and working with the other actors. In my first film with Justin, THE REPLACEMENT CHILD, I really liked the other actors and others who worked on the film too, but I didn't get to be with them as much as I was with everyone from GIRLFRIEND since my part was very small. Working on GIRLFRIEND on our 20 day shoot, I felt more connected to my co-stars and everyone else on the film and had the chance to learn so much from them.

"THAT'S A WRAP," THE PARTY AND SAYING GOODBYE

The day came when the final scene was filmed and Justin said "That's a wrap!". It was fun to celebrate with everyone later that night at the wrap party, but I was also sad for it to end and to have to say goodbye to everyone. (Of course I didn't know then that I'd get to see a lot of these people later at TIFF).

Since then I've learned there was more to come, and not just Toronto. This is the 'after filming ends' work that I talked about.

I did know that Justin would be back in California with the film's editor, Jeff Castelluccio (who I hadn't met yet), editing the film. I understood that this was going to take some time, but I didn't know that I'd still have some fun stuff to do.

OUR TRIP TO NEW YORK (BROOKLYN), LOOPING/ADR

A few months later Justin called me and said he and I would need to travel to New York for some ADR (that stands for additional dialogue recording) or looping.

Boy was that a fun experience for me, and I learned a lot! Justin and I left Boston very early one morning, drove to New York and drove home later that same night.

In New York that day I was so happy to see my dear friend Shaun (my man!) again. Shaun introduced me to the film's editor Jeff Castelluccio (my friend) for the first time. Then I met Daniel Perlin from Perlin Studios where we would be working. Daniel is a very nice guy. Besides working with me on ADR he showed me and taught me a lot, also letting me hear how things would finally sound.

Our amazingly talented editor Jeff Castelluccio and I became fast and close friends. (Jeff and Shaun have been good friends for awhile). Jeff said he felt like he kind of knew me because he had been watching footage of me for months while editing. He is such a talented and gifted editor. He lives in L.A. now, but was originally from New York. He is a super friendly and funny guy. We have continued our friendship and still keep in touch. We have a lot of private jokes together. Jeff has the best laugh and I love to make him laugh (no matter what......!!!!) Sorry, private joke. I couldn't resist. If Jeff is reading this right now he's laughing A LOT!

After we finished our work at Perlin Studios, Justin, Shaun, Jeff and I went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant (I love Italian food and Mexican food). Craig Divino (my acting coach) who was living in N.Y. joined us for dinner when our work was done.

Later for dessert we went to another place and a longtime friend of mine and Justin's, Dan Zaitchik joined us. Dan, a Wayland classmate of ours, is pursuing his music career, living in New York now. It was such an incredibly fun day. Just like I was sad for filming to end, I wished this day didn't have to end. But, on the ride home Justin had a surprise in store for me.

First Justin and I spoke on the phone to producers Jerad and Kristina Anderson which was fun. Then Justin said he had to make another call. Justin knows that I am a huge fan and regular viewer of the soap opera 'Days of Our Lives' and that I was very familiar with two actors who had been on the show that Justin happened to know...

After Justin talked for a little while he said "There's someone here who wants to say hello to you." It was Rachel Melvin who had played the character Chelsea Brady! I was so excited to get to talk to her! It was a dream come true! We talked for 20-25 minutes and Rachel is so very nice. She and Blake Berris (who played the character Nick Fallon on DOOL) actually did voice-over work as soap opera actors on GIRLFRIEND. Since I'm a DOOL fan, that's really fun for me.

Since then, Rachel, Blake and I have emailed back and forth a few times. When Rachel first emailed me and said "I am very familiar with who you are.", I was so excited. Of course I was very familiar with who she and Blake are! They are both very nice people.

After arriving home from New York late that night, it was time to be patient again, or as Jerad and I always say, it was time to "Go with the flow!"

Check back soon for the next part of EVAN'S BLOG.

S

EVAN'S BLOG - PART II

FILMING BEGINS

Finally the exciting day arrived in September 2009. The first person from the film that I met is my now wonderful friend Shaun O'Banion (my man!). Shaun and I had a few days to get to know each other before filming started which was fun.

Amanda Plummer came a couple of days before we started filming so we could get to know each other better. We had costume fittings, and just spent time together in town and at our hotel. She is an amazing actress who knew from her experience that this would be very important. I am so grateful and think she was wonderful to take that extra time for us to get to know each other better so we would be better prepared and natural as mother and son when filming started. I am so lucky for all she taught me, but also because now I consider her a good friend.

Working with Jackson Rathbone was so much fun! He came to Boston to film GIRLFRIEND when he was also filming ECLIPSE in Vancouver, so he was on a plane flying back and forth ALOT. He is one busy guy!

The first day Jackson arrived to begin filming his role of Russ was very exciting for me. I actually called it "Rathbone Day!". He worked very hard since he had a lot to do on the days he could be in Boston. I think his performance in GIRLFRIEND is amazing. His character Russ can be a jerk, but in real life Jackson is a really nice and friendly guy, and now I think of him like a brother. I loved working with him. I've also had alot of fun when Jackson and our wonderful producer Jerad Anderson have had me introduce their amazing band '100 Monkeys', who play wonderful, fun music. (They also scored GIRLFRIEND!) I am so glad and grateful that Jackson put so much time and energy into GIRLFRIEND. I know he had to drink a lot of coffee to do it and had to get his sleep on the airplane trips to Vancouver and back to Boston too.

Shannon Woodward is a person with a good heart and is also a talented young woman.

Shannon arrived a day or two after Amanda, so we had a little time to spend together also, so we could get to know each other a little bit, like going out to breakfast with Amanda and to Dunkin Donuts alone. During filming, before our scenes together, Shannon would talk with me about how her character, Candy, was feeling in the scene, in general and also her feeling toward my character, Evan Grey. This was helpful to me when I was acting in the scene with her. I wish her the best on her new show, RAISING HOPE, and on any other future projects too.

The night before filming began, Justin and his family hosted a dinner where all the people who would be working together on GIRLFRIEND got to meet each other. The dinner was so much fun and everyone was so nice. Boy, was I excited for the next day, when filming of GIRLFRIEND was actually going to start!

ACTION!!!

The first day arrived and I was driven to the set, went to see June Suepunpuck for my costume and then Jill Sanders for my makeup (Jill had also done my makeup on THE REPLACEMENT CHILD). I was prepared for my scenes and I couldn't wait to get started. Every day was so much fun. Everyone works very hard when you make a film. Sometimes the days can be long and the weather can be bad, but I don't mind it at all because I love acting so much! I loved the experience no matter how long the days were or how bad the weather was.

