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Maureen and Jason are each having a very bad night. Their chance encounter gives both a glimmer of hope as they discover a shared past and a connection that brings light to the darkness in their lives. A romantic dramedy.
Interview with Writer/Director/Editor/Producer Melissa Skirboll
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Overdue is a story of two people who are at a low point in their lives, who manage to provide solace and a sense of hope to each other when neither of them is expecting either.
When Penny B. Jackson approached me with the script for the play and asked whether I thought it could be made into a film, I was immediately moved by the humanity at the heart of the two main characters. Working on the screenplay together, we were able to make the story more cinematic and ground it in a sense of real pathos and pain - while still being pretty funny. Once we got the script finalized, the director in me (and I think of myself as a director first, a writer second - though Covid seemed intent on making me more of a writer since it was one of the few creative outlets I could fully indulge in at home alone!) couldn't wait to take over and get this thing on film.
As a woman of "a certain age" I love to see stories that revolve around full-grown adult women. Having spent a lot of time at film festivals over the last few years, I think we need to see more romance, romantic comedy, stories with hope and the possibility of "sunshine after rain". I make the kinds of movies I want to see. And this is one I've been happy to watch - over and over and over.
Overdue
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Overdue seems to touch people at a heart level. First of all, the chemistry between our two leads is palpable. And though it's not explicit or lewd in any way, the heat is real! Plus it's a story that is relatable on many levels. Particularly with all the loss and stress most of us have experienced over the last few years - to see two people who have hit rock bottom find a reason to keep going is heartwarming.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I think everyone at some point will experience their own personal "dark night of the soul". We all experience loss and disappointment and failure. Finding a way out of the darkness and regaining a sense of optimism after life beats you up isn't always easy. Realizing that we're not alone, that others have fallen this far and managed to claw their way back to life is in its own way a beacon of hope.
Overdue
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script started as a ten-minute play written by my partner Penny B. Jackson. As such the outline of the story has been in place long before I was involved - but it also was written for a different medium: 2 people on a stage alone together.
Once we started to flesh it out for film, one of the things we decided to do was create more of an arc for Maureen. We wanted to give her more of a struggle, more immediate problems to overcome, and more urgent reasons for her choices that might seem less than rational at other times in her life. We added the supporting characters too and the interactions that Maureen and Jason have with those characters to help create the environment and to highlight the alienation they each feel.
Once we found our cast and our location there were moments that evolved out of the people in the place that we were lucky enough to capture which became part of the final film. And what we couldn't predict was the real chemistry our leads had together and how that makes the story more poignant than we could have imagined.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Really positive! People at the screening we've had so far seem very moved and excited. We've screened in three fests so far and have won Best Comedy at the Southern Shorts Awards Festival, Best Romance/Rom-Com and Directors Choice Best Script at Austin Revolution Film Festival where we also received five other nominations including both Best Actress and Best Actor. At Beaufort International Film Festival We were up for Best Short Film as well as another nomination for Best Actress. People LOVE Jeanine and Howard in this film!
Overdue
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Whenever I take a film out into the world I'm hoping it's viewed with the love I have for it. Especially something like this where I've been involved in multiple roles (co-writer, director and editor) it feels like its success or failure is on my shoulders. So waiting for our first festival acceptances, sitting in the back of the audience during the screening waiting to hear the collective reactions, hoping that moment I think is so funny actually gets a laugh...it's FRAUGHT! So when people do laugh, do cry, or go out of their way to tell us they like it I mostly just breathe a huge sigh of relief!!!
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We hope that by being more visible here on We Are Moving Stories that our audiences at future festivals will continue to grow. While we don't yet know where we are screening next, we hope to have some good news soon. We are at the very beginning of our festival run and there's a good chance we'll be screening at a festival near you in the not-so-distant future.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We hope you find some hope and some joy.
Overdue
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Is it possible to have a real relationship with someone 20 years younger (older) than yourself?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I have written a feature film script Something Borrowed that I'd like to go into pre-production with (as director) in 2023. I'm also developing a near-future sci-fi series 7 Years After (in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale, Years And Years and Children of Men). The pilot just won Best Genre Pilot at Austin Revolution Film Festival.
