Fifty conversations exploring the many different shades of being "gay" in America. A conversation on the degrees and varying perceptions about how people define themselves.

Interview with Director/Producer Jill Salvino

Watch on Between the Shades Tubi and Kanopy

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

The film stemmed from a conversation about how many different types of gays there are. Little did I even know.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

No film can ever capture the immense diversity of the LGBTQI community, but it didn’t stop us from trying. This film is about love and could not come at a more needed time. There is always more room for love, no?

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The film talks to labels, coming out stories and love. There are themes that weave the fabric of the film. They are universal to the LGBT Community as well as the heterosexual community. That’s the point. At the end of the day, everyone just wants to be loved.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

I wanted parents of kids that came out 50 years ago VS parent of kids that came out yesterday. The Older parents were more difficult to find. I think they live more in the Mid-West as their kids came HERE to get away from THERE.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

This is our 12th Festival. It is amazing how many different types of festivals it has screened at, all to unanimous response: This film needs to be in the school system.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

No. It was exactly as I suspected and had hoped for.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

Between the Shades is about to be picked up. Building all audiences to go and look for the film on television as well as video on demand will only serve it for the better.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

At this point…. perhaps a few celebrities discussing the message of inclusion and understanding. Becoming LGBT role models for younger people who many not have any.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

That it is shown over and over until there is no need to help people love and understand and respect each other.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Are we moving forwards or backwards or just holding our breath and waiting?

What other projects are the key creative developing or working on now?

I am headed to LA for Dances with Films to screen Between the Shade at the TCL Chinese Theatre. I am meeting distributors and sales agents there and probably closing this chapter of the film. Currently, I am doing PR and trying to fill this massive theatre. That’s enough.

When I get return, I will be directing another Sonnet Project.

Interview: June 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+, 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

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Between the Shades

Fifty conversations exploring the many different shades of being "gay" in America. A conversation on the degrees and varying perceptions about how people define themselves.

Length: 82

Director: Jill Salvino

Producer: Susan Yosca, Rogers Hartmann, Jill Salvino

About the director

Salvino directed TAKING IT FOR GRANTED, which played in dozens of festivals including the Big Apple Festival and won Best Drama at NYC’s Downtown Film Festival. Salvino wrote and directed LIES PEOPLE TELL, which Premiered at The San Pedro Film Festival and went on to screen both in the US and Internationally. It was chosen by the New York Women in Film and Television as one of their top shorts of the year.

As an invited director, her contribution as director of THE SONNET PROJECT (#74), presented by the New York Shakespeare Exchange screened at festivals and is on tour in the United Kingdom. She is currently slated to direct a second Sonnet in 2018.

Salvino is currently on the Festival Tour with her first documentary feature: BETWEEN THE SHADES which explores the various degrees of ‘gay‘ that exist in our society and frame up a conversation about the spectrum of LGBTQI and the strands of acceptance that bind us all.

FILM INQUIRY had this to say: "The brilliance of focusing on our similarities with love, is that SALVINO is able to bring a mostly controversial subject to an extraordinary comfortable level. By the end of the film, the interviewees feel more like friends and family, rather than strangers or “others”. It is a considerate and necessary conversation. It is an honest, non-intrusive, uncomplicated look into a sometimes very complicated subject.

SALVINO’S astute focus on similarity and humanity make it non-intimidating and enjoyable. The distinct attention paid to the eyes, personalized each experience even more.” SALVINO is able to garner such trust, that you can actually see the inner child in the faces of the interviewees. From the light in the eyes when they discuss their personal longings, to the tears of pain from their heartache. It takes a special kind of director to illicit this much honesty out of every day people, particularly in front of a camera.”

Key cast: Filmmaker Jill Salvino’s documentary features 50+ voices, among them: actress Beth Malone (Fun Home / Angels in America), actress Kathy Najimy and Democratic National Committee Treasurer Andrew Tobias.

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):

Social media handles:

insta

@directorjill

@between_shades

twitter

@directorjill

@between_the_shades

FB is https://www.facebook.com/betweentheshades/

https://www.facebook.com/jill.salvino

Hashtags: #documentary, #femaledirector, #loveislove, #indiefilm

Where was this filmed? NYC

Funders: Kickstarted and self funded

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Dances with Films in LA on June 11th @ 5pm. The again at @ NorthWest Fest in Alberta Canada. June 13th 7pm.