HollyShorts - Charming
Prince Charming recounts his disastrous search for true love in a re-imagining of classic Grimms’ fairytales with a contemporary touch.
Interview with Writer/Director Tom Albanese
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Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thanks! “Charming” began as a feature-length screenplay all the way back in 2012. My good friend Christopher Jones & I went through a heck of a journey optioning the script to a prod. co. and developing it before ultimately getting the rights back after it didn’t move into production. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I chose to bring it to life in the form of a short film.
We wanted to blend the classic fairy tale with a modern day ’romantic comedy’ of sorts — a Disney fairy tale meets a 90’s rom-com. Those were always my favorites. The tone I was shooting for was “Shrek” meets “Pretty Woman”, which I’m pretty happy to say is how “Charming” tonally turned out.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The universally beloved ’fairy tale’ characters created by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault, etc. were firmly planted into pop culture after Disney immortalized them. “Charming” takes these characters and their various stories and weaves them into Prince Charming’s own, original story that hasn’t been told. It answers the question, “Why was Prince Charming kissing all those princesses?”
Besides that, it’s funny, cute, and teaches you a thing or two about that funky thing “true love”.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I’m fascinated with relationships. Why some work out and why some don’t. We’ve all had our hearts broken and most of us have been in love at some point (or at least thought we were). I’ve had many situations where I’ve wanted a relationship to work out but it ultimately wasn’t meant to be. You can’t make someone fall in love with you and “You Can’t Hurry Love” as the Supremes once said. “Charming” takes our hopes of finding true love and and applies it to these classic characters who ultimately want the same thing — to live “happily ever after”.
Sometimes the prince and princess might not actually be good for each other, despite all appearances and what’s on paper. Maybe “true love” doesn’t happen the way we’ve always been told it does.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
Immensely. Making a short film is tough. You simply don’t have time to tell a story, have an audience connect with your characters and establish a theme in 15 or so minutes. A sketch is fun and much more doable, but I wanted to tell a story that was more than a punchline, and for that I required a theme. I essentially took the feature Chris and I wrote and adapted it into a 20-page short film.
We had shot most all of principal photography on the short when I realized I needed to rethink Prince Charming’s introduction after piecing together an edit. We jumped right into the story, but Prince Charming didn’t appear for the first 4 minutes. We weren’t invested in his plight and didn’t see his POV quickly enough. In a feature where you’re going to spend more time with your protagonist after setting up the world and story, that would work. But it didn’t for the short. So I showed Joey Long (Co-Producer) a rough cut, we brainstormed and pretty much knew how we were going to restructure it and re-introduce the main players that night.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
It’s been amazing! The original plan was to complete the short and throw it up online. I wasn’t even considering a festival run until a friend told me I should consider it. Last month “Charming” took home the ’Best Comedy Short’ & ‘Best Supporting Actor’ awards at the Lionshead Film Festival in Dallas. We premiered near my home turf at the Maryland International Film Festival in April where we were nominated for “Best Short Film”. I almost didn’t even submit “Charming” to HollyShorts because I felt such a reach to get into, so naturally when I heard we had been accepted I thought it was a mistake. We’ve got more festivals on the way including LA Shorts Fest next month.
But the absolute best was my nephew telling his mom when she tucked him into bed that he “loved Charming”. It won’t get better than that.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It’s a fun, ‘feel-good’ movie just like my friend John Dell’Isola’s favorite movie the “Big Year”, so luckily I don’t have to worry about a very challenging or controversial POV. If people challenged anything in “Charming” it would be if “true love” actually exists. I don’t have an answer to that. I’d like to think it does. Maybe I’ll set “Charming 2” sixty years later and we’ll have Prince Charming offer his thoughts on the matter when he’s older and wiser.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Getting more people to check out what Charming’s all about and possibly landing a date with Daisy Ridley.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Well, I know Chris and I would love for *cough—(Disney & Jon Favreau) to check out our feature script “Charming” and immediately move into pre-production. I’m not actively looking for distribution for the short as I’ll release it online for everyone towards the year’s end, but if a couple more film festival directors or journalists are interested in screening or writing about this charming little puppy, I’m all for it!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Besides world peace? A couple laughs, a couple smiles, a certified-fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, and “that was worth 16 minutes of my day”.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
“What happens after the prince and princess ride off into the sunset?”
… On a PG family film level, of course.
Would you like to add anything else?
It was the best decision I’ve made to bring “Charming” to life as well as the most difficult endeavor I’ve taken on. A shout out and big thanks to everyone (cast, crew and supporters) who worked on the film and made it a reality. I’m incredibly proud of it, particularly because of those whose names are attached. And GO BILLS!
What are you working on now?
We’re (Pocket Man Entertainment) in the middle of production on our comedy series ‘No Actor Parking’ set to shoot this fall, so we’re knees deep both creatively and on the business side on that. After that there are too many things to count, but I’m looking forward to tackling my first feature next year, because I don’t like making things too easy for myself.
Interview: August 2016
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Charming
Prince Charming recounts his disastrous search for true love in a re-imagining of classic Grimms’ fairytales with a contemporary touch.
Length: 16 minutes
Written & Directed by Tom Albanese
Story by Tom Albanese & Christopher Jones
Produced by Tom Albanese Executive Produced by Tiago Felizardo, Francisco Froes and David Cohen Co-Produced by Joey Long and Beatriz Mendonca
Starring: Tom Albanese, Lucas Royalty, Karla Buckner, Will Hawkes, Marian Frizelle, Beeny Royston, Patricia Castello-Branco, Mary Bonney, Beatriz Mendonca, Lex Kilgour, Nicole Broderick, Victoria Beck, Francisco Froes, and Joey Long with Simon Barbaro as “King Triton”
Tom Albanese is a film director and screenwriter from Buffalo, New York. Upon graduating from New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in 2011, he sold a feature-length screenplay to Lotus Entertainment (Z for Zachariah, Maggie), his short film Charming has won several awards and he has had multiple scripts place in both the PAGE Screenwriting Awards and Script Pipeline competitions. But he is most proud of his world-famous Sean Connery impression.
Produced by Pocket Man Entertainment
Release Date: April 2nd, 2016 at the Maryland International Film Festival
Where Next: “Charming” is going to be screened at:
-- HollyShorts Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatres -- 12PM, August 16th -- LA Shorts Fest, Downtown Los Angeles/L.A. Live -- Early September