Austin Film Festival - The Goodnight Kiss
Amy and Brandon have just ended what appears to be a very good first date. As they kiss we flash through their entire relationship. Which begs the question: If you knew how a relationship would end, would you start it in the first place?
Interview with Writer/Director Laura Adkin
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I Wanted to Direct something, David and I had chatted about some ideas for stories to write. He had a few good concepts and ideas so we took them and went from there.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
For me, this whole story sprung from the idea that relationships are the only thing we go into in life without an end date. We all want our “happily ever after” but is that a real thing? Should we even want it to be? I don’t have the answer to that but I think everyone can relate to this film - and I think depending where you are in your own relationships (or lack thereof) you’ll see the film differently.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I come from an acting background so for me character and relationship are everything. I like to write things that I’m going through and the people around me are going through and then take those ideas to the extreme. I like characters that everyone can relate to - maybe not relate to everything about them, but at least a part of them.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
Honestly, the film stayed very close to the original concept of the film. The biggest change was when I originally wrote it it was from Brandon’s (played by David Lewis) point of view, but something didn’t feel right. A friend who was giving me notes suggested I switch to Amy’s (played by Lisa Durupt) POV and as soon as I did that the whole story just clicked.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback which has been really cool. It’s nice when you work really hard on something to have people say they liked it. Different people see the film differently, I often have people explain the ending and the relationship to me and it’s different from what’s in my head, but totally makes sense still. I wanted to create something different people would take different things from and I think I did that!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I don’t think so, I was always really clear with the story I wanted to tell and although I’ve listen to a lot of notes along the way I always stayed true to the core of the story.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on/react-text www.wearemovingstories.com
The more people who hear about what you’re doing the better. I created a product I’m super proud of and I want people to see it! I’m also incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such talented people so to see their work get recognized as well is very cool.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We’d love to screen at more festivals, we’d of course love some distribution (what filmmaker wouldn’t!) but at the end of the day if people like it and tell people about it, that would be the coolest thing.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I’d like it to be something people talk about, something that leads to a bigger discussion about life and relationships and honestly if I can make people laugh that’s pretty much the best thing.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I think that would be the tag line of our film! “If you knew how a relationship would end, would you start it in the first place?”
Would you like to add anything else?
Just that it’s been an incredible experience. From writing this script with my writing partner (and life partner) David Lewis, to filming, to editing, to now being able to share it with people and travel around to film festivals, it’s been a great ride.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Lead Actor/Co-Writer David Lewis has a lot of things going on.
Interview: October 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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The Goodnight Kiss
Amy and Brandon have just ended what appears to be a very good first date. As they kiss we flash through their entire relationship. Which begs the question: If you knew how a relationship would end, would you start it in the first place?
Length: 10 mins
Director: Laura Adkin
Producer: Victoria Angell
Writer: Laura Adkin & David Lewis
About the writer, director and producer:
Director/Writer: Laura Adkin
Laura began her work in the film industry almost 15 years ago, starting out as an actor and then moving into writing, producing and most recently director. Laura has worked on everything from low budget indies like “It’s A Disaster” (Starring Julia Stiles and David Cross) to network TV Series like Arrow and Almost Human to major motion pictures like “Star Trek: Beyond”. She has 2 Leo Award nominations, for her role in the web series “Hitman 101” and for producing a short film called “Rattlesnake”. When not on set or writing Laura loves snowboarding, drinking wine and is an avid hockey fan (Go Canucks!). She’s recently decided to learn how to golf.
Co Writer(Lead Actor/Exec Producer): David Lewis
David James Lewis was born and raised in Vancouver BC. As a child his parents took him to the drive-in to watch Jaws. Not only was he scarred mentally from entering the water for the next decade, he was also bitten by the movie bug. Upon leaving high school he was lucky enough to step into the film and TV world that was exploding in Vancouver. Starting out in commercials he worked his way up the ladder earning small parts in local indie movies and series such as X Files, Stargate and The Outer Limits.
In 1999 he was the lead in Shoes Off, a short film that won the Cannes Film Award for best short film. Over the years highlights include, “Man of Steel”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Paycheck" and the juggernaut that was “Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever”. Most recently David can be seen in the BBC America show “Dirk Gently Holistic Detective”, the showtime series “Travellers”, “Rouge” and Bravo’s “Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce”.
He has written and directed a number of short films including Stalled and Theatrics. He is currently working hard because his children are miniature money vacuums.
Producer: Victoria Angell
Victoria does creative producing and content writing for casual games and interactive web campaigns at Agentic Digital Media including, “Battle Castle TV” (2012), “Tree Up” an iPad causal game, “Touchstone’s Scene/Change Theatre” an interactive online theatre 2014, and Daniel Arnold’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” a rotating website with video integration. She is currently working on interactive convergent websites for “Coyote’s Crazy Smart Science Show” and “Nations At War”; both projects are in production with CMF for APTN.
Victoria’s film producing credits include "The Meeting" (2013) and “Stalled” (2013) by Karen Lam, “Up and Down” (2014) and “Kimchi Fried Dumplings” (2012) by Jason Karman, “Petal Picnic” by Amber Ripley and “Braindamage” by Matt Leaf. She was associate producer on the 2014 feature film "Evangeline" by Karen Lam. While she occasionally still acts as producer, both for her own projects and those of other Vancouver filmmakers, her current direction has been focused on scriptwriting and content development for digital properties.
Victoria has written and directed three of her films to date: “Quintipus” (official selections at Boston Sci-Fi, la Samain du Cinema Fantastique in Nice, France and ten other festivals internationally), a recently completed comedy “Spaced”, and a horror short “Summoned” (which premiered at the 2016 Vancouver International Women in Film Festival).
Key cast:
Lisa Durupt: IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2120507/?ref_=nv_sr_1
David Lewis: IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507082/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Anthony Konechny: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3424969/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): We’d love more people to screen our film! We’re doing the festival circuit for the next year but if we’ve missed a great festival we’d love to hear about it.
Release date: First Screening was Oct 6th 2016 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada