WHOA

95 hits in just over a week? Holy crap, guys...I didn't think I'd get ten, let alone almost 100...wow. thank you so much :)

(For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about: I uploaded HAR to YouTube last week. Watch it here if you haven't already!)

'HE'S A ROCKSTAR' IS NOW ONLINE

YES. Yes, it is.

See for yourself:
He's A Rockstar on YouTube

It took me so damn long to get this movie online (and a lot of crying, and a lot of shouting at YouTube) but it FINALLY happened. Not going to lie, I'm proud of myself for finally getting it up--but really, I'm just happy that people can finally see it. (And when I say people, I mean everyone--not just people who go to Interlochen or McDaniel.)

All I have to say is...

Take that, film festivals.


On a side note - I also have a Flickr. So if you're interested in seeing my photography, here it is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71269523@N03

You should know...

...that I have a Twitter? Shocked? Me too. But there it is. You can follow me now, @BeatnikBelle. Just another venue for me to promote my movie ;)

A brief rant...

I just posted this on my personal blog, Alien Water Torture. I feel like it relates to the frustration that I'm sure hasn't just hit me, but every female student filmmaker out there who can't find a "niche" for her film.

A Brief Rant...

There should be some worthy updates concerning the film itself very soon. (I hope, I hope.)

What happens on set... [Film Trivia]

What happens on set...stays on set.

...or not, because these stories are just too good to be kept under wraps. The set of He's A Rockstar was anything but boring. Every set has its "moments"...and believe me, this one was no exception.

[Little warning, y'all--HERE BE SPOILERS. If you haven't yet seen the film and don't want to ruin anything, you might want to proceed with caution.]

Pre-production

• In workshops, we had to give our piece a title, even if it was just a temporary one. Well, I didn't have a title for my treatmentwhen I first began to present it--I just called it "Reden" after the song that inspired it--but I added the English translation of the word, as well as a note that it was a temporary title. There were a couple of jokesters in my workshop group, so every time I workshopped my treatment, he read the full title--"Reden (Speak) Temp. Title"--out loud.

• One of the many questions I kept getting was "Why is the rockstar a virgin?" That was probably the most-asked question, from all sides...so when I brought the script to a group of friends for and asked for a critique, I was expecting a comment on that. I was not, however, expecting a huge, multiple-occasion, ongoing discussion about exactly WHY Skye was still a virgin. I refused to change it--but people STILL were harping on about the whole "virgin" thing well into rehearsals.

• So my production designer is kind of...well...interesting, to say the least. He has a hell of a flair for marketing (understatement of the century), and all his films have this kind of out-of-this-world look to them, so when he offered to do production design I agreed right away (even though at the time I didn't even really know what that was). Well, one day, I was talking to my art director about the technical details, which is where production design usually comes in, so I called Aaron over and...well...

I believe this image speaks for itself.

• Everyone knows that you are never, ever, EVER supposed to go into a casting session with someone picked out ahead of time...and yet I seem to keep doing that. I went through the whole workshop process with an image of someone COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from Sheridan in mind, only to get up to the auditions and discover that Sheridan, who I'd never really spoken to before he got called for tryouts, was absolutely brilliant. Believe me, everyone, I had one tough decision to make. I went over my notes from the auditions over and over. I talked to my AD, who in turn gave me one of those frequent reality checks that he pulls off better than anyone else I know (thank you, Travis). I called my parents. I talked to my roommate. I read and re-read my screenplay and character bios. Finally, I decided to go with Sheridan. The deciding factor? How much chemistry he'd had with Erin Johnson, whom I'd chosen for the leading lady...and guess what? They knew each other before the auditions! They were together! Talk about coincidence!

• Just in case it wasn't weird enough that I cast a couple as...well...a couple? The theater department, which is where most of the Interlochen MPAs' thesis film casts come from, was running waaaay low on male actors at the time I cast my film, so I had a few people from the film department come in to widen the talent pool. And guess what? One of them, Harry, who eventually wound up playing Jack, had actually auditioned for me the previous year, for Possession (he didn't get the part, but he was definitely a top contender). Even weirder? The character that he played was actually based in-part on him. Oh, and in case THAT wasn't weird enough? He lived down the hall from Rowen Kahn, who played his "best friend" in the film.

• The graphic art, including the Psychology Trap logo, was done by Bonnie Brade and Pippa Adam--both of whom are friends with Dani Katz, who did the artwork for Possession.

