Twin Cities Film Festival - June Falling Down
After wandering aimlessly for the year after her father's death, June Larson is returning home for Harley's wedding - her best friend and the love that could have been. Now, lost in grief over her father's cancer, she's not quite ready to let Harley go so easily.
Interview with Writer/Director Rebecca Weaver
Watch June Falling Down on Prime Video and iTunes
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made this film because I had to. I felt like I had no choice, it was just in me. I lost my dad from cancer in 2009. Ten months after he was diagnosed he was dead. I had just turned 22 years old, and it was a complete shock to both me and my family. Meanwhile, I had always loved film and I danced back and forth with becoming a director throughout college, but when I lost my dad, I realized that that was a story I had to tell. I had also at that time fallen in love with the work of Richard Linklater and the Duplass brothers and had such a huge admiration for the rawness of their early films, that homemade quality where the story and the performances were at the center - heart over technical ability. So, against all logic, I decided to go for it with June Falling Down.
I wrote a script for my family's home and for different locations in this beautiful part of Wisconsin (my home state) called Door County, where I had spent so many summers of my life. I wrote in my favorite bars and the local hardware store for locations. I wrote a movie that I knew I could make. I had one main person to help me - my partner Chris Irwin - and we figured that with enough momentum in this community in Wisconsin, with great friends acting in it, with my mom as our craft services, we could figure this movie out as we made it. And somehow, miraculously, it worked out.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I think it's easy to see a word like "cancer" in the description of a movie and get scared off and not want to go there, so I just want to emphasize that this is actually a rather light film. It's very funny (thanks to such an exceptional cast). We were incredibly conscious while making the movie that every dark moment would be paired with a comedic moment. It's really more of a romantic comedy about someone who is grieving. But I also hope it's also a more realistic expression of what it's actually like to process a loss and how messy and confusing it can be to live without that person and move forward.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Well, this movie is obviously very personal, from my own loss of my father to the small towns in Wisconsin where we filmed. I think that the more specific you get, the more universal a film (or any work of art) can be. Grief, friendship, unrequited love, growing up...these aren't new themes; we'll be exploring them for the rest of time. It's about how the story is told - what's interesting, unique, unexpected? I was re-watching Jaws recently and there's this great moment when Richard Dreyfuss is getting ready to climb into the cage and go down to the shark. He's putting on his goggles and trying to make them suction to his face and he says, "I ain't got no spit." Moment like that just kill me - because we have no idea what it's like to face a huge man-eating shark, but we know what he means if he has a dry mouth. It means he's terrified. It's so specific, and, because of that, so universal.
So I guess what I'm saying is I love details, I live on them, and that's the way in to the deeper emotions in a story. I always want to know exactly what it was like, and that's what you'll see in this movie. Reiki healing and crystals to deal with grief, jokes about the hospice nurse's name, and Spotted Cow beers (only sold in Wisconsin).
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The script in the film is really pretty close to what I wrote, it's just more natural now. It was important that our actors all felt comfortable with the lines and that they spoke them as close to how they would in real life, so we had some really helpful changes come from that. And a lot of incredible moments came, unsurprisingly, from improvised moments, just the fact that we had a group of wildly talented and funny people in this movie. Those magic moments when you forget a line and make something up instead - I never want to discourage that. Some of the most interesting moments come out of mistakes.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has just been exceptional, it's really been so exciting to hear people's responses. Lots of laughs of course, but also some tears - especially from people who have actually been through a similar loss to my own. It's amazing and heartbreaking to hear just how many people have also lost a family member or friend to cancer. But those laughs are pretty darn delicious.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It has mostly just been really encouraging, to be honest. One of the best things we heard right after our premiere at the Wisconsin Film Festival was "I hope you keep making movies." I could have cried right there. It's so, so unbearably difficult to make a feature film, especially one this small, so that kind of encouragement just hit me really hard. I actually feel a lot of hope for our culture in that there are still audiences that can enjoy (and attend!) non-superhero movies, and I hope that Hollywood pays attention to that audience. For everyone's sake!
