The Lightkeeper
Set on a remote stretch of stormy coastline, a hardened young woman agrees to dinner at the home of an ageing recluse.
Interview with Writer/Director Zach Bandler
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The concept for The Lightkeeper has evolved a lot, but it began as a creative collaboration between myself and actress/producer Meg Steedle. We've wanted to find something to work on together for a long time. In early discussions, both of us realized we are strongly drawn to stories about mentors. Both of us have been personally impacted by different mentors along the way in our careers – both positively and negatively – and we wanted to explore the dynamics of that relationship. That's where this story started, but as stories often have a mind of their own, it's transformed greatly over the two-or-so years I've been working on it. Now it involves themes of communication, reconciliation, the challenges of aging, and it's also an homage to the coast of Oregon, which is my home state.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Something I've been told by many audience members as we've played festivals is that they have someone in their life that mirrors these characters and their conflict, even if it's just slightly. I don't want to tip the ending of the film too much, but it's my belief that there's a person for all of us with whom we desire reconciliation. Of course, our expectation or fantasy of how the reconciliation with that individual will be achieved never plays out the way we imagined it in our heads. The Lightkeeper is about both the enormity and the simplicity of such a moment.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Communication is a huge theme for me, but age (and ageing) is a concept that seems to draw me back over and over again in the stories I write. I find the ageing process both fascinating and bittersweet. The Lightkeeper deals with a form of dementia for one of the characters (played by Bruce Davison) and how capricious life can be when disease strikes – particularly disease of the brain. I have a personal connection to dementia (as most of us do) with someone older I cared deeply about, and witnessing that person being robbed of their mind shook me to the core. I think it was unavoidable that the experience would end up on the screen for me in some way.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
As is true with many short films, this is a slice of a larger feature. The challenge for me was actually working backward – I've been working on the feature script for some time now, and to pull out a section from it, arc that into its own self-contained story, and still maintain the temptation of a larger tale took some finagling. I'm happy with the result, and most importantly, shooting this short cracked open some major inspiration for me in terms of new directions to deepen the larger narrative. I'm presently doing a lot of research on a specific type of dementia, one that was not part of the original script. I'm really excited about where it's taking me and I've just decided to let the story lead.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback from audiences has been overwhelmingly positive. It can be hard to watch for some, specifically those who are in the thick of it with a family member or close friend battling dementia. I don't pretend that seeing this little story on screen is going to give those people catharsis, but I do hope it helps them know that there are those of us out here who empathize with them.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
There are purposefully some moments of mystery in the film – specifically with some items the main character (played by Meg Steedle) discovers when she's alone. I love hearing different people's ideas about who they belong to and how they got there. I'm thrilled when folks are so invested in the story that they continue imagining the characters' pasts and futures.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We're constantly looking to expand our audience, and we want to connect with as many people as possible who share a desire to see these kinds of stories on screen.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We're presently looking for producers who are passionate about helping us realize the larger film.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
As we play festivals, my hope is that audiences continue to connect to the story on a personal level. It's the most fulfilling part of seeing the efforts of our small-but-mighty team up there on the screen.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
"Do both parties have to be fully in the present in order to reconcile their past?"
Would you like to add anything else?
Honestly, I just want to thank the festival staffs who have believed in this film enough to give it a home. We've met some really amazing advocates doing a profound amount of work for their audiences strictly out of passion. I don't know where we'd be without them.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm presently wrapping post production on another short film called Torn, with much of the same team – including my producing partner Victor Mazzone, cinematographer Jon Keng, editor James Stiegelbauer, sound designer Peter Bawiec, and costume designer Jacob Kosarian. It's a dark comedy and very different from The Lightkeeper. It's been a lot of fun. Meg Steedle and I are also presently undertaking our third collaboration: a film about the music recording industry which has got us both very excited. Bruce Davison continues to be one of the hardest-working, most prolific actors I know. I think he's up in Nova Scotia shooting a film as we speak.
Interview: July 2018
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The Lightkeeper
Set on a remote stretch of stormy coastline, a hardened young woman agrees to dinner at the home of an ageing recluse.
Length: 16 minutes
Director: Zach Bandler
Producer: Victor Mazzone, Meg Steedle
Writer: Zach Bandler
About the writer, director and producer:
ZACH BANDLER is an award-winning screenwriter and director whose films have played throughout the United States. The Lightkeeper was recently named the winner of the 61st CINE Golden Eagle Award for Independent & Emerging Media, and his film The Stairs won the Audience Award for Best Short at the 2016 Ashland Independent Film Festival. As a screenwriter, he has been recognized by Slamdance Film Festival, the PAGE Awards, Cinequest, ScreenCraft, Nashville Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, and LA Shorts Fest.
VICTOR MAZZONE is an award-winning producer whose work has been recognized by the CINE Golden Eagle Award, Ashland Independent Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, LA Shorts Fest, Canberra Short Film Festival, LA Comedy Festival, and more. His feature film sleepwalk, a 1950s queer noir, will premiere in the fall of 2018.
MEG STEEDLE is an actress and producer best known for playing the role of "Billie Kent" on HBO's Boardwalk Empire. She was nominated for SAG Award as part of Best Ensemble with the cast and has appeared in numerous television shows. As a producer, her work on The Stairs was recognized by several U.S. film festivals, and she continues to partner with Zach Bandler and Victor Mazzone on both short and feature film.
Key cast: Meg Steedle, Bruce Davison
Looking for: producers, film festival directors
Facebook: The Lightkeeper Film
Twitter: @megsteedle
Instagram: @lightkeeperfilm, @zachbandler AND @megsteedle
Made in association with: Giver A Go Films
Where has the film been screened? Woods Hole Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Cindependent Film Festival