FirstGlance Film Festival Coverage 2019 – Including 5 Questions for Filmmakers
Tinsel & Tine’s Look at the 22nd Annual FIRSTGLANCE Film Festival in Philadelphia
November 1-3, 2019
by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor
Post Update 11.11.19
#FirstGlance2019 #PhillyCalendar (Day 2) @FirstGlanceFilm Fest – Philly Premiere of 1/2 NEW YEAR
— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) November 3, 2019
Group of friends surviving LA and each other and they wouldn’t want it any other way!#SupportIndieFilm pic.twitter.com/PASHZTsTJ6
The 22nd Annual FirstGlance Film Festivals (Hollywood, Philadelphia) was held Nov 1-3, 2019 at Philadelphia Film Center.
I met an awesome number of filmmakers and actors etc.. over this weekend 🤩 there’s many films that deserve a spotlight but that’s why I try to interview the filmmakers leading up to the festival – see below 5 Questions for #FirstGlance Filmmakers.
Here I’ll just highlight the Opening Night Film (a brave choice) CATCHING UP (click for trailer) by filmmaker/lead actor Bill Crossland, a dramedy/rom/com featuring a severely physically handicap young man navigating relationships with family, friends and a crush on his colleague/childhood friend.
It’s extremely involving. And like with “The Peanut Butter Falcon”, it took very little time to stop focusing on Bill/Frank’s handicap and start seeing his personality, humor and emotions.
This is why it’s so important that everyone get to tell their stories, cause they’re interesting!
Below video contains red carpet pics and interview excerpts:
SEE LIST OF WINNING FILMS AND ACTORS
Original Post 10.13.19
FirstGlance curates a wide selection of independent films each year and is proud to present theatrical screenings of all lengths and genres by professional, first-time, student, national and international filmmakers. Included in 2019’s selections are films with Philadelphia-area natives in-front-of and behind-the-cameras; the features Catching Up by Bill Crossland, ½ New Year starring Brooke Lewis and The Honeymoon Phase by Phillip G. Carroll Jr., the short Simple Things by Chad L. Scheifele, the music videos Fire Girl by Gordon Shoemaker and Honest Opinions by Nick Murphy.
The international filmmaking communities of Canada, China, England and Switzerland are also represented among the official selections.
Some actors appearing in this year’s selections: Patton Oswalt (Veep, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Fred Armisen (Portlandia, Saturday Night Live), Tara Westwood (Blue Bloods), Francois Chau (The Tick, Veronica Mars), Sam Daly (Madam Secretary), Jonathan Fernandez (Lethal Weapon), Shanley Caswell (NCIS: New Orleans), Rome Flynn (The Haves and the Have Nots, How to Get Away with Murder), and Bo Youngblood (Days of Our Lives, Conan).
This year’s screenings (Nov 1-3) will take place at the Philadelphia Film Center (1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102)
FirstGlance Philadelphia 2019 Official Selections –
SEE SCHEDULE
Last year Tinsel & Tine featured interviews with many of the Filmmakers screening at FirstGlance through our Signature 5 Questions series. This year I’ve opened up the 5 Question interviews to actors too!
5 Question Interviews with the Filmmakers
BLACKBETTY
Filmmaker : Marco North
Screening Date: PROGRAM 8 | SUN NOV 3 5:50 PM
TRAILER | Website
BlackBetty Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Synopsis: In the gruesome aftermath of a mysterious outbreak in Eastern Europe, a handful of quarantined survivors navigate loss and a sprawling conspiracy. The unknown virus (given the street name “Blackbetty”) has one simple result. If you fall asleep, you die. The only way to stay alive is to find and take various drugs that keep you awake. There are countless side effects, but the most fascinating and unexpected is that people still dream.
Emotionally raw and never predictable, BLACKBETTY is a miniature epic, where everyone and everything suddenly matters, a set of inter-connected stories marked by their redemptive beauty and frank, gritty reality.
T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film or the theme that is the heart of your film?
Marco North: As an expat New Yorker living in Russia, I am acutely aware of the fact that no one is going to come and save me if I am in trouble here. That real life experience is at the heart of Blackbetty, a collection of stories about average people caught in a crazy situation, coping with the fact that they have been forgotten – collateral damage.