I also plan another short film shoot with Jeanine Bartel later this spring.
Penny B. Jackson continues to write award-winning stories, poems and scripts. Her new short story collection, My Daughter's Boyfriends, will be released on March 23rd, 2023 by Untreed Reads.
Overdue poster
Interview: March 2023
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
Overdue
Maureen and Jason are each having a very bad night. Their chance encounter gives both a glimmer of hope as they discover a shared past and a connection that brings light to the darkness in their lives. A romantic dramedy.
Length: 15:00
Director: Melissa Skirboll
Producer: Penny B. Jackson
Writer: Penny B. Jackson & Melissa Skirboll
About the writer, director and producer:
MELISSA SKIRBOLL is an award-winning director, writer, actor, editor and producer. Her shorts have played at festivals worldwide. Melissa started as an actor, working mainly in theater. In 2010 she started writing and directing plays. Her play Blizzard: A Love Story won Outstanding One-Act Play, and she won the Outstanding Direction award for her work on Amy Grey Piper's The Closet at Planet Connections Theater Festivity in NYC. In 2016 she adapted her short play Show & Tell Tango to film beginning her filmmaking career. Her collaborations with writer/producer Penny Jackson include My Dinner With Schwartzey, Greetings From Sarajevo and Overdue. Melissa received the award for Female Filmmaker of the Year 2022 at San Angelo Revolution Film Festival and Filmmaker of the Year 2019 at the Västerås FilmFestival.
PENNY B. JACKSON has written and produced three award-winning short films: My Dinner With Schwartzey, Greetings From Sarajevo, and now Overdue. Selected plays (writer and producer) include The Battles of Richmond Hill, I Know What Boys Want, Safe, and Louise in Charlestown. Her novel, Becoming the Butlers, was chosen as one of the best novels for young adults by The New York Public Library and was optioned for film by Warner Brothers. Her short story collection, L.A. Child, features the title story that won a Pushcart Prize for best story in a literary magazine. Overdue is the second film she co-wrote with Melissa and the third they collaborated on.
Key cast: Jeanine Bartel (Maureen), Howard Hendrix Powell (Jason)
Looking for: film festival directors and distributors
Facebook: Overdue
Instagram: @melissadirectherfilm
Hashtags used: #Overdue #overdueshortfilm
Website:www.melissaskirboll.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: LifeDream Productions and 91 Central
Funders: Executive Producer Penny B. Jackson
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
TBA (should hear soon)
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While car fans are driving laps at the Nürburgring, people not far away in the Ahr Valley are hovering between confidence and hopelessness half a year after the flood disaster.
Read MoreIt Turns Blue
Pari covers up domestic violence when her brother beats up his 3 years old daughter.
Read MoreBreaking Fast with a Coca Cola
After growing up in the secular households of their Turkish immigrant parents in the Midwest, Özlem and Ada are desperate to celebrate a tradition of their own. For the first time, they embark on a day of fasting and a night of feasting for Ramadan.
Read MoreThe Soft-Skinned
Corporal Kath Davison is a mess, post-Afghanistan. Then a young asylum seeker turns up at her parents' house.
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A single mother of two begins receiving messages from her ancestors as she sets out to make it to a life-changing job interview with a local commissioner.
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Read MoreCitizen Kwame
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Read MoreThe Sisters Lee
The Sisters Lee are Mabel and Vera Lee, a pair of country western singing sisters from a bygone era who try to navigate a lifelong career in music with the help of their manager, Wally, who never fails to get it wrong.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Actor Jessica Makinson
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The Sister Lee are Mable and Vera Lee, characters that Janey Varney and I had been dying to bring to life for many years, originally conceived as a live comedy show with music. Right before the Covid lockdown, we had a few live performance dates lined up, all of which were cancelled. So we had to pivot and decided to shoot something instead.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
If you like mockumentary comedies and incredible character actors then this one is for you. We have Michael Hitchcock playing our manager, Wally. And Jeff Daniel Phillips playing a bad hombre opposite him. Lovers of improv, country music, the Mandrell Sisters, and vintage duds will also dig the film.
The Sisters Lee - Mabel and Vera Lee discuss the importance of word usage
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
These people are a family and they love each other. People don't always get it right no matter the best of intentions. But these characters make graceful room for each other shortcomings.
A lot of improv-based comedy ends up with an argument. I'm interested in comedy that looks more like real life, where people will do anything to avoid an argument. Watching people try to avoid conflict, now that's funny!
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I had written a script to serve as the bones for the short, intending to allow a lot of time for improvisation during the shoot. So naturally, the final edit is much different from the script. Janet and Michael and I have all been performing improv together for the last 15 years with Theme Park Improv. That cast is always looking for new ways of working together.
This short has also ended up serving as a proof of concept for a series pitch. We have 2 seasons of the show already mapped out. It would be such a blast to produce!
What type of feedback have you received so far?
It's unique! People really like the world and they seem to be charmed by the sisters' chemistry. Yes, we really do sing. And we have more songs written than the one that appears in the film.
The Sisters Lee - Wally and Carl have words
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The premiere is on March 9th @ Idyllwild Cinema Fest and I can't wait to see it with an audience. Always such a thrill. I'd love to be surprised somehow!
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
It's wonderful to have more visibility for The Sisters Lee but also for myself as a director. I'm transitioning from being on-camera to directing and writing full-time. So it's important to have the support of media and reviewers to build awareness and excitement.
Also hoping other film festivals might see the interview and be interested enough to screen it. :)
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 looking for Producers, Film Festival Directors, journalists, all of it.
We would love to find financing producers to shoot this series either for streaming services, a web series, or a podcast.
Any journalists interested to watch please reach out for a link!
Currently, it is unavailable to the public online because of premier requirements. So it can be difficult to get reviewers to publish without a way for wider audiences to watch, I know. But write-ups and interviews are so important in helping emerging creators establish themselves. Thank you to Carmela!
Film Festival Directors - we can come as a live-performing package. If you are a festival with a capacity for live performance, we could screen the short and perform live, as The Sisters Lee. Or potentially as Theme Park Improv. (themeparkimprov.com)
The Sisters Lee - Mabel and Vera Lee promo shoot
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I'd like people to laugh. I hope they see it as I do, as an anomaly, something unique in tone, funny, and sweet. I'm a big fan of precious laughs that break your heart a little.
I think audiences will want to see more of the world we've created.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Who are The Sisters Lee? We have built so much of the world around these characters and the short is just the tip of the iceberg. Mabel and Vera Lee have spent their whole lives in the country western music business. They've got some stories to tell.
Would you like to add anything else?
Just to thank Carmela and We Are Moving Stories for their continued support as an emerging female filmmaker. Much appreciated!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Besides hoping to produce a larger series for The Sisters Lee... I'm in pre-production for a short film about climate change. There is a larger feature script written and I'm planning on gaining some momentum from the short to get the feature made. Very exciting!
The Sisters Lee poster
Interview: March 2023
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
The Sisters Lee
The Sisters Lee are Mabel and Vera Lee, a pair of country western singing sisters from a bygone era who try to navigate a lifelong career in music with the help of their manager, Wally, who never fails to get it wrong.
Length: 8:32
Director: Jessica Makinson
Producer: Heather Wilson
Writer: Jessica Makinson
About the writer, director and producer:
JESSICA MAKINSON is a filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Her work has been shown at festivals around the world. The Sisters Lee marks her fifth produced short film. Having previously sold scripts to Comedy Central, she continues to develop projects for film and tv.
HEATHER WILSON is a producer and freelance coordinator with a college degree in horse breeding which, in hindsight, wasn't a smart investment. Her resume includes work in film & comedy festivals, short-form media, and experiential marketing campaigns.
Key cast: Janet Varney(Vera Lee), Jessica Makinson (Mabel Lee), Michael Hitchcock (Wally), and Jeff Daniel Phillips (Carl).
Looking for: journalists and film festival directors
Instagram: @makinsome
Hashtags used: #thesisterslee
Other: Vimeo
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