• I was lucky enough to be the third person that school year to shoot my thesis, which meant that I pretty much got top picks for my crew--that is, if they hadn't already made pacts with their best friends to work each other's theses. This is why I wound up with a lot of first-year students (who ROCKED, by the way) on my crew.

• Speaking of crewmembers...mine were shuffled around. Like, a LOT. Especially my DP. Aaron Tyson, my production designer, was initially supposed to DP. Then he got overbooked, so I replaced him with Nic Weinfeld, but then I saw Nic's photography and decided I'd rather have him do my stills, so that's what he wound up doing, so I FINALLY settled on a DP--Keaton Manning--WEEKS after I'd chosen my AD (Travis Coe, a.k.a. one of the few who ended up with the role he was initially supposed to do). And then there was the issue with the key grips. Harry Hunter (remember him?) was the first person I asked, but he wasn't 100% sure, and I didn't want to a) push him into a job he didn't want, and b) wind up key-grip-less at a critical moment. The solution? Connor Einarsen, a.k.a. one of the most down-to-earth, flexible MPAs I've ever met--who kept his grip gloves on him at all times, even when there weren't any scheduled productions on that particular day. I asked him, and lucky for me he accepted the offer.

• We had rehearsal problems like you wouldn't believe. First rehearsal: I'm nervous because my thesis advisor is there, I messed up the auditions, and I really want her to see that I'm competent and that I know how to work with actors...but I mess up the rehearsal too, by all but insulting one of my actors. Second rehearsal: Leading male actor is sick. Third rehearsal: In the middle of a busy rehearsal, I get my two leads to come and rehearse so the male lead can catch up on what he missed...and block the kissing scene while grips set up lights around us. Was this awkward? Can you imagine?

• Okay, so when you're a student filmmaker, you have to do everything by yourself, pretty much. And I do mean everything. Not only do you have to buy the materials and make the props, but you have to basically create the "look" of the world that your film is set in. So we had to make the t-shirts, we had to make the CD covers, we had to design the layout of the nightclub...we had to do it all. So one night, we had a t-shirt-making party on the boys' floor of the dorm, and I had to print out the designs onto the iron-on paper...but I didn't know that I had to flip the image before I printed it, with the result that all the "Psychology Trap" logos were backwards. We didn't have enough iron-on paper to reprint the logos...so that's why, in the film, all the Psychology Trap t-shirt logos are backwards.

Production

• Oh, where to begin...well, first of all, remember I told you we had to do everything ourselves? Well, that meant getting the set ready, too. Not counting all the planning, it took us over eight hours to get the club/venue location set up--we started the night before and worked right up to the last minute. We were just barely done when the actors arrived. My costumes/vanities consultant, Nicole Abbott, was absolutely AMAZING--technically, she only had to help me choose costumes and do Erin's makeup, but she set up the "merch table," she created a poster spread, she helped set up/decorate the bar...she set up half the nightclub even though all she had to do was make-up for one actress. Were we grateful to have her there? You bet your life.

• Anyone who has ever heard me complaining about shooting the basement scenes inSachte(directed by Aaron Tyson, my production designer--I was one of his grips) knows that I pretty much hate fog/smoke machines with all my being. Well, guess what? We had one on the nightclub set. Now, keep in mind, we weren't in a confined basement this time (THANK GOD IN HEAVEN), but the way we were all positioned, I was pretty much in the thick of the smoke whenever we had to set that thing off, and we had to set it off for almost every take. Guess who spent half of the first day of her shoot holding in her coughs while the camera was rolling?

• Speaking of the fog machine...my production designer likes those a little too much. Every take, he would set that thing off until we had to hold the take until the smoke cleared. At one point, one of the exasperated advisors reminded him, "We're not in a New York alley," much to the amusement of the rest of the crew.

• You wouldn't believe how often I get asked this question--why is it, exactly, that only Nic Weinfeld is credited for stills in the "official" credits, but whenever I supply stills for a website, I credit Nic Weinfeld, Johnny Stanton, Jamie Tucker Robbins, and Aaron Tyson? Well, I'll tell you why: Nic was the original stillsperson. BUT. Aaron never misses an opportunity to take pictures, and since we had extra grips on the first day, some people--like Johnny--wound up with stretches of time where they didn't have much to do, and so resorted to taking pictures to amuse themselves. Then on the second day and first half of the third day of shooting, Nic and Aaron had to go to Harry's pre-light (it's a loooong story), so Jamie filled in as stillsperson (and yet somehow also managed to find time to help set up lights, tear down afterwards, and generally make everything run more smoothly...how the hell did he do that? Don't ask me).

• Rowen Kahn (William) had a hell of a time with the fake cigarettes used on-set. On the first day, he got sick after accidentally inhaling the chalk powder (used to simulate smoke) while trying to take a "drag" on the fake cigarette. Then on our last day of shooting, we decided it would be funny if, when he saw Emerson for the first time, his mouth fell open and the cigarette fell to the floor. But on our first attempt at a take, the cigarette stuck to his lip and refused to drop.

• The moment where Skye and Emerson "connect" (after she turns off her tape recorder) was mostly unscripted. Basically, the dialogue ended at "I really want to make documentaries"/"I saw a great one about The Antonyms"--after that, Erin and Sheridan are on their own. We only got one take of this, and without music underneath it, that is probably the most awkward-sounding dialogue ever captured on camera.

• There were two doors at a right angle to each other on the "hotel room" set. One of them led into a closet, and this was the door we used because it looked more natural on-camera; the other door led out into the main room of the cabin, and that door was the one everyone used to enter and exit the set. The very first take we did in the hotel was the shot of Skye messing up the hotel room. At the end of the shot, he was supposed to open the door and lead Erin into the room. But I got mixed up and told him to open the wrong door--and when he did, there was no one there.

• We had such a fast-paced set that it sometimes got confusing for our AD--which is, no doubt, why half the outtakes are some variant of Travis saying "Oh fuck, I forgot to change slate."

• At Interlochen, you have to be in-uniform when you shoot your thesis, which means navy-blue pants (NOT jeans) and a light-blue collared shirt. But I was out of uniform for my entire set--and if anyone noticed, they didn't say anything.

• In rehearsal we didn't really discuss much what Rowen/William was doing when he said "I want...that chick, there" and vaguely pointed off in the distance. Several variations, including the idea that he was pointing at multiple girls or pointing at an inanimate object, were brought up in workshops and rehearsals, but we didn't really settle on anything. Then we got on-set, and the first shot we did was Siddhartha (Elias), Harry (Jack), and Rowen (William) choosing their conquests for the night. Siddhartha and Harry did a great little ad-lib, implying that Rowen was pointing at a guy. I loved it, and they kept it up for every take. Then Keaton, my wonderful, amazing, brilliant DP, got a shot of Neal (the only male extra) winking in Rowen's direction--and boom, instant comedy.

• Another great on-set improv was when we shot Skye and Emerson's first meeting, when she asks him to sign her CD. Originally he wasn't supposed to drop the pen, he was just supposed to look at her CD and notice that it was acoustic. But while we were shooting that scene, Sheridan dropped the pen (in the first take, I think) and we liked it, so we had him keep doing it--and it looks great on-camera. (Let this be a lesson to you, fellow student filmmakers: The best moments in your film WILL be the unscripted ones.)

• The look for the nightclub/concert venue set was inspired by the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland.

• Figuring out how to block and shoot the kissing scene took FOREVER. We pretty much had two options: 1) Have a clear view of Sheridan's face the entire time, or 2) have a clear view of Erin's face the entire time. Our solution? Shoot on an angle favoring Erin and have her tilt her head to the front--that way, we could at least get both of them in profile.

• Speaking of the kissing scene...this was the second of three times that I've had to shoot a kissing scene for one of my films, and usually it's difficult to get natural chemistry between your actors, especially if they know each other beforehand (imagine making out with your best friend...not a fun image, is it?). But in the case of Sheridan and Erin, their natural chemistry was amazing--so amazing, in fact, that I frequently caught myself telling them, "Guys, it needs to be more awkward!"

• Two of the hardest shots to get were the tracking shots: The long shot of Sheridan (Skye) messing up the hotel room, and the shot of Siddhartha (Elias) walking across the club to his bandmates. Ironically, Siddhartha's tracking shot was cut from the film (which I was not happy about, mind you).

• Look closely at the merch table in the "venue" scene. Yes, there is plenty of merch for Psychology Trap, but there is also a stack of t-shirts promoting The Thumbnuts, producer Gus Péwé's band, who provided a song for the film and a song for the trailer.

