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é: When and how did you come up with the idea to film a movie?
The original storyline was one of a number of concepts that I put on the chalkboard about a year and a half ago while brain storming for movie ideas. It wasn’t until July of 2010 that I really started to flush out the characters and body of the story during a road trip back to Greentown, Indiana. Sixty hours of mind-numbing driving time does wonders for freeing your mind to carve out a script – I had the first draft written a couple of weeks after returning home. Monique Newman is also a producer of the film and has done a fantastic job in bringing key persons to the table, making it possible to make this movie.
é: What drew you to this story?
The unique characters and their intertwined situations really pulled me towards this story – to me those are key ingredients for coming up with a strong comedy that is sprinkled with powerful dramatic moments and a really unique storyline – not an easy thing to pull off but really can brand a film if done right.
é: Can you explain what the movie is about?
The movie centers around a homely agoraphobic (Phin) who hasn’t left his house in 20 years and his adopted playboy brother (Jack) who has returned after a fight that drove a wedge between the brothers a decade ago to scheme his fear-ridden brother out of the family house for his 40th birthday. Jack tries everything from in-house dates, psychotherapy and even delving into different religions to figure out a cure for Phin. One of the fun things about directing re-Birthday was that the motives and relationships are revealed as the story moves forward rather than everything being known up front. So much of the story is under the surface and the highly talented cast and crew did a fantastic job in setting up those subtle moments that are paid off near the end of the movie.
é: Where was the movie filmed?
All here in the SCV. We put a major face-lift on the bottom portion of our house and used it as the primary set. We literally were able to roll out of bed and into work each day. The Havenhouse Church in Newhall and another house in Valencia served as the other locations. The folks at Havenhouse were really awesome to work with and we greatly appreciated their getting behind the project and providing interior and exterior locations as well as some key props and extras talent. Grace Baptist Church also provided space during the casting process.
é: What audience is this geared towards?
Broad age range of people who love to laugh, aren’t afraid to feel a little tug on their heart and are looking for high quality clean entertainment that leaves out the language, sex and violence and replaces it with real life humor and interesting characters.
é: Is there a message you try to convey in your film?
Yeah – there really is. In a unique and subtle way in the midst of this crazy comedy, we simply pass on the message that there is a truth out there and hope in Christ that is not like any other.
é: What are some charitable organizations that your movie support will support?
Hollywood Impact Studios (www.hollywoodimpactstudios.com) is an organization that we will be supporting with a portion of the proceeds from the movie and we are hoping to add one or two more names to the list. It’s a great outreach organization here in our community.
é: When will the film be released?
It is scheduled to be ready for release in March/April, 2012. Since we know there is a sizable audience for this type of movie from the recent successes of other films that overlap in audience demographics, our goal is to drive as much market demand as possible and then sign up to the distribution deal that makes the most sense for the project at that time. That’s a fancy way of saying we haven’t inked a distribution deal yet. The good news is this really is a unique film that pulls you in and makes it hard not to watch.
For more information on the project, questions or comments, visit www.re-birthdaymovie.com.
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