I would like to talk about some of the other actors I enjoyed working with very much, besides my co-stars.

First, in a smaller role as a friend of Evan Grey's named Andy, is my lifelong friend in real life, Dan Turnbull. Dan and I met each other in kindergarten and he has been such a wonderful friend who has done so much for me in my life. I value his friendship very very much. Another actor in a small role has been my friend in real life since 5th grade. That is Darren McDonald who plays Andy's brother, Darren. He's a great guy and a good friend too. I think Dan and Darren did amazing work in GIRLFRIEND. Their roles may be small, but there is a saying in acting..."there are no small parts, only small actors". They were so good together. I don't want to give too many details to spoil it, but I know people will see what I mean when they see the movie.

I also got to work with Dan's real life dad, Joe Turnbull again. Joe actually played my dad and boss in THE REPLACEMENT CHILD. I think Joe did a wonderful job in both films. It was very comfortable for me to work with Joe since I've known him in real life for a long time.

Playing the role of my Uncle Jeremy in GIRLFRIEND is Seth Chatfield. It was fun working with Seth. He is such an amazing and kind person. Besides acting, Seth is a talented musician and singer. He was also the Production Designer for GIRLFRIEND.

I first met Harrison Lees, who plays my boss in GIRLFRIEND when I acted in THE REPLACEMENT CHILD, where he was the Production Designer. As my boss in GIRLFRIEND he is not very nice, but in real life Harrison is a very nice person.

Then of course there is Nate Krawshuk who played Simon, Candy's son. I first met Nate when I came to read with the different children who were auditioning for the part of Simon. Everyone did a good job, but I was very happy that Nate was cast. Nate did a great job as Simon and was very well behaved and professional on the set. He is a sweet little boy. We got to know each other a little more in makeup. I learned he likes to play Star Wars and other games as well. Nate and his family are all very nice.

Making a movie takes a lot of people, not just actors. Some people work on a film way before filming starts, a lot of people during filming and others once filming is done. Everyone's job is important, so I wanted to mention some of the other talented people who worked on GIRLFRIEND. Of course there is my friend from junior year of high school, the talented director, Justin Lerner. Our wonderful producers Jerad and Kristina Anderson, and Shaun O'Banion, and Co-Producers Sarah Steinberg Heller and Jackson Rathbone. Associate Producer Scott Kirkley, but there are so many others too. Sweet and loving June Suepunpuck (costumes); wonderful Jill Sanders (makeup); nice and amazingly talented Cinematographer Quyen Tran; Sound Mixer, Eric Bautista who had worked on Steve Carrell's 'Evan Almighty' and was so funny because he'd call me Evan Almighty on the set; 1st Assistant Director Mike Whitecar who I would call Dr. Whitecar because when I had a cold he made sure to get my medicine; gaffer, Tom Clancy who is a really nice guy and would joke with me asking me to sing the morning song ("Oh What A Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma); sweet and caring Nicole Rivera and Cecilia Chapman; and of course wonderful Kathy Conzen, Kristina Anderson's mom who was in charge of craft services. Not only did Kathy make sure I had nice warm drinks and warm noodle soup on cold days on the set, she became like a surrogate mom to me on set, making sure I got my cold medicine on time. She worked hard and took such good care of everyone.

When filming wrapped there were more people who helped make GIRLFRIEND, like our amazing editor Jeff Castelluccio; Daniel Perlin who did our Sound Design and Mixing in Brooklyn. He also did ADR with me and of course the 100 Monkeys wonderful music. There are so many more people who helped too. Too many to list. I just think I am so very lucky because everyone was so very nice.

Check back for Part III.

Something Very Cool Starts Now.

Hello to everyone who reads this blog. Today is the start of something very special.

A few weeks ago, I asked my good friend Evan Sneider if he would consider blogging about his experiences working as the star of GIRLFRIEND. Lucky for all of us, he accepted.

He has a lot to say and so I've decided to tease all of you and break it up into installments, the first of which will begin right now. So, without further ado, I turn it over to Mr. Sneider. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

AN INTRODUCTION

Shaun O'Banion (my man!) asked me if I would write something for his blog telling about my experience acting in and working on my first feature film.  I hope you enjoy reading it.  Thank you for making this offer to me, Shaun.  You're such a dear friend.
 
I've loved every minute of GIRLFRIEND.

Before acting in GIRLFRIEND, my first film work was in Justin Lerner's thesis film THE REPLACEMENT CHILD. Before that, my acting experience was in theater, but I'll tell you more about that later.

Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. I've learned that it is the same when a movie is made.  It takes a lot of people to "put it together" (a lyric from my favorite composer, Stephen Sondheim).  Some people work on a movie way before filming starts, alot of people work during filming, and some others after filming ends, but first you need a script.  I thought I'd start by telling you my experience of the start of GIRLFRIEND..

THE BEGINNING

One day I had plans to go to lunch with my friends Justin Lerner and Dan Turnbull.  During lunch Justin and Dan started talking with me about doing a film that I would have a starring role in and wanted to know how I would feel about that.  This touched my heart SO much and it was a real WOW moment for me.  I was SO excited to think I would have this kind of opportunity.  I loved acting in THE REPLACEMENT CHILD, so to have the chance to act again with a really big role was SO incredible.  I told them that I would LOVE IT, and I couldn't wait to get started!

A funny thing happened later that night.  I was telling my Mom about my lunchtime conversation.  Knowing how the thought of starring in a movie would be a dream come true for me, and how unlikely things like that happen, she thought possibly I was doing some wishful thinking, or had misunderstood. She quickly learned it was really true.

But first, Justin had to write a script. The story of GIRLFRIEND. or more the character of Evan Grey is based on me, but GIRLFRIEND. is a work of fiction, not my true life story.  I have some things in common with my character, but many differences too.

After some script revisions Justin and others were busy with casting director Brad Gilmore, auditioning people and making many decisions.  More planning began with many people doing many things, more than I totally understand, but I know producers were busy needing to get $$$ and make alot of other arrangements and decisions, hiring many talented people so GIRLFRIEND. could actually be filmed.  It takes alot of people, not just actors to make a movie. 

I was so excited and looking forward to getting to work on the film.  To get to act and to get to meet and work with alot of new people.
I was very happy when I found out that I would actually have some things to do before filming began.  One was to help for casting and one was to help me prepare for my role.

CASTING

Justin called me one day to tell me they were going to be looking for the right person to play Simon and a few other roles too and were holding auditions.  Justin was flying east with producers Jerad and Krstina Anderson and our script supervisor Giulia Setembrino.  Our east coast producer Sarah Steinberg Heller would also be at the auditions. They wanted me to come to the auditions to help by "reading" with the children auditioning for the part of Simon.  They also wanted me to "read" with Seth Chatfield who they wanted for the part of Jeremy, Joe Turnbull who they wanted for the role of Willie Jones and Darren McDonald who they wanted for the role of Darren Jones, Willie's son. 

It was so much fun helping with the auditions.  It was such a fun day also because it was the first day that I met Jerad, Kristina, Sarah and Seth who have become such dear friends to me.  (I had already been good friends with Joe and Darren for a long time.)  Since Sarah and Seth live on the east coast, we've been able to see each other even after filming wrapped.  Everyone has been so wonderful to me.  I couldn't wait for the day when we'd be working together on the film.  On another day, I drove around with Justin and he showed me houses and other places in the area where we'd be shooting the film.  That was fun too.  On a seperate trip back to Wayland, Justin introduced me to Craig Divino, who was a friend of Justin's from Cornell.  Craig is a talented actor, but Justin wanted us to meet ahead of time because Craig was going to be my acting coach. (Craig had also worked as the fight co-ordinator on Justin's film THE REPLACEMENT CHILD).  We got to talk a little bit about relaxation exercises he wanted to teach me and also talked about what to expect when we started filming.  Craig was very helpful and I learned alot from him.  Craig and I have also talked with each other about our acting and theater work.

Check back for PART TWO: FILMiNG BEGINS.

Re: GIRLFRIEND MEETS INDIEGOGO.

Some of you have been wondering why, at this stage, we need to raise funding for GIRLFRIEND...

This may give you some indication: Kevin Smith revealed at Sundance last week that, due to the costs of marketing and publicity, it took 7 years for his first film (CLERKS) to get out of the red and into profit. That film cost, in total, $27,575.00. Think about that. A film which cost under thirty thousand dollars took SEVEN YEARS to turn a profit.

I bring up profit for only one reason: Because the costs of setting bookings, getting prints made, placing ads in local newspapers, buying ad time on tv, cutting a new trailer and making new versions of the poster... are in many cases more expensive than making the actual film.

Those of us who make indie films are used to the numbers that Kevin Smith spoke about. DAKOTA SKYE is not in profit yet. Hell, Paramount would have you believe they only recently broke into profit on TITANIC – a film which grossed over a billion dollars worldwide!

Profits, obviously, are what repay the costs I mentioned earlier. But, if you can’t get into enough theaters and DVD ends up your only option, the idea of repaying those costs virtually disintegrates.

So we had to think very carefully about what to do next.

We could have sat back and hoped that, in our initial playdates and cities, we'd make enough of a splash to prove that there is an audience for this film – an eager fanbase hungry for a story that is not a sequel or a set-up for a franchise; That there is still an interest in indie art-films, Jackson Rathbone’s career or even a film which offers a role to someone with a developmental disability in which he isn't playing just a character with a single line, but is, in fact, the star. We could've done that… waited patiently, holding our breath… but we didn't. We couldn't.

We want to share the film with you, the audience, and allow as many people to see it on a big screen as possible – to hold off the inevitable journey to DVD so that the film can be experienced, the way it was meant to be – in a darkened theater with a bucket of popcorn.

So wait, what does this mean? Basically, it means that your donation allows us to immediately confront the costs involved with marketing, publicity and preparing the film for release.

In the last few years, the film markets (like others) have turned, and getting your film out into the world got a lot more difficult. The model for how to do it has changed – but there isn’t really a new model to follow. It’s just kind of like, “hey, kid, figure out what you think works best for your film.”

Kevin Smith (who I mentioned earlier) is distributing his own film, charging $68.25 for nosebleed seats and up to $142.70 for a screening of RED STATE at Radio City Music Hall… and he’s not doing any publicity beyond Twitter - that's how much prints, marketing and publicity costs! To recoup the budget of his film (a little under $4 million), plus prints and a road trip, he needs to charge those prices for a venue with 5,931 seats (according to Wikipedia).

Our method, after a lot of thought and discussion was to come to you, our supporters – people who have been contacting us constantly to ask when and where they can see the film.

You are, arguably, a smaller group than, say, Kevin Smith’s View Askew fanbase, but no less mobilized. And so we have now partnered with IndieGoGo, one of the premiere crowd-sourcing sites on the web.



Believe me, I can see how this may have seemed odd to you at first, but with Sundance recently announcing a strategic partnership with Kickstarter and crowd-sourcing quickly becoming a great avenue for financing projects, we felt like there was no longer a stigma attached.

So there you have it. If you want to see the film, and you believe in what you’ve heard and seen in the trailer and online reviews… if you want to support as a fan of the various cast, or you just believe that Justin Lerner may be a filmmaker to keep your eye on… then do what feels right. If you’re flat broke, don’t feel bad. We understand… we’re indie filmmakers, remember?

Even if you can’t support the film monetarily, you can still help by spreading the word. If you send enough people this link, IndieGoGo or you paste the widget from the site into your email and your friends or family each make a small contribution, the movie may just come to your town anyway! And, in case you’ve forgotten, once we reach our goal, we hope to make a shared contribution to NDSS (National Down Syndrome Society) and NDSC (National Down Syndrome Congress).

In closing I’ll just say thank you again… for your support and your belief in us and the film. The film is for you. We can't wait for you to see it.


Shaun

Re: GIRLFRIEND NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!

Hey, guys. Been a while. Sorry I've been away, but trying to mount new projects is a time consuming process!

I'm back today to ask for your support. As you may or nay not know, our film GIRLFRIEND played to sold out capacity crowds at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. We got rave reviews and Evan was a huge hit at the after-party's... but now that we've had our Festival Premiere, we need to get the film out to you, the audience, in as many places as we can. To do that, we're going to need your help.

Don't be alarmed. We do, in fact, have a great distributor in New York who are 100% behind us and the film we're all so proud of. Where IndieGoGo comes into play is in helping us to reach the widest possible audience by (hopefully) coming to more cities before eventually heading to streaming, home video and VOD.

To that end, we are partnering with the distributor to help facilitate our distribution strategy so we can reach our goals. All we need are the financial means to pull the trigger so we can make it happen.

Our goal is to raise 100k to promote and release the film theatrically, get into more festivals, print and sell DVD’s and build a website to stream the film online.

Anything we raise beyond that will be used to bring the film to more cities.

Hitting our goal means we'll be able to do more to get the film out there and in front of your eyes. The cool thing is, we've pulled together some really great incentives - and you'll be supporting us and the film.

Think of this like Paramount's campaign for the first "Paranormal Activity" where they asked YOU, the audience, to "demand" the film in your city, only without the big studio and without demands.

So get involved! Hit up IndieGoGo and make a contribution. You may just win something! But more importantly, you'll be helping us deliver this great film.

Thanks in advance.

Shaun

Re: The Toronto International Film Festival Pt. 3

Let's see. Where did I leave off. Oh. Right. Press day. So, here's a couple videos from the Press Day - Thanks to luckyj525 for posting these.





As we completed our Press Day at the InterContinental, we noticed a group of paparazzi waiting outside the hotel. Jackson and Evan went out ahead of us. This is one of the shots:





Evan finally finished his Press commitment back at our hotel room doing a phone interview with ArtistsOnDemand. After that, we told him to get some rest. It was going to be a loooong night.

The plan was for everyone to meet up in our hotel lobby at 6:45pm before heading over to Scotiabank.


Once everyone was in the lobby (or, mostly everyone) I gathered people together for a couple photos.



In the first photo (L-R) Harrison Lees (Production Designer/Cast Member), Justin Lerner (Writer/Director/Producer), Dan Turnbull (Cast), Evan Sneider (Cast), Joe Turnbull (Cast/Production Supervisor), Me, Jeff Castelluccio (Editor/Post Producer) and Craig Wesley Divino (Mr. Sneider's Acting Coach/Cast).




In the second photo: (L-R) Cecelia Chapman (Production Assistant), June Suepunpuck (Costume Designer), Leah Cooper (Unit Photographer), Jackie Lerner (Mother of the Director) and Nicole Rivera (Production Assistant and my cousin).

And, because I know Evan will check out this blog...




And because she wasn't in the other shots...

(L-R) June Suepunpuck (Costume Designer) and Quyen Tran (Director of Photography).




Finally, the time had come. We all walked over to the Scotiabank and headed into the theater. We had sold out again (which, of course, feels really good).



For me, this was the best screening we had at the Festival. When the lights came up at the end, the audience gave us a sustained applause that continued as Justin invited the cast and key crew members up onto the stage. When Justin announced Evan, the entire audience got to their feet - and it lasted, I would guess, about two minutes.

Here is a good portion of the Q & A. (Thanks to Jaime Mosher for posting this!)



After the screening, Evan stepped out into the theatre lobby to a crowd of fans. He spent a good thirty minutes signing autographs and taking photos with people who were so happy to congratulate him on his extraordinary performance...





I think, for me personally though, the best part of the experience was that there were a number of Down Syndrome people in the audience (as well as parents of children with Down Syndrome) and Justin, Evan and I had a great opportunity to meet them and to hear their stories.

People with learning disabilities are so often undervalued in our society, or lumped together as a group that is only capable of a certain contribution to the world - Evan breaks those barriers and his performance in the film is proof positive that even those who may be viewed as "different" are capable of so much more than they are often given credit for... and it goes beyond the Special Olympics campaign.

Evan is defiant. He is strong and he is, above all, talented. An artist. So, if any of you are reading this who came out to see the film and either have Down Syndrome or any other learning disability (or maybe are a parent, relative or friend of someone like Evan), I hope that he (and the film) are able to help you in the future - to realize that anything is possible.

After the screening, we all walked back over to our hotel, where the plan was to reconvene before heading over to the after party at the Brant House.



TIFF was providing us with several Audi vehicles for the party, so I loaded Evan into one, Justin and the lovely Sarah Carter (an actress friend of ours who happened to be shooting a new Spielberg produced series in town) in another, Shannon and actor Andrew Garfield in the third and finally the members of 100 Monkeys into a stretch limo before leading the rest of our group over on foot. Funnily enough, the traffic was so thick that those of us who walked ended up getting there before the cars!

Once the cars arrived, we all made our way down the red carpet where the media had set up. Here are a couple (brief) clips I made of the interviews:







Some of you may be wondering why I am not in any interviews... or maybe not? Well. I'll explain anyway.

There are certain celebrity producers. The Wachowski's (formerly The Wachowski Brothers), Joel Silver, (the aforementioned) Harvey Weinstein, Steven Spielberg, Scott Rudin... but with the exception of Silver, Rudin and Weinstein the others were known first for their directing or writing. Rudin and Silver are known (aside from their impressive resume) for their tantrums and screaming. But you see, producing is the hidden art. Most people don't really know what it is a producer does. If you've read this site in previous posts, I tried to paint a picture of what the job is, but even in describing it, it can be... nebulous. That's partly because the dynamics of the job can change dramatically from project to project. All of this is to say that, for the most part, the only place you'll see a producer talk is on DVD Special Features. And at the Oscar podium for Best Picture, where it is the producer who accepts the statue.

Inside, the Brant House is pretty great. It's a huge venue and has an upstairs area reserved as the "VIP" section. We had an open bar all night and the staff there was great.

Couple more pics. In the first, we have (L-R) Jackson, Evan, Justin and Shannon.



In the next one (L-R) we have Jackson, June and Jason Olivier, our Executive Producer and founder of Make It So Productions.



It was such a great experience. Some of us were able to have our family there (mine, unfortunately, couldn't make it) and we even had fans there who had paid to get in (in the form of a donation to the Special Olympics).



A few of us basically closed the place out and finally, when we headed back to the hotel... well, suffice it to say that we were all extremely happy. It was a great night.

The next couple of days were all about meeting people, talking to other filmmakers and seeing movies! We did, however have one more awesome thing happen. And just in time before Evan and his mother had to leave.

During the next day, we hung out. Justin, Evan and I saw a couple of films and hung out at the TIFF Filmmaker Lounge.





That night, we figured that even though we were all wiped out, we ought to try and make an appearance at some of the parties going on around the Fest. We were going to hit The People Magazine Party, but we ended up getting lost on our way over and instead, found ourselves at the In Style party. Well. We weren't on the invite list... but as it turns out, we were supposed to be. A woman named Susie (who ran the party) was waiting outside with a group of security and staff. I didn't know her, but she was the first one to step away from the group. By this time, someone in the Press Corps had spotted Evan and so Justin and Jerad began to walk the press line with him. He signed a few more autographs and took a ton of pictures.

Meanwhile, I pounced on Susie... but in truth, I didn't have to say much. In point of fact, all I got out was "My name's Shaun O'Banion. I'm a producer on a film called 'Girlfriend,' and - " She cut me off right there. "Is he here?" she asked? For a second, I thought she might be referring to Jackson (who had caught a bad cold and wasn't with us)... "Evan?" I replied, "Yes. He's over by the media."

And that was it. She walked over with me, stamped our hands and we walked into the party past all of the security who, only moments earlier, had frozen us out.



Inside the lavishly decorated building, some of today's hottest celebs were mingling and partying. I ran into old friend (and recent Emmy winner) Aaron Paul, we saw the stunningly gorgeous Maggie Q and the cast of the new series' NIKITA. Evan talked with (and danced with) Missy Peregrym (star of the hit series ROOKIE BLUE) and we ran into Tiffany Hines (super sexy co-star on NIKITA) who also happens to be a friend of Justin's. Justin, it should be noted, knows everyone.

There were amazing deserts, jars full of candy with little bags and twisty-ties so you could take some home with you(!) and of course, all the free drinks you could handle.

Evan found some willing dance partners and the rest of us really just had fun watching Evan work the room.





Here's a shot of (L-R) Evan, Jerad, Kristina and I...





When the party was over (and believe me, we nearly closed out this one too), we all made our way back to the hotel. The next day, Evan would be leaving (which we all knew would be tough)... but we also had good news. A distributor had stepped up with an offer on the film. We were having to keep things quiet (even from the rest of the cast and crew!) but we had good reason to believe that a sale was coming.

I'll leave the closing day and post-TIFF "What's Happening Next" for another post.

Hope you enjoyed this one. Leave some comments! Ask questions! Let's get a little interaction going.

Thanks for reading.

S

Re: The Toronto International Film Festival Pt. 2

I doubt that any of us slept much.

Probably a combination of the high from the first screening and the knowledge that a bunch more of the cast and crew would be arriving the morning of the 13th.


We began the packed day by cabbing over to the Intercontinental Hotel on Bloor Street, where a day of press had been set up by Jeremy Walker and Associates (our publicists for the Festival). It was definitely an odd feeling to be sitting in this chic hotel on a secured floor where actors like Jim Broadbent, Bruce Greenwood and the lovely Gemma Arterton were wandering back and forth doing press. Of course, they were surrounded by an army of publicists, assistants and make-up people. We were a bit more... contained.

If you've never been around a Press Junket, well. I'll go ahead and give you a sense of what it's like. They're all pretty much the same. Generally, the cast and director will check into a suite at the hotel where the junket is to take place. You're given a calendar of events for the day. Then, it'll either be one of two things: You cast and filmmaker will walk from room to room, with each room representing a different media outlet, or the cast and filmmaker will go to a single room with a camera already set up. The media people then come into the room, pop a tape into the camera, sit their on-air talent down opposite the star or cast member and they get about 5-10 minutes worth of questions. Quite often, your poster is set up on an easel. Sometimes, you're in front of a green screen.

For our press day, Evan was set to do a ton of press along with Jackson and Shannon. In our case, they would move from room to room.



Here is the actual interview with ET Canada (thanks to JrathboneInfo for posting):



Evan was handling everything amazingly well. It may seem like it would be easy, but it becomes exhausting and monotonous - mostly because the questions tend to be very similar, if not exactly the same. The media need "sound bites" they can use to tease the story, and then they'll only use a small portion of the actual interview. After a while, everything gets hazy. I once worked with someone (who shall remain nameless) who thought it might be fun to play a bit of a game with the press. In between each interview, he'd ask me for a word... any word, which he would then have to try to slip into the interview, no matter how awkward. I think one of the words I gave him was Asparagus. (He did it, by the way.)

Anyway. Evan was running (like most of us) on little to no sleep, but he was amazing. He had poise and charisma and everything you expect of a star. At lunch the group of us (Justin, Evan, Jerad, Kristina and I) walked over to the Four Seasons where Wayne/Lauren Film Company had set up a casual lunch. At this point, we were being trailed by columnist Steve Pond, who writes for The Wrap and was doing a story on Evan which you can find Here.

During the lunch, Evan spoke with Harvey Weinstein the fabled former head and founder of Miramax who now runs The Weinstein Company. Weinstein hadn't seen GIRLFRIEND, but they have a mutual friend in Amanda Plummer. Since Weinstein was sitting only a table away, Justin thought it might be cool if Evan introduced himself. Harvey seemed surprised by the occurrence, but we thought it was great. Near the end of lunch, Evan did another interview (for print) before we headed out for a few more on camera interviews. You can find those here and here (special thanks for luckyj525 for the links).

Finally, with interviews done (and with a few swag bags now attached to us), we headed down to the cast lounge in the lobby for our final publicity stop of the day. The TIFF Photocall. You know about this. Every year, Entertainment Weekly does nearly an entire issue on Sundance Film Festival Photo Calls. The video from this particular shoot was covered by The Wrap and Steve Pond.

Here are some of the great photos from the GIRLFRIEND press junket:





By that time, we had been running from hotel to hotel doing press for about 9 hours. It was time to head back to our hotel where Evan and Justin would do one final "phoner" or phone interview , before we'd get a proper meal (they only have hors d'oeuvres for the most part at the press junkets), have a little nap if we could and finally, get ready for the big night. Our second screening and our official Red Carpet After-Party.

Check back in for Pt. 3! More pictures! More video! More excitement!

S

Re: The Toronto Experience Pt. 1

I got into Pearson airport at about 7am on the 12th after a great trip with Virgin America, my personal favorite and the chosen airline of our production thanks to, um... me. This was my first trip to Canada, so I was already excited, but to get off the plane knowing that I was headed to the Toronto International Film Festival with a buzzed about film, was more than I could've dreamed at that particular moment in time.

Jeff Castelluccio, my best friend (more like a brother, really) and I flew out with Donal Logue and Abigail Breslin, so we were in good film-making company. Jeff, if you don't know, is the editor on both of the films I've produced. He's kind of like my good-luck charm. I try to bring him on anything I do. Fortunately for me, he's talented in addition to being a good guy. Justin flew out with Sasha Grey... also on Virgin... As he so delicately put it, "irony."

The perfect start to my week at TIFF began with my bag being the first off at baggage claim. I was staying longer than Jeff, so I had to check a suitcase - something I'm normally loathe to do. Jeff had only his carry-on.

We grabbed the Airport Express and headed for our hotels. That night was going to be our World Premiere screening, though we were treating the screening on Monday the 13th as the real deal, since it would be attended by a large number of the crew who worked on the film and because we were being provided a Red Carpet After-Party by the great people at Tribute Events. The hotel was literally half a block from most of the events and right away I found myself in the mix. It had been nearly a year since the shoot and so this was already feeling like a bit of a reunion. Most of the cast and crew who were coming in would arrive the next day, but a few were already there. Jeff and I met up right away with Evan, Jason Olivier (Exec. Producer), Joe Turnbull (Cast), Darren MacDonald (Cast), Dan Turnbull (Cast), Seth Chatfield (Production Designer/Actor), Sarah Steinberg Heller (Co-Producer) and Jeff's parents who flew in especially for the event. We had a great lunch after Evan had introduced the 100 Monkeys at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Block Party. It was great to see everyone.

