Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2019 – Scrap
After getting laid off, young single-mom Beth (Vivian Kerr) finds herself living in her car and struggles to hide her homelessness from her estranged brother Ben (Anthony Rapp).
Interview with Writer/Producer/Actor Vivian Kerr and Producer Rachel Stander
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
VIVIAN: I've lived in Los Angeles for over a decade and seen how the homeless crisis has worsened over the years, so I wanted to make a film that touched on that issue. But, more than that, I'm interested in the secrets that we keep, why we hide some of our most painful truths from the people who love us the most. So the film is about the very beginning of someone’s experience with homelessness—the panic and the fear of the unknown-- but it’s also about the complex and delicate relationship between family members, and how there are hidden aspects of our lives that perhaps even those we are closest to know nothing about.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
VIVIAN: I personally love films about sibling relationships -- movies such as You Can Count On Me and Suicide Twins. I don't think we give that relationship as much attention as maybe we do parent-child or romantic relationship-based storylines, and so I think anyone who has a sibling and has experienced that kind of close bond will see their stories reflected in the dynamic between Beth and Ben, the siblings in the film.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
VIVIAN: I think all you can do is write from what is personal, and then hope it is universal. But even if it isn't universal, there's something interesting about stepping into someone else's subjective experience. I see movies all the time in which the characters don't act, or think, or speak the way I do, and the fun as an audience member and as a writer or an actor is grappling with that distance. So, I don't think there's any value in aiming for universality. When I am playing a character, the last thing on my mind is what is "universal." My job is to get into the specifics.
RACHEL: Yes, you can't tell a story in a universal way. You tell a story in the most specific, personal way, and if that is done authentically, then it allows the audience to project their own story onto it, making it universal. For example, one of the personal storylines in the feature version explores the idea of infertility, as Ben and his wife Stacy are going through IVF. The plot, going through IVF, is personal, but what is universal are the themes of shame and loss. The way we get to those themes is through the specific, narrative plot.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
VIVIAN: So the short, which we shot last year, is essentially the first 20 minutes of the feature film, which I plan to direct. I had outlined the feature film before we shot the short, and then, actually, the experience of making the short led me to re-evaluate some of the character relationships. For example, Elizabeth Ho, who is a wonderful actress, came in for one day to do a short scene as Ben's (Anthony Rapp) wife, Stacy. She was sitting at the table with the young actress playing my daughter, and just the way she was so tender with her, and the way that she and Anthony related to one another led me to think a lot more about why their characters didn't have children, which is now a huge component of the feature script.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
VIVIAN: The feedback has been incredible. We've done some pretty amazing festivals all over the country -- Beverly Hills Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Savannah Film Festival -- and pretty much across the board everyone wants to know what happens next, so I think that you can feel from the short that there's a lot more story to tell with the characters of Beth and Ben, and that makes me really excited.
RACHEL: Also, at almost every screening someone has shared a personal story about being homeless or experiencing housing insecurity, so obviously this is really resonating with the audience, and giving people a forum to talk about their own experiences.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
VIVIAN: It honestly has really reaffirmed my point of view! There's a small moment in the script in which my character pulls up alongside a random car in traffic, and there's a woman in the car just balling her eyes out. And Beth looks at her for a moment and then just drives off, and we never see that woman again and we never get to know her story. And I absolutely love that moment, because not only has that actually happened to me in LA traffic, but it encapsulates the question of the film, which is, how well can we truly ever know what another human being is going through? Anyway, there was some pressure on me in post-production to cut that moment from the short, but I fought for it, and I'm glad I did because, at almost every screening, someone in the audience raises their hand and mentions that moment. It has really taught me to trust my instincts.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
VIVIAN: We are hoping to attract investors so that we can shoot the feature in 2020. Anthony Rapp is onboard to reprise his role as Ben, and we have several talented producers who have also come on board. We are just waiting to get the funding together so we can lock our dates down and get pre-production going.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
RACHEL: An executive producer or distributor who wants to do a pre-sale. Like most independent films, we could use guidance on how to secure funding for the feature without losing creative control. Since we are nearing the end of our festival run, we'd also like to get foreign market distribution for the short.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
RACHEL: We'd like people to take away from the feature the idea of the freeing power in accepting your current reality. Beth and her brother Ben help each other let go of the ideas they’d had about what their lives should look like in order to make room for happiness in the lives they’re actually living. In a landscape of social media influencers and carefully curated public personas, it is intensely refreshing to see a story that hinges on that idea.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
RACHEL: At what point do you ask for help? How do you ask for help without compromising your self-esteem?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
VIVIAN: I've been working on an original spec pilot called Five Points, about the female-led gangs of early 19th century New York City, which I'm hoping to get into development.