Post-production

• During the hotel sequence, there was supposed to be a moment where Skye took out his guitar to serenade Emerson and broke a string when Emerson blurted out the multiple-meaning line, "I've met so many musicians." It was hard to cut this one--that was one of my favorite lines in the screenplay--but that scene just slowed everything down; it had to go.

• In another (very short) scene, Emerson looks at Skye's number, considers for a moment, and then takes out her phone to call him. This scene was cut because, well, it just didn'tadd anything. However, this one was hard to cut too, for sentimental reasons: It was the first scene we shot, on the very first day.

• We filmed an "intro" for Siddhartha (Elias), where he walked across the club to the bar, snapped his fingers, and had a "beer" slid across the bar into his waiting hand before he joined his bandmates in "claiming" girls. I ended up cutting this because it put to much emphasis on Elias, and I wanted it to be clear, from the start, that this was not Elias's story.

• As any smart filmmaker does, I brought in a "test audience" of two people who had not been through the film workshop to see the finished cut of He's A Rockstar before it premiered at the school screening. One of my testers brought in an umbrella, which somehow managed to walk itself around DeRoy [Interlochen film building] and wound up in my editing advisor's office...meanwhile, we were frantically looking all around campus for it.

• The song "The Bassist" was not written specifically for He's A Rockstar. I just heard Rachel Gerson perform that song while the film was in pre-production, and I thought,Wow, that is a good song...I really want that song in my film! Same story with "First Name John"--I heard Sam Keeble and Gus Péwé perform that song at a Coffeehouse (Interlochen open mic) and knew I had to use it somewhere in the film.

• "Every Time" and "Dust" were both commissioned for the film early on in the writing process. At the time, "Dust" was supposed to be a plot point: In the scene where Emerson picks up the CD off Skye's bed and finds out that he likes The Antonyms, a metal song about a drug overdose was supposed to play, leading to a discussion between Skye and Emerson instead of a make-out session. Eventually the script changed, but the song didn't. So now you know why the song that plays when Emerson and Skye finally connect has such depressing (but still damn good!) lyrics. ;)

• The song used in the original theatrical trailer is "Kyle's Stacks" by the Thumbnuts--who also provided a song for the film ("First Name John").

• The day that we recorded the original music (and "The Bassist"), there was one catastrophe after another. First, Rigoberto Ernst had to learn the lyrics...less than an hour before we were scheduled to perform his song. Then we forgot to bring an amp for the guitars...but luckily, Brock Morman (who is AMAZING, by the way) kindly provided one for us. Finally, the vocal tracks were messed up (due to the mic, if I recall correctly) and had to be re-recorded on a different day...and guess what, I couldn't be there for the re-recording! But it all straightened out okay, and the songs were recorded on time, and the soundtrack turned out great.

• While finishing up the final cut of He's A Rockstar, I recorded a music video for "The Bassist" as a thank-you to Rachel Gerson, Preston Craig, Dani Katz, and Jarryd Elias.

• I was taking a Post-Production and Beyond class while cutting together He's A Rockstar...so I was literally learning to edit and promote my film as I was editing and promoting my film.

Let's Get to Know Each Other [Cast and Crew Bios]

CREW BIOS:

Writer/Director/Editor AVERY UDELL decided to become a filmmaker at age twelve after seeing Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. She applied for Interlochen Arts Academy and was accepted as a freshman, but decided to defer to junior year, when she made her first film, Possession. Though Possession was rejected by no less than eleven festivals in its first year, this only further fueled Udell’s determination to succeed in the film business. She began working on the screenplay for her next film, then titled Reden.

Reden was inspired by the Tokio Hotel song of the same name, which is about a one-night stand with a fan developing into a personal connection. Udell drew heavily from her childhood crushes on her favorite musicians, as well as her extensive collection of rockumentaries, to write the screenplay.

Before He’s A Rockstar had even begun shooting, Udell was already working on the screenplay for an experimental short film, tentatively titled What's Left of You, with fellow filmmaker Matthew Antonino. She is set to attend McDaniel College this fall and is planning to study cinema, psychology, and creative writing.

Director of Photography KEATON MANNING spent the first seventeen years of his life in rural Pennsylvania, where artistic curiosity and a bulky VHS camcorder lead to his discovery of passion for filmmaking. Committed to deviate from his action-packed life surrounded by grazing cattle, Keaton made his way to Interlochen Arts Academy, an arts boarding school in Michigan where he satisfies his artistic appetite as a motion picture arts major. Keaton’s senior year at Interlochen presented substantial opportunities that stimulate his determination for more opportunities that will allow him to persevere as a student artist.