T&T: Was there a point where you almost didn’t finish your film? And if so, what pushed you forward?
Marco: Not at all. In fact, I had initially planned for six to eight episodes, convinced I could squeeze everything I wanted to express into them. Once we got over-funded on Kickstarter I was inspired to dig deeper and expand the narrative. In the end, we produced twenty episodes. This is a tiny epic, and that is what I had always planned to make.
T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to screening at FirstGlance.
Marco: Well, we have a kickass International cast & crew, and our film is in six languages – but I’ll quickly name-check Ryan Jonze
T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? / Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.
Marco: Great question. I record under the aka Martin Ruby and did half of the music for Blackbetty, including the title theme. The rest of the music is a heady stew of tracks from my friends, Fabrizio Paterlini, Stephen Ulrich (Big Lazy), Lucas Van Lenten, Quentin Jennings, Ojerum, and Andrew Preston. Oh, and my daughter Eve who acts in Blackbetty did a cover of a Lana Del Rey song, in Norwegian!
T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 22nd Annual FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia?
Marco: The staff of this festival is clearly on their game. They really care, and offer so many forms of support and curiosity, interest and promotion that I am blown away. When I first found out we would be screening with them, I posted “feeling the Philly love” which is a real understatement. Love is too small a word for what they are up to. Respect!
WHITE CHRISTMAS
Director : Jeff Kanew
Screening Date: Program 3 | Sat Nov 2 | 4:00 pm
TRAILER
Synopsis: Nikki and Jason are young and attractive. They met in rehab. She’s a heroin addict. He’s only dabbled in cocaine. Until Christmas eve. Jason decides to experience smoking heroin to ‘see why it’s more important to Nikki than their relationship.’ They are also dependent upon financial support from her wealthy parents, and must attend the parents’ holiday party, even though they’re still high. It’s a challenge…but they seem to be handling it. Until a cousin tells Nikki a family secret that could either change their lives…or destroy them
T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film or the theme that is the heart of your film?
Jeff Kanew: I was the director and producer of WHITE CHRISTMAS. It is a SHORT FILM conceived and written by CAMRYN KANEW (my daughter who is currently at USC CINEMA ARTS). So the inspiration and themes are really hers. (Sometimes the director is the Conductor but not the Composer)
I just posed your question to Camryn and she said it was based on two things. One is the relationship between two people she knows, in which substance issues threaten to overpower the love story. Also, this story is a reversal of the typical male as addict and female as the suffering spouse. The second inspiration or theme is a version of “Affluenza” – the effect that wealthy, controlling parents have on their adult children – which has some basis in my daughter’s personal experience.
As director, I think I influenced the writer towards the dark ending – which becomes a bit of a cautionary tale about drug addiction.
T&T: Was there a point where you almost didn’t finish your film? And if so, what pushed you forward?
JK: There was never a danger of not finishing the film…but there was a possibility of not starting it. When we talked about casting (which in a no-budget situation can be difficult), Camryn asked me if I thought she could play the main female role. Her only acting experience at that point was in a couple of school exercises, but I saw them and was impressed with her work. Normally I would hesitate to use a novice in a lead role, but I decided that – since this was her script and she really understood the dynamics, I would give her the chance. I knew it would be critical that I surround her with more experienced players, and I was able to get favors from a number of actors I had worked with on other projects. But the male lead was not one of them. I asked a few casting directors and acting coaches to recommend some young actors…whom I auditioned…but wasn’t sure any of them were strong enough.
Then I got a brilliant idea. There was a young musician that I knew who I thought would be perfect…if he could act. I read with him a couple of times…coached him a bit…and he seemed like a natural actor. I brought Camryn into the process and they read together, and it felt right. I thought it would work…and she was a bit smitten as well. However, one week before our shooting date, I got a call from our leading man. His manager found out that he was going to be in a film that involved drugs – and forbade him from doing the part, because his “musical demographic” was teenage girls and he didn’t want to “ruin his image”. I semi-panicked. I reached out for a few more young guys…but Camryn was despondent, and thought we should cancel the shoot. I almost agreed with her…until an acting coach sent me the reel of one more “young and talented” possibility: Keith Jarvis. I was very impressed with his reel and his look and I brought him in to read with Camryn. They clicked. And we are all very happy with the result.
T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to screening at FirstGlance.
JK: My creative team was pretty small. The DP, Bill Megalos, is someone I have worked with often, and he is always dependable and delivers great work. The same is true of our Sound Mixer, Hilary Stewart. Camryn and I were the no-budget art directors. And we were lucky enough to find the perfect rich person’s Bel Air house as our primary location. It happens to be Camryn’s mother’s house (yes, my ex-wife) but that’s a long story.
T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? / Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.
JK: Just to keep the nepotism going…Camryn’s brother (and my son) Cooper Kanew, is a talented musician…a Berklee College of Music graduate…who is starting his career as a film composer. So I hired him. I am very pleased with his score…and not just because I’m his Dad. Food plays no role in this film…but heroin has a couple of great scenes.
When I watch the film and see my child smoking the stuff…(a very authentic looking version supplied by our prop person) I feel a bit queasy. It looks just like the real deal that I saw on YouTube videos. How could my little girl look so comfortable doing it?
T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 22nd Annual FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia?
JK: Having already had a long career as a director and editor (feel free to IMDB me if you haven’t), I am most excited about having the chance to help launch Camryn and Cooper into the film industry. Or does that qualify as child abuse? Anyway, WHITE CHRISTMAS has been selected in a number of small festivals, a few in the US and several in Europe, and I’m hoping that FIRST GLANCE in Philadelphia will be our best experience. So far it seems to be really well organized and their communications are very thorough.
LIGHTS OVER CHAUTAUQUA
Filmmaker : Lee Cipolla
Screening Date: SAT NOV 2 | 4:00 PM
TRAILER
Instagram | Twitter
Facebook | Website
Synopsis: Through a hypnotherapy session a young hotshot entrepreneur tries to recall an experience where he blacked out for ten hours and woke up in an open field with no memory of what transpired, an incident that has since sent his life spiraling out of control.
T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film or the theme that is the heart of your film?
Lee Cipolla: I love delving into science fiction and conspiracy theory podcasts, so ultimately that sparked the idea for the premise. But in the end the story is about two people in love that can’t communicate. I feel that theme mirrors a big challenge in our society now and throughout history. There’s a lot of people talking but very few of us actually listen to each other.
T&T: Was there a point where you almost didn’t finish your film? And if so, what pushed you forward?
Lee: To be honest, even though I never considered quitting, there was a point during production that I was really worried about how effective it was going to be. It had nothing to do with anyone else involved. It was one of the best crew & casts I’ve ever worked with. There was great camaraderie. I was really just at war with myself. I’ve directed three features and variety of shorts, so it wasn’t my first rodeo, but I think subconsciously I was afraid of doing a type of project that was so different than anything I’ve ever done. I felt that the dots weren’t going to connect and the story wasn’t going to work. We basically had to shoot the climax in a completely different location, at a completely different time of day, and re-wrote the scene the night before we shot.. As we were shooting I was worried that we had sacrificed too much and that the scene wasn’t going to come together. I did feel that I had failed to deliver and that it wasn’t going to work. In the end, I now know this was my own fears because I was challenging myself with doing something new. And moving forward the lesson I take away is to keep challenging myself more and keep stepping out of my comfort zone.
T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to screening at FirstGlance.
Lee: My wife, Katherine Borda, is my life partner and my driving force. A true champion. She produced the film and was a co-writer. A few days before the shoot, she came up with an idea that basically saved the story. Cooper Shine is able to pull off miracles with tiny crew (two other people!) He’s a young guy and has a great future. The cast – Austin Collazo, Haydn Winston, Deloris Evans, Catherine McGuire absolutely killed their roles. All have very different approaches to their craft. All professional and passionate and hardworking. Sounds like cliches but, hey, it’s true! I feel grateful and lucky to have found them on such short notice because we casted the film in a week and shot the following week.
T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? / Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.
Lee: I always feel that a good score tells an additional story beneath the surface of a film. And I think our blend of ominous tones and upbeat lyrical music juxtaposes the story on screen in an interesting way. I hope others watching feel the same. As far as food goes, one thing Katherine and I always stress on our low budget productions — despite not having the budget to pay full rates – is that we ALWAYS make sure people are fed well. When people our busting their butt to help you out, the least you can do is provide some good meals. Don’t be cheap with food.
