Bentonville Film Fest / Newport Beach Film Festival - The Matchmaker
Eager to help his mother maintain her sharp wits, a man searches her retirement community to match her with the perfect New Best Friend.
Interview with Director Leonora Pitts
Main image: Robert Romanus, Rhea Perlman, and Bryna Weiss
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I know the writer, Sy Rosen, through a unique set of circumstances: my parents served in the Peace Corps in Bolivia with his wife in the 1960’s. Sy is a legendary television writer, and when he invited me to a storytelling event he was having, I jumped at the chance. He performed the (embellished maybe slightly but true) story of The Matchmaker that evening, and I was struck by its warmth and humor. A few months later, he asked me if I’d direct a short film version of the piece, and our collaboration started.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
First and foremost, Sy is a wonderful writer and this film is full of his experience and sense of humor and neuroses. Our cast is really special - legends Barbara Bain, Rhea Perlman, and Robert Romanus really shine, and our lead, Bryna Weiss, is so lovely, grounded, and real. I think it’s vitally important that we tell stories about older people - especially older women. I’ve heard again and again that older women are made to feel invisible, that people just look through them and past them. Our funny and touching film is a story about these women and is our attempt to make sure they’re heard and seen and understood.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Bob Romanus and I talked a lot about the idea of one’s own mortality being illuminated by our aging parents. So as Bob’s character is getting his mom set up at her new retirement community, he’s obviously looking out for her interests and well-being because he loves her. That’s clear. But the reason he gets so (hilariously) het up about the whole experience is also because as our parents age, we see our own future, and it can be pretty terrifying.
The film also explores the scary prospect of Alzheimer’s, and the lengths some will go to avoid even being near it. This goes back to the idea of older women being invisible, of course, but also, so many people have seen someone go through the trauma of Alzheimer’s, and we wanted to represent that pain truthfully, which still maintaining a light touch.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script grew out of a monologue, so it took a bit of work to get it out of first person-mode and into film-mode. Once we figured out a unique way to make the voice over work, Sy really ran with it.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We won the top award at our first festival, The Best of the Fest at the Dam Short Film Festival, which was really fortifying and gratifying since it was audience-based. Probably my favorite feedback has come from the actual folks at the retirement community where we shot the film - all those incredible faces. We did a screening there a couple months back, and hearing their hoots and applause when they saw each other on film - and a couple heartbreaking sighs for those community members who’d died in the short time since we shot the film - was really something to experience. Most importantly, they loved the film. One woman’s daughter thanked us for truthfully and humorously representing the experience of an adult child putting their parent into one of these retirement homes.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It’s always nerve-wracking to put something out there, so I’m grateful that the feedback thus far has been really positive.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We want what all filmmakers/writers/actors/etc want: for someone to see our stuff, like our stuff, and help us make more stuff!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We would love for this film, once it's completed its festival run, to be seen by as many eyes as possible.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope people laugh throughout, and I hope that after watching this film they’ll always say hello to the old ladies they meet in the grocery store.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How can we give space for older people to tell their stories?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I have several projects brewing, both as a writer- filmmaker and as an actress. My writing partner Emily Robinson and I have written a pilot we’re pretty obsessed with and we are hoping to partner it with the right production company. I also have a feature script ready to go, which I would direct and appear in, along with my collaborators Jennifer Lafleur and Davie-Blue Bacich. I’m also hoping to produce a couple of films written by some of my wickedly talented friends.
Our writer/executive producer Sy is writing writing writing as always, and is still doing storytelling events all over Los Angeles. Our producer Jesse has a documentary, The Dis-United States of America, on the festival circuit now, and has a short just starting its festival run, called On the Internet, Nobody Knows Who You Are. Producers David Fickas and Brice Beckham have many projects always brewing at their production company, Drama 3/4, including a feature project and several television pilots. They also just wrapped a digital series for IFC starring and created by Janet Varney, and directed by David.
Interview: April 2018
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, scifi, 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
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The Matchmaker
Eager to help his mother maintain her sharp wits, a man searches her retirement community to match her with the perfect New Best Friend.
Length: 11 minutes
Director: Leonora Pitts
Producer: Sy Rosen (exec producer), Jesse Einstein, David Fickas, Brice Beckham
Writer: Sy Rosen
About the writer, director and producer:
Leonora Pitts (director) is an actress and filmmaker. She’s appeared in numerous television shows and independent films, most frequently working with the prolific Duplass Brothers. Her shorts have screened at over forty festivals worldwide. She is the co-founder of the Los Angeles Women’s Film Collective.
Sy Rosen (writer-producer) has written for such legendary shows as The Jeffersons, 227, and The Wonder Years. He appears at storytelling events all over Los Angeles, sharing his hilarious true tales of being getting older in a town obsessed with youth.
Key cast:
Rhea Perlman, Barbara Bain, Robert Romanus, Bryna Weiss
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Distributors, film festival directors, journalists
Social media handles:
@leeleepitts
Made in association with:
The Einstein Creative and Drama 3/4
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
We are screening at Bentonville Film Festival on May 2nd, the Newport Beach Film Festival also on May 2nd, and more festivals to come as soon as we can announce them.