Assistant Director TRAVIS COE is currently a junior in the Motion Picture Arts Department at Interlochen Arts Academy. He is from Woodbridge, New Jersey and has ambitions in both film and theater. His professional theater credits include Novus Production’s Bright Obvious and Arabian Nights, Terra Firma’s Fall Dance Repertory Concert, and Cleo Mack Dance Company Sirens. Film credits include Ophelia (Director), The 36 (Producer), Absent (Assistant Director), and He’s a Rockstar (Assistant Director).

Producer GUS PEWE was born near Portland, OR and spent half of his childhood in Naples, FL and the other half Horton, MI. Gus began making films with his friends an family at a very early age, being influenced by Pee-wee Herman, Monty Python, Star Wars, Michel Gondry, Robert Crumb, Tim and Eric, and Japanese monster films. He progressed from school video projects, to stop-motion animations, to absurdist comedy films. In 2010 he made The Three Vivid Dreams, a film that won him the opportunity to attend Interlochen Arts Academy for his senior year of high school. In May of 2011 he released his next film, My Favorite Planet.

CAST BIOS

SHERIDAN STEVENS is from Portland, Oregon and is currently a junior at Interlochen Arts Academy. Prior to attending the IAA, Stevens attended Riverdale High School and had one season at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in 2007. His latest role was the Beast in Interlochen’s production of Beauty and the Beast. He’s A Rockstar was Stevens’ first major role in an Interlochen thesis film.

ERIN JOHNSON has been doing regional theater since second grade and is so grateful for those experiences, learning about theater, but also life in general. Prior to He’s A Rockstar, Johnson had never worked with film before, preferring to work in musical theater. She has worked with The Davidson Community Players, Theater Charlotte, Children's Theater of Charlotte and The Old Courthouse Theater. While her favorite role was Sally Brown in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, because, she says, “I have a real knack for acting 5 years old,” playing Jolene in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Interlochen Arts Academy is easily a close second. Of her experience in He’s A Rockstar, Johnson says, “Working on this film was really cool and much different than I anticipated. Thanks so much to Avery for this opportunity and everyone's patience with me on set!”

SIDDHARTHA RAJAN is from Huntley, Illinois and has attended Interlochen Arts Academy as well as Huntley High School. In addition to He’s A Rockstar, Rajan’s most recent credits include Andre in Interlochen’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Adam in the one-act play The Vagabond of Boise. He will be attending University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the fall, studying biology.

Production Stills, Part II: Screencaps

These are screencaps from the film, NOT behind-the-scenes shots. These are actual shots from the movie. Enjoy, all! ;D

Production Stills, Part I: Behind the Scenes

These stills were all taken behind-the-scenes. They are NOT images from the film; rather, they are images of the cast, crew, and advisors on the set of He's A Rockstar.

Photo credit: Nic Weinfeld, James Tucker Robbins, Johnny Stanton, and Aaron Tyson.

Well hello there...

Hello, all. My name is Avery Udell, and I am the writer/director/editor of He's A Rockstar.

For those of you wondering, precisely, what that is: It is a movie. And I've been told that it's good. But right now it's not doing as well as I'd like. So, I thought that instead of just promoting my movie on my personal blog, I'd have to kick it up a notch. The film has a Facebook page, but no IMDb page or official website as of yet. (But I'll get there, sooner or later. Pinky-promise.)

Anyway. So, He's A Rockstar is, as I previously stated, a movie. A short film, to be precise. What is this movie about, you ask? Well, there's this boy. His name is Skye. And he's the lead singer of an underground rock band, Psychology Trap. And he's shy, and his bandmates (especially his older brother) are...not. One night, Elias, Skye's older brother, dares him to hook up with a female fan--any female fan. Skye accepts the challenge, only to wind up in a hotel room with wannabe-documentarian and amateur feminist Emerson, who is intent on exposing Psychology Trap as womanizers!

Now, I'd love to give a link to the film. I really would. But I've tried to upload the film over and over again, with no success. (I swear, every video-uploading service on the internet has formed a conspiracy. That's the only explanation.) Instead, I'll just ramble on a bit longer about how and when the movie was written, shot, and edited.

So. He's A Rockstar was my senior thesis for Interlochen Arts Academy's Motion Picture Arts (MPA) program. So because I was a returning senior--as in, I'd been at Interlochen as a junior and came back for my senior year, as opposed to coming to Interlochen for the first time as a senior--I had eight to ten minutes (roughly an eight-page screenplay) to tell a story. The assignment over the summer was to come back with two or three ideas, preferably in full treatment form, for my senior film. It got to the end of August and I still had no ideas. WHAT COULD I DO?!

Well, my way of coping, as it were, was to lie on my bedroom floor or in the car and listen to Tokio Hotel and Augustana for endless hours. (This worked well, seeing as I was packing for school and so spending a lot of time in my room anyway, and then later I was on a road trip and was in the car for almost eleven hours on a straight-through drive to Maryland...I was bored, okay?) I would put "Reden" by Tokio Hotel on repeat, because that was my favorite song at that point in time. (As a sidenote, Tokio Hotel sounds much, much better in German. So, if you ever check them out, LISTEN TO THEIR GERMAN STUFF FIRST. Trust me.)

Anyway, I was listening to "Reden" over and over one day and writing in my journal, trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do about my senior film, and then I got sidetracked, as I always do when I'm listening to a band I really love. I'd heard "Reden" about a hundred times, but I'd never thought about what it really meant. Seeing as the lyrics were in German, and at the time I knew just about enough German to say "hello," "good-bye," "I love you," and "don't kill yourself" (and if you guessed I knew all this from listening to Tokio Hotel, you would be correct), I had no idea what "Reden" was about; all I knew was that the title translated roughly to "speak." Hmm. Not much to go on, am I right?

Well, I was curious. So with the help of YouTube, an online translator, and a friend who'd taken German in high school, I managed to work out the meaning of the lyrics. Basically, "Reden" is a song about a one-night stand. A band member meets a girl and suggests they talk and get to know each other, and instead, they wind up sleeping together. And that just kicked off all sorts of wild ideas, most of which were far too involved to fit into an eight-to-ten-minute film, but there was one solid, one-sentence plotline that just stuck in my head and refused to get out.

What if...a rockstar and a fan went into a hotel room to sleep together, but wound up talking all night instead?

Now, just to provide a bit of background, lest you all think I am some sort of weird human plot generator...

I grew up in a family of die-hard music fans. I was raised on Bruce Springsteen, Meat Loaf, Smash Mouth, Utopia, Lit, the Who, the Clash...the classics, basically. So when I finally began to develop my own tastes in pop culture, I naturally gravitated towards pop rock, and eventually straight rock and alternative. So, in a nutshell: Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Cloud Cult, Gavin DeGraw, 3 Doors Down, the Almost, Augustana, Meg & Dia, Cobra Starship...honestly, if it's rock infused with another genre of choice (anything from reggae to country to metal...really, I'm not picky), I will listen to it.

Now, when I started to get old enough to go to concerts, I began to dream of being invited backstage or meeting my idols, imagining what they would say to me and what I would say to them. I was twelve at the time, so most of these fantasies ended with me performing onstage with these bands (don't judge me, I didn't know yet that I couldn't sing, okay?!). But eventually, when I was older, those fantasies drifted off into that clichéd realm of teenage crushes and impossible wishes. Innocent of any knowledge of what actually happened when a girl was invited back to a rockstar's hotel room or tour bus (or, let's be honest here, behind the concert venue), I began to imagine what would happen if, by chance, I managed to snare an evening with Tyson Ritter or Drake Bell (because, even at fourteen, I had good taste in music (; ). These dreams did eventually disappear when I got serious about film--but every time I go to a concert, I still can't suppress that innocent fourteen-year-old hope that I just might run into my favorite singer or guitarist.

And guess what? Eventually, I did. When I was sixteen I met Ronnie Winter, the lead singer of Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and my personal hero. I met him again a year later, got his autograph and a cell phone picture, and was the happiest girl in the world. And this past spring, just before He's A Rockstar was released, I went to ANOTHER RJA concert (my third, just to recap) with a letter thanking him and telling him how much I appreciated his music. AND, when I went to that concert, I met the guitarist and bassist of RJA, and I got pictures with them, and I got to tell them, in person, that they were my favorite band. (Can you guess how excited I was?)

