Pavement
Anna, a teen girl, stands barefoot on burning hot pavement after discovering her father has terminal cancer.
Interview with Actor/Writer/Producer Emma Halleen
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I’d been wanting to explore how grief affects a kid for a while before I had written the actual script. When the story of Anna, a teenager who just learned her father had terminal cancer, played on the page, I knew I had something strong enough to engage the audience. That's when I went looking for my team to get this made.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Everyone has experienced loss, and if you’re fortunate enough to have escaped that tragedy, then you’ve experienced helping a friend through grief. There is a messiness and confusion that accompanies grief and loneliness. I think a lot of people can relate.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Anna doesn't know how to express herself while losing her father. Because of this, she pushes her friend away - loss leads to loneliness. We wanted to convey Anna’s despair and how communicating it to a friend and struggling to feel heard leads her to be blocked off and isolated. The impending death of a loved one is isolating and detrimental to regular social relationships.
The universal theme surrounds coping with tragedy and the greater effects of doing so when you are also exploring and trying to understand the world around you as an adolescent. We entered into the film trying to answer one question: How does tragedy affect a teenager?
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script began as a three page dream where, despite terrible circumstances, Anna feels completely supported and heard. It wasn’t right. So I reworked it to face the harsh reality that Anna doesn’t feel more connected to her friend through tragedy. If anything, she feels more alone and alienated than ever. Through the filming and editing process, we stayed pretty true to the script - but at the end of post production we actually cut a lot of dialogue. It was interesting to realize how few words were really needed to tell this story.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been extremely positive. Brendyn Gilbert, the director, did a fantastic job, not only telling the story, but also making it competitive for film festivals. It’s short, coming in around six minutes. The filming is gritty and real, showing off Anna’s acne and dark circles. The story grabs you immediately. We’ve gotten some really great suggestions for quicker cuts here or there and pulling more focus to Anna rather than longer cuts for Maddie and Luke (the other two characters). The thing that has stuck the most is the emphasis on point of view. Always head back to your main character's eyes.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I’ve received some feedback on my writing that definitely took some processing. One piece of advice was to check my dialogue, making sure it was realistic to what a teen girl would say. A couple lines have been noted to be a little too poetic. The emphasis on reality and confirming realism really hit home, and it’s something I’ll carry to the next project.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Collaboration with other artists. I am a producer, writer and actor. My skill set isn’t in directing. So meeting directors is something very important to me. I’d also love to produce more scripts (mine or someone else’s) underneath The Millionth (the production company that put together PAVEMENT). And, I would love to connect with more people involved with film festivals. I’d love to learn more about what festivals are looking for and their perspective on films. Also, I would love to sit down and have a coffee with a sales agent. I find them to be mythical creatures, and I am fascinated by their line of work. Basically, a long way of saying I would take any opportunity to learn and collaborate with all the film industry’s different facets.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
The project has been fully filmed and is currently in its last leg of post production. At this point, I’d love to work with film festival directors and receive their input. I’d also like to talk with journalists to get the word out. It’s a 6 minute short, so as cool as it would be to work with distributors, I think The Millionth is still a couple projects away from that stage.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would love for this to speak to every kid and adult who is persevering or has persevered through losing a loved one. It’s a lifelong battle that, if you let it, can be incredibly isolating. I would love someone to look up at this film and feel seen.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Does Anna have culpability in her isolation?
Would you like to add anything else?
I appreciate the opportunity to be recognized on this platform. I believe that making a great film begins with getting the right people on your team. A huge thank you to the PAVEMENT team: Brendyn Gilbert, Rick Lawrence, Sam Heyer, Stephani Atkins and the whole cast and crew. They made the project truly great.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Currently, I am shopping for scripts. I’d love to follow PAVEMENT with a series of short films that focuses on specific emotional moments in coming of age stories. I’m hoping to produce another project in 2022 while working on getting PAVEMENT into the festival circuit.
Interview: October 2021
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
Pavement
Length:
5:45
Writer
EMMA HALLEEN
This is Emma's first script that has been fully produced. She began writing in 2019 and is excited to pitch more scripts in the future. Pavement was a semi-autobiographical look at loss and it's effects on a child. Grief at such a developmental stage in adolescance can distance and divide friends and contribute to substantial change in a child's character and personality. Pavement is an observation and example of how that can happen.
Director
BRENDYN GILBERT.
Brendyn Gilbert is a jack of all trades director who can edit, compose and write. His passion lies in direction which he has done on several short films under he and his DP's (Rick Lawrence) production company, OOPH Entertainment. He has the ability to capture the quiet moments of tragedy and humor in despair that makes his work palatable, meaningful and perfect for the creation of PAVEMENT.
Producer
SAM HEYER.
Sam Heyer is a serial entrepreneur and successful business man, he began to transition his business expertise to film after taking a clown class he thought was for public speaking. He has now produced multiple projects.
Key cast:
Emma Halleen (Anna), Zoë Lerman (Maddie), Landon Lee (Luke), John Lawrence (Anna and Luke's Dad)
Looking for:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/emmahalleen.atkins/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/emmathemillionth/
Hashtags used:
#Pavement #childloss #cancer
More info: