Candy & Ronnie
A young man awakens on his couch and pieces together a dark romantic weekend that will change his life forever. A sexy, feverish dip into the seductive waters of drugs and unrivaled promiscuity.
Interview with Writer/Director/Editor/Composer Skyko
Watch Candy & Ronnie here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
To have some fun, practice the art of filmmaking, and to raise awareness about the dangers of taking drugs – specifically opioids/opiates.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
There are some really funny moments in the film as well as outrageous partying scenes we think people will enjoy. Plus, there is a little bit of nudity, which never hurts to spice things up!
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I believe that many young adults experiment with taking drugs. Personally I’ve had a few wonderful, bonding, life-changing experiences while briefly experimenting, but I also lost my brother and best friend because of them. We wanted to show the world both sides of the coin because drugs can be fun until they’re not... and then, its often too late.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Initially the film was going to be a short 5-8 minute piece with little or no dialogue. We wanted it to be a good programming fit for the festival circuit, just a story told in images, sound effects and music. We needed to cast our lead actors, so I wrote out a few scenes to use during auditions. It was important for me to find actors that were accomplished and could handle dialogue. During the auditions, the scenes came to life wonderfully, and we had so much fun with the actors that we all agreed on incorporating the dialogue scenes into the film. The final draft of the script was 11.5 pages.
We knew it would now be a longer movie (now planning on a 12 minute film) but it was important for us to include those scenes because the actors worked so hard memorizing. It really felt a shame to just discard all of that hard work. Plus, it would be a great opportunity for us as filmmakers to hone our storytelling/editing abilities by filming the dialogue scenes.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We’ve won a few festivals... Atlantic City Cinefest - Best Writer (Skyko) and Best Actor (Tyler Tackett) LA Shorts Awards - Best Director (Skyko) Best Score (Skyko), Best Actress (Mair Mulroney), Best Short F&F Film Festival - Best Overall Short Film Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival - Best Performance (Mair Mulroney)
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Yes! We were very surprised at how many people relayed their candid, personal stories about drug addiction. Many of the actors that we auditioned offered stories relating to the film about their family members battle with substance abuse. Quite a few people during our Q&A sessions at the festivals opened up about their experiences as well. We were floored by the data we collected while researching the epidemic for promotional pieces.
I lost my brother to the ongoing battle of opioids/opiates but I had no idea how widespread these Big Pharma companies have been saturating our country with these horrifically dangerous drugs. All in the name of profit...truly despicable!
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We can’t have the film available just yet, as we are still waiting to hear back from other festivals. But once our festival run is over we would love for people to watch, enjoy and hopefully find it insightful and entertaining.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We are having a very positive response with the press at this time, probably due to the fact that the epidemic is in such an abominable state. By exposing it to more journalists we feel it will get more exposure and hopefully make people think twice about these drugs.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
To expose the dangers of opiates/opioids so that young people know what they may be getting into by experimenting with them. I don’t think there is enough realistic dramatic material that exposes these demons for what they are. Do people really understand the physically addictive qualities these pills have? I don’t think so. When my younger brother was prescribed pills after the shock of living close to the epicenter of the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, I’m certain he had no idea that these pills were as harmful and addictive as a needle full of heroin.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I initially struggled with whether or not it would be right to lure the audience in with the fun side of partying with drugs and then hit them like a ton of bricks with the ending. Like violence, depicting gratuitous drugs on screen can be construed as glamorizing it for the sake of spectacle, but I’m convinced that I never tried these hard drugs because of films like The Basketball Diaries, Trainspotting and The Man With The Golden Arm.
Would you like to add anything else?
I’d love if people would watch the film and give us comments about it. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees especially when the details are so close to personal experience!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are developing a feature-length film entitled Love Dust Revolver, a romantic, black comedy, crime film that is akin to the 1994 film True Romance. We are interested in finding investors as well as producers and foreign sales reps. - a teaser scene can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/stradfilms/scene124 ### Film.
Interview: July 2018
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
Candy & Ronnie
A young man awakens on his couch and pieces together a dark romantic weekend that will change his life forever. A sexy, feverish dip into the seductive waters of drugs and unrivaled promiscuity.
Length: 16 minutes
Director: Skyko
Producer: Lucy Macedo
Writer: Skyko
About the writer, director:
SKYKO is a filmmaker, composer, and co-founder of the production company Strad Films that he operates with his wife Lucy Macedo in Woodland Hills, CA. You can find out more about their production company at Strad Films, sound and music services at Skylab Sound.
Key cast: Tyler Tackett (Billy Isaaks), Mair Mulroney (Alice Murphy), Paul Stanczak (The Pizza Guy)
Looking for: Journalists, sales agents, buyers, distributors
Facebook: @candyronnie
Twitter: @stradfilms
Instagram: @stradfilms
Other: @lucymacedo @thatgirlmair
Funders: Lucy Macedo, Skyko + Indie GoGo
Production Company: Strad Films
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? www.candyronnie.com