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Honestly, I just want more people to find out about our little movie. No, we did not have a big budget, we don't have any star names, but we have a dedicated group of fans that's constantly growing bigger - because of the story and the heart we put into the film. And I'm always looking for fellow filmmakers and film lovers that connect to not only this story, but also this kind of storytelling - people who have an appreciation for the small, tragic, hilarious, and miraculous moments of being a human being.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Can I say all of the above? We're gathering momentum, but we certainly could use all we can get! We're still just a team of two promoting this movie - and we've gone really far just the two of us - but we could use some bigger forces behind us. But couldn't everyone in independent film?
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
To tell the truth, this being a movie made by primarily two people, the impact we've had so far is already huge to us. As of this publication, we'll have six fantastic film festivals so far to our name. I would of course love for June Falling Down to find distribution and, really more importantly, to find an audience of people that love it with all its quirks.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Well, this movie certainly isn't controversial, more of just a good life-affirming time in a movie theatre (I hope!), but I will say that while writing the movie I kept asking myself, what is happening with June (our lead character)? Why is she lost, what is haunting her? You can't say, of course she's sad, she lost her father. Again, specificity is everything if you want to make people know how it really feels. So what I landed on - and what I also experienced personally - is that her father never seemed at peace with death, he never seemed to accept it, it never seemed like it was going to be okay. And it was really important to me to not end with everything feeling okay and solved for June and her family. Because that's not how things work.
One of the most important things I ever had anyone tell me when my dad passed away was that you never really get over it, you just get used to living with the pain. And that's the truth I've experienced.
Would you like to add anything else?
I guess just support independent film! If you like interesting, funny, smart movies that haven't been shown to a million test audiences and sanded down by a bunch of executives so that they've lost all trace of character or edge, then go see independent movies in the theatre. Of course I'd love you to see our movie, but supporting these kinds of movies is just good for the culture.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I am writing two feature scripts right now - one is more of a romantic comedy set in the Bay Area and the other is a darker, kind of rustic thriller set in the winter in Wisconsin. We're hoping to make one of those in the next couple years, but we'd really like to make a couple shorts before then. So stay tuned!
Interview: September 2016
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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June Falling Down
After wandering aimlessly for the year after her father's death, June Larson is returning home for Harley's wedding - her best friend and the love that could have been. Now, lost in grief over her father's cancer, she's not quite ready to let Harley go so easily.
Length: 115 min.
Director: Rebecca Weaver
Producer: Chris Irwin, Rebecca Weaver
Writer: Rebecca Weaver
About the writer, director and producer:
Rebecca Weaver (writer/director/actor): June Falling Down marks Rebecca Weaver's feature film debut. She previously wrote/directed/acted in two short films, Winter Guest and Cam Companion (Wisconsin and Las Vegas Film Festivals, 2015). She studied theater at Northwestern University and dramatic literature at New York University. Raised in Wisconsin, she currently resides in Los Angeles.
Chris Irwin (producer/composer): Tennessee-native Chris Irwin spent 20+ years as an actor/musician in the theatre world before moving into film. Credits include Chaps at the Milwaukee Rep, Ring of Fire (also musical director) at the Georgia Ensemble Theatre, and the original production of Guys On Ice alongside playwright Fred Alley at Northern Sky Theatre. June Falling Down is the third film he has produced.
Key cast: Rebecca Weaver, Nick Hoover, Claire Morkin, Justin Pahnturat, Evan Board, Joanna Becker, Elliot Goettelman, and Steven Koehler.
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): all of the above!
Funders: Two Indiegogo campaigns and credit cards
Release date: film festivals in 2016, VOD and beyond in 2017
Where can I watch it in the next month?
June Falling Down will screen at the Twin Cities Film Festival (Oct. 19-29) and the East Lansing Film Festival (Nov. 3-10). Exact dates TBA. Keep a lookout at JuneFallingDown.com as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. @junefallingdown