Interview: November 2019
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
Scrap
After getting laid off, young single-mom Beth (Vivian Kerr) finds herself living in her car and struggles to hide her homelessness from her estranged brother Ben (Anthony Rapp).
Length: 20:46
Director: Leena Pendharker
Producer: Sapna Gandhi and Rachel Stander
Writer: Vivian Kerr
About the writer, director and producer:
LEENA PENDHARKER recently premiered her feature film, 20 Weeks (starring Anna Margaret Hollyman, Amir Arison, Sujata Day and Michelle Krusiec) at the Los Angeles Film Festival and also wrote and directs the short film, Dandekar Makes A Sandwich (Grand Jury Prize - Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles / and Vimeo Staff Pick). Her feature script, Days With Dandekar, won a Tribeca All Access grant and was workshopped in the FIND Screenwriters Lab.
VIVIAN KERR is a Los Angeles-based actor, writer, director, and producer. Her television credits include episodes of Rizzoli & Isles, New Girl, Criminal Minds, Masters of Sex, Castle, and Grey’s Anatomy. Her film work includes IFC Midnight's horror thriller The Den, comedy short The Assistant (with Janeane Garofalo), and period piece Lines (about the Bronte sisters, which she also wrote and co-produced). Vivian also wrote, produced, and starred in the web series We Are With The Band (Official Selection - Comedy Pilot, Los Angeles Independent Television Festival). She earned her BA in Theatre from the University of Southern California.
SAPNA GANDHI is an actor, writer, and producer, whose television credits include roles on Shameless, The Fosters, and Scandal. She can also be seen in films including indie cult feature Dust Up, and most recently in the series In Absentia (Raindance, Remi Winner at the Houston International Film Festival) and feature Thumper (opposite Pablo Schreiber, Tribeca Film Festival). Sapna recently produced/starred in a feature (About Strangers) and short (Break) under the umbrella of her production company, Elegant Grotesque. She recently associate produced the feature film Stranded On Earth (featuring Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds).
RACHEL STANDER is a producer working in film, television, and new media. She recently produced Lysistrata 2.0, a PSA-style get-out-the-vote short film. She also served as the Assistant to Producer for four seasons of Does This Baby Make Me Look Fat?, an award-winning digital comedy series with a viewership of 60K+ monthly views. Under the umbrella of her production company, A Season of Rain, she is developing a series of short films centering on ten Hindu goddesses (WWGD), a quirky feature about love and organ donors (The Donor List), and a biopic about Martha Graham (In Martha’s House). Before graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Southern California with a degree in Theatre, Rachel studied dance at Barnard College, Columbia University, as well as at NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts and Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Key cast: Vivian Kerr (Beth), Anthony Rapp (Ben), Skylar Grace Hill (Birdy), Elizabeth Ho (Stacy), Stephanie Drake (Taylor), John Billingsley (Steve)
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, producers, film festival directors, journalists, buyers
Facebook: SCRAP
Twitter: @crapthefilm
Instagram: @scrapthefilm
Hashtags used: #femalefilmmakers #supportindiefilm #womeninfilm
Website: scrapthefilm.com/index.html
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Elegant Grotesque
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Sherman Oaks Film Festival/Los Angeles, CA - Friday, Nov 22nd - 8:30pm; Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival/Melbourne, Australia - Wednesday, Nov 27th - 9:30pm; Queen Palm International Film Festival/Palm Springs, CA - Saturday, Dec 7th - 2pm; Lifft India Filmotsav-World Cine Fest/India - December 2019