T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 22nd Annual FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia?
Lee: I’m excited and grateful. First glance provides not just a chance to screen your film, but they also are very active in helping you promote your project. That’s incredibly unique in the festival world and what I feel sets it apart from any fest I’ve been a part of.
1/2 NEW YEAR
Filmmaker & Actor: Drew McAnany
Screening Date: PROGRAM 5 | SAT NOV 2 8:10 PM
TRAILER
Synopsis: a tight knit group of friends letting loose once a year at their annual Half New Year Party.
T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film or the theme that is the heart of your film?
Drew McAnany: ½ New Year is a simple story of family and friendship. We follow a group of tight-knit friends who celebrate half of the year together with a big party. Relationships have been tested over the last year, causing a rift in the group that may not be able to be healed. This year, one of their crew has decided to pack up and move home, giving up on his dreams. The gang must band together to wish their friend well on his journey and not live in the past.
Originally from Philadelphia, I moved to Hollywood with big dreams and zero connections. It took me a while to sort of find my “tribe”, if you will. When I found the good people, I hung onto them. I believed that a strong support system can get you through the hardest of times, and it’s true. When I realized it was time to expand the story, I called on friends to help me do so. This is how my co-writer Georgia Menides came on, my producer Zach Block signed on and our director Tom Morash lead the way. It was a collaborative effort and a labor of love!
T&T: Was there a point where you almost didn’t finish your film? And if so, what pushed you forward?
Drew: No. Not finishing the film was not an option. No matter if we had to max out credit cards, or borrow from friends & family, we were getting it done. And we did! And we’re still in debt! 😉
T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to screening at FirstGlance.
First of all, my family, who have always been so very supportive and nurturing of my creative ideas. My friends (both in Philly & LA) who have always inspired me, even if they knew it or not. To our creative team Georgia, Zach & Tom who believed I could pull off a lead in a film I was also having a hand in writing and producing. To our incredible cast and crew, who worked so hard, had (mostly) smiles on their faces all the time and who made me better as a filmmaker, actor & human being. A very special shout out to Miss Brooke Lewis, my big sister on and off screen, who has been a part of the project since its inception. We wanted to play brother and sister for over 5 years and she has been on this journey with me through good and bad. No matter how many times we wanted to kill each other… kidding… maybe…
READ 5 QUESTIONS FOR BROOKE LEWIS
T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? / Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.
Drew: Our music is INCREDIBLE. We had our beautiful and fun theme song composed by the legend himself, Mr. Brandon Slavinksi. Our original score was created by the incredible Eric Hirsch. We have 4 songs from the genius Rachele Royale, some sultry dance pop that sets the tone. St. Croix provided our open credits jam – “Can’t Help Myself” – that starts us off with a bang. We even feature Brand, whos song “Survival Secrets” has become a fan favorite. Drew Seeley lent us “Quirks”, and it’s perfect for the film as well – Love you, Drew! Amie Miriello has a beautiful song “Move Me” that I knew would be perfect in a very moving scene. Another fun tune is “Send Nudes” by HBKJ which is one I like to play at any party I have. We also have Afton Jillian, who is in the film as well! I feel like I’m most likely forgetting a ton and I apologize! There are so many more that I could go on about but it would just go on and on. Music is a huge part of my life and I wanted our music to be just as important to these characters.
Unfortunately food doesn’t really play a huge part, however these characters do drink a lot of champagne.
T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 22nd Annual FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia?
Drew: Wow. Where to begin? Philly is home, it will always be home no matter how long I’ve lived away. We made our film as a love letter to our home (although it’s set in LA) – and to have it be on the big screen as part of FirstGlance is incredible. I get to see family and friends that I haven’t seen in a long time and we get to watch me be goofy on the big screen, together. That is something truly special. And FirstGlance is such a legendary festival, it’s truly an honor. Please come see us, and please bring me Wawa and Primos Hoagies!
tinseltine
Tinsel & Tine provides year-round free promotion, sparking conversations and awareness, celebration and reviews of the movie industry - from local indie shorts to international films/filmmakers, to studio driven movies/moviemakers. Mixed with a spotlight on Philly Happenings. #MiniMovieReview #PhillyCalendar
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