The Letter Men
Based on the largest collection of queer love letters from WWII, The Letter Men is a window into the untold true story of two gay men desperately in love but torn apart by war.
Interview with Director Andy Vallentine
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
THE LETTER MEN is based on the real love letters written by Gordon Bowsher to his sweetheart, Gilbert Bradley. Their love letters were exchanged between the years of 1938 and 1941 but uncovered in 2017. I first learned about this incredible story when I stumbled across a BBC article about the letters and knew this was a story I had to tell. The fact that Gordon’s letters survived is a gift to all of us and there is so much within them about their relationship, queer culture, the tragedies they both experienced form the war, and the unconditional love they had for each other. I made this film with the hope of sharing this incredible story with a wider audience and honoring Gilbert and Gordon and the many others like them.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The fact that these words exist is a small miracle. Very few written records of this kind exist in the world because it was common for queer people to burn their letters so they could not be caught and charged with a crime. So getting to hear the words from their actual letters and see their life represented on film is an incredibly powerful experience.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
So many of my projects are informed by my experience as an outsider. Growing up I was diagnosed with dyslexia and it had a profound impact on me as a kid. I felt and was often treated differently. I also grew up in a very small town in Michigan as a gay kid, so I absolutely spent a lot of time looking from the outside in and learning to appreciate that I wasn’t like everyone else.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Ultimately I would love to tell this story in a feature film or as a mini-series. So initially I was working on how to tell this in a compelling way within a longer, more complete narrative. But last year the opportunity arose to make a short film and since I had spent so much time thinking about and developing this story, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to adapt the letters for to a short film format.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Because these letters have been in my life for a few years now, it has been so rewarding to finally be able to show the people in my life exactly what I have been dreaming of. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. We will have our world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. It’s truly a dream come true to have that sort of validation and platform to share this story.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
One of the decisions I made early on when I was adapting my original ideas into a short film format was to utilize the real words from the letters. It was a huge risk, and people were honest with me that it may not work as a compelling narrative short. But the letters themselves are so special, and in many cases, beautifully written. Hearing the words as they were written, describing how they met and the pain of being in love and apart from one another evokes something essential that I wasn’t sure could be replicated in a more traditional short form. I wanted this to be an emotional film that could stand on its own, but I also wanted it to be an introduction to the two men and their story—a sort of preamble to a more expansive story that is still waiting to be told.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope to bring this story to a wider audience and also inspire other filmmakers to stick to the stories they feel passionate about. I am a firm believer that passion can be contagious.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
This short was made by calling in every possible favor. It was truly a labor of love and I already feel so eternally indebted to the many people who believed in this film enough to make it happen. Thinking about the future, having the film premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival is a huge step forward in exposing this to a larger audience. I would love to take advantage of that larger platform to meet with anyone who could help me bring this story to an even wider audience, and hopefully someday tell this story in a feature or mini-series format.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Although this is a historical film about people who are no longer alive, the story continues to have relevance to people’s lives. When the letters were first discovered, Mark, the man who found the letters, held an event at the museum where they invited people to write love letters to be ceremoniously burned. There was an overwhelming response from people who related to the idea of forbidden love, even today. I hope this film speaks to people who feel different or feel the need to hide parts of themselves. I hope they can feel inspired by the power of Gilbert and Gordon’s impossible love.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m actually wrapping up post-production on my first feature film, The Mattachine Family! The film is a beautiful LGBTQ+ indie feature about one man’s journey to find his chosen family. The film was written by my creative partner and husband Danny Vallentine drawing on our own personal journey to becoming fathers. This film is being produced by Zach Braff (Garden State) and Scot Boland (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Flight). The film stars Nico Tortorella (Younger, The Walking Dead: World Beyond) and Juan Pablo Di Pace (Mamma Mia!, Fuller House). You can look for it to hit the festival scene in late 2022, or early 2023.
Interview: May 2022
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. 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
The Letter Men
Length:
9:00
Writer
Danny Vallentine has always been a writer at heart. He started writing his first screenplay when he was just ten years old and has since learned a thing or two about telling a compelling story from some tremendous mentors. Danny worked for Barry Mendel at Apatow Productions where he was involved in the development of screenplays such as Trainwreck, The Big Sick, and Juliet, Naked. He also is currently collaborating on a script with Zach Braff called THE MATTACHINE FAMILY. His passion is telling stories that have not yet been told.
Director
Andy Vallentine is considered one of the premier up-and-coming directors in Los Angeles. He draws his creative inspiration from the forged-in-fire experience of being a dyslexic gay kid in small-town Michigan. What was once his shame he now considers his greatest strength.
He is currently in pre-production for his film THE MATTACHINE FAMILY, written by creative partner and husband Danny Vallentine. This film is being produced by Zach Braff, Scot Boland, and Mike Diaz and is set to go into production in October 2021.
Andy has developed content with Amy Baer at Gidden Media, Tyra Banks with Bankable, and most recently has been hard at work developing a WWII series based on the newly discovered real love letters sent between two gay British soldiers in the 1940s. He is working to bring this remarkable true story to life with Brian Volk-Weiss at the Nacelle Company.
He has worked with recording artists like Charlie Puth and Tritonal and popular media personalities like Patrick Starrr and Joey Graceffa. He has created commercial and branded content for Mercedes-Benz, MAC Cosmetics, Sephora, The Department of Veterans Affairs, The Ad Council, Goodwill, and Major League Baseball. Andy’s combined content has been viewed over 1 Billion times.
Producer
Mike Diaz, Andy Vallentine, Danny Vallentine, Garrett Clayton, Cameron Hutchison, Matthew Postlethwaite Siddharth Ganji
Key cast:
Garrett Clayton (Gilbert Bradley), Matthew Postlethwaite (Gordon Bowsher)
Looking for:
film festival directors, journalists
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/andyvallentine/
Hashtags used:
LGBTQ+, GAY, LOVE LETTERS, HISTORY, WWII,
Where can I watch it now?
THE LETTER MEN will screen at Tribeca on Friday, June 10th at 9:15 pm and Wednesday, June 15th at 9 pm.