Big Sky Documentary Film Festival - The Guys Next Door
THE GUYS NEXT DOOR is an intimate portrait of a real “Modern Family.” Meet Erik and Sandro, a gay married couple with two daughters birthed by their friend Rachel. Rachel, who is in her 40s, is married to Tony and they have three children. Together, they form a unique extended family.
Interview with Director/Producer Allie Humenuk, Amy Geller
Watch The Guys Next Door on Prime Video and iTunes
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
We made this film because we read an article about Rachel being a surrogate for her gay friends and it sounded like an interesting story. We were curious about what would motivate a married woman in her mid-forties to offer to have babies for her friends. How would her family feel about that? Would she be a mother to the babies she has for her friends? And, it made us think about our own ideas of what constitutes family. Little did we know that meeting this extended family would take us on a 5 year journey. We started filming in the Fall of 2011 and the film premiered at the Sarasota Film Festival in the Spring of 2016. The film became an intimate portrait of a real "Modern Family.” It is particularly relevant right now because the country is seeing a resurgence of threats to LGBTQ civil liberties and this film highlights what connects us as humans, regardless of our politics.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
THE GUYS NEXT DOOR is an uplifting film. At this divisive time in our country, we need a film that brings to light the good in humanity. This humorous, touching film is about family and friendship that speaks to people’s hearts. We hope that people can see that family is family no matter how they’re formed.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The biggest challenge was editing the film. I loved the shooting. I trusted that we had a story. Intuitively, I think we even knew what the story was. But trying to bring the story to the surface in the editing room was really hard. Put two directors and an editor together, all of whom have strong opinions, and try to craft a story from footage that doesn’t have a built in dramatic arc - That is a challenge.
Also, our approach to editing is different. I like to review all of the footage and identify the scenes that I like the best. It doesn’t matter why I like them. I then cut those scenes, string them together and ask myself, what does this footage tell me? What story can be told with this footage? I then explore the interviews to help fill out the narrative. Both Amy and our editor Rachel Clark like to start by finding the arc through the interviews. Of course they think about the footage and that informs the arc, but I (Allie) think they initially work more with the words. I work very intuitively and our approaches were sometimes didn’t co-mingle well.
I don’t think one approach is better than the other. But they are fundamentally different and we needed to find a way to bridge what felt like a pretty big divide. In the end, what made the editing successful was that we all felt like we were trying to get to the same place; we had a similar vision for the film. So, if one scene or sequence of scenes didn’t work for one person, we worked until we found something that we all liked. Usually what we all liked was stronger than what we had had before.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The audience response has been just thrilling. We won several accolades at film festivals - audience and LGBT awards and jury prizes in places like Indiana and Alabama. To sit in an audience and have people sighing, sniffling, and have them come away saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much watching a documentary before” has been so rewarding. One man wrote us, “ After the screening, I thought to myself that this wasn't a gay film, it was a any-person film. What really stuck with me were the everyday struggles of communicating and negotiating with one's partner and with one's families and friends. How one rationalizes and adapts to life's ever changing conditions and how one tries to reconcile with their upbringing and families of origin. The film has gay men at the center of it, and deals with gay themes, but it didn't feel like I had watched a gay film (which, as a gay man who has watched way too many gay films, is a GREAT thing!).”
Making independent films is challenging. It is very hard to get films funded and then once they are made is it hard to get them seen. There’s the expectation now that filmmakers are supposed to not only make their films but also market them, create audiences, and distribute them. That takes an enormous amount of commitment. But, we recommit each time we show it to an audience because we see how much it’s affecting viewers.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view? (See quote above as an example)
The biggest surprise has been hearing that we made a gay film for straight audiences. At first, we kind of rebelled against that label because it felt like people were saying that gay people wouldn’t respond to the film, which hasn’t been our experience. Many gay people, especially people 40 and over, have shared their feelings about much the film has meant to them.
But we’ve come to see that there’s a truth to that idea because while the film is an intimate portrait of a gay family the characters are honest and accessible and share the same desires and struggles as most families. Therefore, it has much more mainstream appeal that we anticipated.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We want the film seen by as many people as possible and wearemovingstories gives us an opportunity to reach an audience we might not reach on our own. Thank you!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We’ve had enormous success screening at film festivals all across the country, and we just signed with a reputable distributor to help get the film into college, universities and public libraries.
Because we’re not doing theatrical runs of the film, it’s been difficult getting reviews. So we’d like to encourage more press to write about the movie.
And finally, what we’d love is to find individuals who want to become ambassadors for the film and help organize public screenings in their communities, schools, theaters, libraries, and even in their homes. To learn more, please email us at info@asquaredfilms.com.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
From Montana to Maryland to Maine to Alabama, we’ve seen how the film creates an opening for discussion about what constitutes family? How are families made? What mixture of nature and nurture influence who we become? How do we change when we become parents? These are questions all parents, gay or straight, ask. So, we want our film to spark conversations that help people see that, despite of our differences in politics or religion or gender, there is a humanity that connects us all. Also, there is a powerful desire for children to grow up healthy and loved. We want as wide an audience as possible to be touched by the film’s message of #loveislove.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What role does gender play in this film?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Allie Humenuk continues to work on getting the film seen as widely as possible and attending as many screenings as she can. She works freelance as a Director and a Director of Photography. Her next film is still germinating.
and
In addition to helping to self-distribute THE GUYS NEXT DOOR, Amy Geller is teaching in the Film & TV department at Boston University and producing a documentary entitled THE RABBI GOES WEST about an Orthodox rabbi who moves from Crown Heights, Brooklyn to Bozeman, Montana to bring his form of Judaism to the American West. The film is slated be released in the fall/winter of 2017. For more info, contact rabbigoeswest@gmail.com.
Interview: February 2017
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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 Guys Next Door
THE GUYS NEXT DOOR is an intimate portrait of a real “Modern Family.” Meet Erik and Sandro, a gay married couple with two daughters birthed by their friend Rachel. Rachel, who is in her 40s, is married to Tony and they have three children. Together, they form a unique extended family.
Length: 75 minutes
Director: Allie Humenuk, Amy Geller
Producer: Allie Humenuk, Amy Geller
Key cast:
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Journalists, Film Festival directors
Funders: n/a
Made in association with: Center for Independent Documentary
Where can I see it in the next month?
For a little while longer, you can click here to buy the DVD or stream the film on Vimeo. And we’re screening all over the place - 15 screenings between now and the end of May. Check out our screenings page for the most up-to-date info.