By the time it was 3pm on the 12th, I figured that I'd already been up for 32 hours. That's when I stopped counting.

The first night, you could feel the pressure. It was the first official public screening anywhere in the world. I may have been alone here, but my heart was pounding. My stomach was doing flips - of course, as a producer, I was covering it pretty well.

It's a complicated film and we knew that it could polarize an audience. Knowing that and trying not to worry about it though are two very different things. Justin spent a bit of time thinking about what to say when he introduced the film. He ran some ideas past me and settled on being brief as the best policy. After the screening, there would be a Q & A. I was not going to go on stage for this one. It seemed the film would be best served by having a minimal amount of people up there - meaning Justin, Jackson Rathbone, Shannon Woodward and, of course, Evan Sneider.

We sold out that first night and the audience was a crowd spread across all age groups with a heavy helping of TWILIGHT and 100 Monkeys fans who'd made the trek. After the first screening, I think we all felt that, while still overwhelmingly positive, it was a bit of a mixed bag. It seemed like they (the audience) were... maybe in a bit of shock as the credits rolled. When the Q & A began, there wasn't a single question... so our moderator, Lynne (who it must be said is stunningly beautiful) had to sort of take the lead. She did great getting the ball rolling and things went smoothly after that.

I kind of felt as though I was sleep walking through the whole experience that night. Seeing the film projected on that huge screen at the Scotiabank Theater was so incredible. We were playing in of the largest theaters they have, and knowing that your film has people standing in the rush line in the hopes of getting in is pretty humbling. Special mention should be made of Jane Schoettle here, our programmer for the TIFF Discovery section, who's efforts on behalf of our film were tireless and for which we are all so grateful.

Our Executive Producer had set up a dinner for the core creative team (aided by Co-Producer Sarah Steinberg Heller) and once the screening was done, we all headed over to a fantastic little place called Bistro 990 , where we had a private room reserved upstairs. The attendees were: Jerad Anderson, Kristina Anderson, Jason Olivier, Patch Cutler (Jackson's manager and Co-Producer on the film), Seth Chatfield, Sarah Steinberg Heller, Jackson Rathbone, Evan Sneider, Shannon Woodward, Quyen Tran (our amazing Director of Photography), Sam Reigel (Q's hilarious husband), Erin McPherson (Production Attorney), Justin Lerner and myself. It was a great night full of many toasts (most of them by Evan) and a few by the rest of us. After that, we all needed to head back to our hotels.

The next day was going to be pretty interesting as it would be the first Press Junket day.

Check back for Part II: The Toronto Experience and "Look, Ma! My name's in the Trades!"

Re: The Cast

I've done a post about the experience of working with Evan Sneider, so I thought I might write a bit about working with the other members of the cast of GIRLFRIEND.

When I first came on board the project, I was told that one actor was already attached... that actor was Jackson Rathbone. At the time, to be honest, the name didn't mean much to me. I hadn't seen TWILIGHT, nor any of his other work for that matter. I went out that night to rent the first film in the saga.

It didn't change my perception of him. In fact, it didn't do much for me at all, really... but then, I'm not the core audience for the film. What I knew of him after watching the film was that he was (possibly) a good looking guy. I say possibly because you can't really get a sense of him either physically or otherwise by watching the first TWILIGHT film. He comes off as a new-age Johnny Depp. A vampire Edward Scissorhands with frosted tips... still, you'd be crazy not to acknowledge that he has charisma. With maybe only two lines in the first film, I was still intrigued. Anyway, it wouldn't much matter what I thought either way. He was going to be in the film. I just hoped he could actually act. Like with Evan, I was in for a surprise.

Early on in the process, Jackson came in to Brad Gilmore's L.A. office for *chemistry reads with a variety of actresses. It was during this process that all of my concerns related to Jackson playing "Russ" were put to rest. In the room, he was magnetic. His "Russ" was a man to be feared. He wa tortured. Dangerous. Crushed under the weight of a reality he may not want to acknowledge. In short, he was fantastic. This was only the beginning though. We would have a great many hurdles to jump through together - not the least of which was his schedule with the third TWILIGHT... which was already threatening to wreak havoc with my initial schedule for our film. Not to mention the budget.

For weeks, I tried to negotiate with the powers that be at Summit and for weeks, they held us off. They tried to tell me they had no schedule only weeks out from their start date (yeah, sure). I even generated inside sources in their office in Vancouver - hoping that I might get enough info to lock in our schedule. On our end, we were fighting several other issues. Weather in Massachusetts was going to be a huge factor. We had to shoot at a certain time to maximize the beauty of the changing season's, something which was very important to Justin, and we also had to begin at a certain time to create a window of time with which we'd be able to have the amazing Amanda Plummer in our film.

Fortunately, we had Jackson on our side. Jackson, when he signed on, had indicated that he was very interested in the behind-the-camera aspects of film-making as well. He wanted to come on as a co-producer, which meant that I'd have an ally when it came to scheduling him around his vampire adventures... in the end though, the only way to make our film work for him, was to bridge our shoot across weekends. He'd shoot all day Friday in Vancouver, then hop a red-eye to Boston, which would put him into Logan Airport around 8am. He'd brave morning traffic in the back seat of a Production Assistant's car, change into his wardrobe on the way, arrive at set to literally jump in front of camera (thanks to our crack AD staff who had the days scheduled down to the minute and really saved us several times during the shoot) and that'd be it. By Sunday evening, he'd be back on a plane and headed back to the wardrobe of "Jasper."

In short, he didn't sleep for about three weeks. His commitment to the shoot, the character and the crew literally changed the polarity of the set. When Rathbone showed up for the first "Rathbone Day" as Evan called it, everyone suddenly came alive again. We had spent several weeks with only Shannon and Evan, and to see Jackson and Shannon perform together and, in fact, Evan and Jackson... well. The movie really came together on those days.

I mentioned Amanda Plummer above. This is a woman who, above all, loves the craft of acting. When she's "in it," she is totally invested. Each take brings with it a totally organic quality.

I remember one take that was so great that it transcended what Justin had written. It just became something else. It became a living thing in Amanda and Evan's capable hands. Once we had cut, Justin ran over to Amanda and said, "That was brilliant! Can you do another one just like that?" Amanda surprised Justin and the crew when she gave her answer. "No," she said. "I can give you something else, but not that because I don't know what I did." In other words, she wasn't Amanda the actress playing the scene... like Evan, who's genius is that for him, there was no divide between "Evan Grey" and Evan Sneider during the scenes, Amanda ceased being Amanda in front of the camera. She was "Celeste." She went to great lengths to ensure that the transformation would envelope Evan as well - she even came out to Massachusetts early to spend time with Evan on her own. Doing this ensured that they didn't seem like they were "playing" mother and son, but that they had spent time off camera building a relationship for real. When the camera rolled, it wasn't capturing performance, it was capturing natural behavior... and it was beautiful.

Next, I come to Shannon Woodward. Again, being honest, she wasn't what I had pictured in the role. When she came in to read, she projected a natural strength I felt was wrong for the part. But when the scene began, it melted away. She became troubled. Weak and laid bare by the turn of events in her life. A desperate young girl forced to be an adult for the sake of her child. In other words, she became our "Candy." It's one of those Hollywood cliche's, right? An actor comes in and isn't at all what you thought you wanted... but they simply cannot be denied. He or she just becomes the only person for the role. Sometimes you even try to fight it. You say to yourself, "No. Let's keep looking," but in your mind, you keep coming back to them. Sometimes, it keeps you up at night. In the end though, there's no denying it. The part dictates what it needs just as in editorial, the film begins to tell you what should stay and what should go. It happened to us on DAKOTA SKYE, and it happened again here.

Shannon is a fantastic actress, and her work with Evan was really extraordinary to watch on set - sometimes, subtly directing Evan or providing cues from within a scene to help get him to a certain place or past a block. In many ways, Shannon's work was key to Justin and Craig Divino's work with Evan. Shannon and Evan are in virtually every scene of the film together and the tenderness, confusion and realization she brings to their scenes together are the perfect counter-point to her scenes with Jackson. Where Shannon and Jackson have this feeling of two caged animals trying to determine what to make of each other, Shannon and Evan give the feeling of two people who have come to depend on each others love - even if they can't understand how or why. By the way: Shannon has a new show on called RAISING HOPE that is supposed to be hilarious, and as of right now, you can check out the pilot for the series for free on iTunes, so go check it out!

There are bunch of other actors in the film who turn in wonderful and varied performances and who, many of them having little or no acting experience before, are stand-outs. Seth Chatfield, Dan Turnbull, Joe Turnbull, Darren MacDonald, Harrison Lees, Carole Helman and of course young Nate Krawshuk all leave strong impressions in the world of the film. They are each a testament to Justin's ability to work with non-professionals and to create and craft strong and memorable characters.

For those of you who had a chance to see the film in Toronto, I'm sure you'd agree. This film doesn't work if you don't care about the people in it. From the smallest part to the biggest, they need to make you feel something. They are your connection as the audience and your eyes into the world. If you don't get "Candy" and her decisions, or why "Evan" feels the way he does for her... or why "Russ" seems so completely crushed by the things he's seen or the scenarios he suspects, it all falls apart.

Post Toronto, the general consensus seems to be that the film is strong. In fact, only yesterday, we announced that we have been picked up for distribution by indie label Hannover House, to whom we are all so thankful for recognizing the potential in the film.

If the film works at all, it is all down to collaboration - to the cast and crew and to Justin's vision... I cannot wait until you can see the film for yourself.

S

(Toronto Blog coming soon!)


*Chemistry Reads: This is the process in which actors are paired together in the audition process to see if they have chemistry on screen.

Re: Two Left Feet and Getting An Education...

Many of you now know (by following me on Twitter, (@shaun_obanion) that I have become quite close with Evan Sneider, the star of our film and as we head to the Toronto International Film Fest this week, I thought I'd do a blog about Mr. Sneider and my experience with him on the film. Here it goes.

PS: It's a long one.

There were many questions during Prep on GIRLFRIEND. How long would our schedule be? (pretty short by feature film standards). Would there be rehearsals? (yes, but very informal). Would our DP even be available for the first few days of the shoot? (after a difficult negotiation with another production, thankfully, yes). Would anyone from Summit return our calls? (a very emphatic no). What the hell do you do when you lose your First AD three days before a Location Scout that everyone's flying in for? (...get lucky and find a better one, who also happens to be an old friend.)... I mean... there were a lot of questions... though nothing new for an indie film.

For a lot of indies, the biggest question is often: where is the money going to come from? We didn't have that problem. The Anderson's of Wayne/Lauren Film Co., had already secured the full budget, so everyone was basically waiting on Justin and our excellent casting director Brad Gilmore to cast the film, Justin and I to crew the film and for me to create the initial schedule and early budget drafts... but the one thing that was nagging at me was how we were going to pull this thing off. For me, there were a whole different set of questions in addition to the normal ones I'd be asking (and getting asked) on a shoot.

I had never really been around a person with Down Syndrome before, much less had to count on one to convincingly do what we were going to ask him to do, not to mention all of the possible technical issues:

If you've never done any acting, well, it's not as easy as it looks - believe me, I ended up in the film when an actor could no longer accommodate our schedule.

Actors, particularly film actors, have to be aware of so many things. Not only things like motivation and character, but knowing that (for example) we're shooting Scene 25 which is an interior, where the character comes into a room. 25 follows 24 in the script (logically) only, due to the availability of locations, or other shooting necessity, we shot 24 (the Exterior scene where our hero arrives at the building and enters) maybe, three weeks earlier and now we're shooting the room he walks into... so the actor has to approximate what head-space he or she (as the character) was in three weeks ago when we shot the entrance. By the way, I fortunately only had one scene and limited dialogue, so I didn't have to be too concerned.

Things like blocking. Matching... knowing that he picks up the cup of coffee on a specific line so that in the coverage(I) he does it at the same time for every take and every shot. Remembering where to stand at a given moment. When to move, so that the focus puller(II) [ours was Alex Cason, and she is, quite simply, a badass] knows the distance the actor will be from the lens. Then, maybe the other actor moves. He or she takes something down from a shelf. In the other shot, did he use his left hand even though he's right handed so that he wouldn't flag(III) the other actors light?

Take Down Syndrome out of the equation and it's a lot to think about for anyone... now an army of film personnel and actors were going to be dependent on an actor doing his first film in the lead role, not only being aware of these technical things, but of his performance at the same time!

Early on, Justin (the Director) and I had many conversations about this. Justin, it should be stated, never doubted for even a second that Evan could pull it off. Well. If he did, he never let on. He had written the piece with Evan in mind (he'd even named the character after him) and had worked with him before on his excellent short film THE REPLACEMENT CHILD ( )... but, as a Producer, I still had to wonder... would we be able to keep our schedule? Could Evan Sneider actually do all that would be asked of him?

I was about to get an education.

Evan isn't you're typical guy. He's extremely high functioning. In fact, what I came to discover is that Evan, like many people, really likes to break down barriers. He likes to play with people's perception of him, and above all, he's re-defining what you and I might call "special." What actually makes Evan special is his ability to be un-special. Don't get me wrong, he's a very special person... but he has this disarming quality that just makes you deal with him as though he didn't have Down's.

Evan's brilliance is in his ability to overcome his "handicap." Above all, Evan is... just a guy. He's smart. Funny. Sweet. Kind. Curious. Emotional. Whimsical. And sometimes devious. He knows what he wants and he'll do what he needs to do to get it. In other words, he's pretty much just like you, me or anyone you know.

What I had to learn was to get over my bias. To forget whatever I thought I knew about Down's; Forget what I saw in RAIN MAN or some Farrelly Brothers' movie and just come to deal with Evan as a man... which, ultimately, is what he deserves.

Evan's been performing in the theater for years. He has a nearly photographic memory and he is the most feeling individuals I've ever met. He exists on purely emotional terms. He's both Method(IV) and Sense Memory(V) at the same time. He doesn't play the character, he becomes the character. It's really amazing to watch unfold in front of your eyes and believe me, it translates on screen. Evan is, without a doubt, the beating heart of the film.

These are all things I had to figure out. When we started, my own misconceptions about people with Down Syndrome led me to feel "off" when dealing with him... and since I was often the guy who often had to deliver news about changes being made on set, we didn't get along that well in the beginning. In fact, I told his mother at one point that I just didn't know how to communicate with Evan... I told her I felt as though I had "two left feet."

Evan, for his part, never changed. He knows exactly who he is and, unlike myself and most people I know, he never seemed to be wracked with doubt. He displays a high level of confidence, not only in what he's doing, but in the manner in which he does it. Maybe it's from his stage training. He'd often be heard telling Justin, "I know the drill."

As the shoot went on, my friendship with Evan grew and my understanding of him deepened. As that happened, my desire for what the film could or would do out in the world changed. I hoped (and hope) the audiences perception of what Down Syndrome is would change - as Evan had changed my perception. What I learned was that Down Syndrome is really just a term; A way for the rest of us to deal with that missing chromosome. A way to classify something... but that's all. It can only define the affected person if he or she lets it. And Evan refuses to let it define him. It absolutely does not define him. Just like you and anyone else you know, Evan is unique. A true original. To compare him to anyone else who has Down Syndrome would be like telling you that

you are like everyone else... and you aren't, are you?

I soon realized that what I wanted, by the end of the film, was for the audience to see 'Evan Grey,' the character he plays in the film, not as a man who has Down Syndrome, but as a man.

If even one person leaves the theater thinking that way, then I'll be happy. I know it's a tall order, but not out of the realm of possibility. It, of course, doesn't determine the success of the film for me, but it would be a great bonus.

It should also be mentioned that Justin, who cared for and nurtured this film beginning with some notes scribbled on a few scraps of paper a little over a year ago, would never tell you how he wished for the film to be received. Justin Lerner does not make "message" movies. The film is purely subjective. It isn't meant to educate you. It's art. It's storytelling. And I agree. It is. But I still have that wish in my heart - for Evan.

I should also mention that the credit for Evan's choices and abilities cannot be given to Evan alone. His mother has instilled in him a lot of ideas... He was taught that there are no limits to what he can do, and throughout his life, whenever someone placed a wall in their way, she and Evan would simply find a way over or around it.

Here's an example: when the Massachusetts School Board told them that Evan would have to ride the short bus and attend school with other "special needs" kids, they fought... and they won. Evan didn't go to school in classes with other Down's kids. He went to regular classes. Just like everyone else. And why shouldn't he have? As it turns out, that would prove a fortuitous decision... Evan met Justin in High School.

There were a couple more people who brought Evan to this point as an actor... When we were almost ready to shoot, Evan began rehearsing with Amanda Plummer. She came out early to spend time with him and to build a history together. They walked around town. They did their Wardrobe fittings together. The ate together. By the time they got to set, Amanda had really become like a second mother to Evan... and their scenes together are really lovely. Amanda, as many of you know, is an artist in the truest sense of the word. She's a total professional and is just lovely in the film. Justin's handling of the scenes between Evan and Amanda (aided by the stunning photography of Quyen Tran and the skillful editing of Jeff Castelluccio) create some really beautiful moments on screen.

Another ally in Evan's cinematic journey: A fantastic young New York actor named Craig Divino. Divino had also worked carefully with Evan to make sure that he understood all of the emotional beats in the story. He designed breathing exercises and physical movements to loosen Evan up before a scene and had taken time out of pursuing his own career to be present and available on set whenever Evan needed him. Evan also asked a lot of questions. He and Justin had many conversations about his character. He also wanted to understand the other characters in the film. He wanted to know about their choices and how what they did would affect his character.

So, after working with Justin, Craig and Amanda, Evan came to set and was one of the most professional actors I've ever had the pleasure to work with. He was obsessive about referring to the script. He knew it front to back and back to front. He understood where he had been and where he was going. He felt the emotions of a scene.

There was a day on set where he literally had the cast, crew and background in tears. It was a hugely triumphant moment and at the end, everyone broke into applause. He blew us away, time and again. Now, I don't want to completely sugar coat things and say that there were no issues... no tough moments, but by and large, things were very smooth and working with Evan was really, really wonderful. Justin and I had dinner recently with our Casting Director Brad Gilmore and we talked about how we'd like to work with Evan again. That says a lot about the experience. He was, and is, nothing short of extraordinary.

I can't wait for you to see him.

S

(I) Refers to shooting a scene from a variety of angles and distances so you will have the raw material necessary to edit the scene together into an interesting visual and emotional experience for the audience. Each of the shots, or individual angles, requires a different setup.

(II) In cinematography, a focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department who is responsible for keeping the camera properly focused during each shot so that the Camera Operator is able to focus on the Camera movement.

(III) Blocking a light with ones body or using a Grip tool designed to block the light.

(IV) An acting technique introduced by Stanislavsky in which the actor recalls emotions or reactions from his or her own life and uses them to identify with the character being portrayed. This allows the actor to experience emotion in the moment, as the character would.

(V) Sense memory is reliving sensations that were experienced through the five senses.

BLOG ABOUT WORKING WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CAST COMING SOON.