So, back to summer 2010, when I listened to "Reden" on repeat and came up with that unquenchable idea of a rockstar intending to hook up with an innocent female fan, but talking to her all night and falling in love with her instead. I was sitting in the car, on my way back to Interlochen, when I finally gave in. I grabbed my journal (which would later become my production notebook) and wrote the "Reden" lyrics, translated into English, on the first page. I scribbled an outline, which slowly turned into a proper treatment, which I turned into a screenplay later that night when I really should've been unpacking.

I wish I could say that He's A Rockstar evolved significantly from its initial conception. But I can't. Because right there, from the start, I knew what I wanted. I knew that it had to be that situation: the rockstar had to bring the female fan into the room intending to seduce her, but make an honest emotional connection with her instead. The little details changed--first they were touring Europe and the girl was German, a small homage to Tokio Hotel, which changed when I realized that there was no way to make the snowy woods of Interlochen resemble Berlin; things like that--but the core of the story remained the same.

Part of that core was Skye, the lead character. He came into my mind fully-formed, as so many of my characters do: A scruffy-but-sweet street-musician-turned-underground-sensation, always one step behind his suave older brother, shy and gentle but passionate enough to write lyrics that would turn even the most jaded of his hipster fangirls to jelly. A couple of friends who saw the early drafts of the script suggested that I give him an "arc" by making him a jerk, like his bandmates, who realizes there's more to life than sex when he finds the right girl. But I was sold on the image of my sweet, innocent-ish little Skye. The whole "playboy settles down" angle has been done so, so many times before. I wanted to do something a little different.

If there was a character who evolved, it was Emerson. She was initially a cardboard cutout-character, just someone there for Skye to play off of. A fangirl; nothing less, nothing more. But when the suggestion of giving her an ulterior motive popped up in workshop, I grabbed the idea and ran with it, and she became as complex a character as Skye himself. She was a wannabe feminist, wannabe documentarian; a girl who had big ideas and few resources--just about as relatable a character as you could want. She went from a caricature to a person in one draft.

He's A Rockstar was shot in three days, January 13-15, 2011. I have never been so proud of any single group of people as I was of my crew at the end of those three days. I had the option of putting people considered "young experts"--people I'd known since my first day of Interlochen, my junior year--in key roles. Instead I went with fresh faces for the key roles--DP, AD, art director, gaffer, the like--and I knew the second we went in for our first production meeting that I'd made the right choices. I jokingly referred to my crew as my "ducklings," a House reference, on a few occasions--but really, they were more like my advisory board. I went into pre-production for He's A Rockstar hoping to make an amateur version of Shopgirl--but I came out with something unique, something that belonged to me, not a cheap imitation of a film I loved, and I know that would not have happened if I hadn't gone with the crew that I did.

So! Enough of this sentimental silliness. Here's what I really want to tell you all:

Right now, He's A Rockstar is not exactly slaying the festivals. And yes, I know that I'm only eighteen, and that it takes time for things to really take off, and that it's silly to expect that I'll make waves with my first proper release. But I can't help it. Re-read what I said about dreaming of meeting Tyson Ritter. I am a dreamer. It's in me. It's always been in me. And I can't help but let my dreams reach the clouds. I want people to see this film. I want people to know, from watching this movie, that they are not alone, that they are not the only virgin left on the planet, that they are not the only girl who is more concerned with her career than her social life, that they are not the only boy who cares more about meaningful relationships than notches on his belt. I want people to see this movie, not because I want to be rich and famous, but because I want to tell stories that touch people the way my favorite films touched me, and I think that this film has the potential to reach out to people and I WANT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

So look at the stills I post. Tell people to come and check out this blog. "Like" the Facebook page. When I put up the official website (IT WILL HAPPEN) and get an IMDB page (again--IT WILL HAPPEN), go and watch the trailer. If WHEN He's A Rockstar actually gets a real nomination in a legit festival (I told you I was an optimist, didn't I?), go to the festival and CHECK IT OUT.

Right now, you can see He's A Rockstar online at the Great Lakes International Film Festival (now, re-read the above--I said a LEGIT festival--but right now, I'll take all the help I can get), but only until October 1st. So go! Watch it! Tell your friends! Right now I don't care about making money, I don't care about winning Oscars or meeting Tim Burton (although to be honest, that last one would be quite amazing), I just want this movie seen.

So help me make it happen, guys.

Please?

Great Lakes International Film Festival

He's A Rockstar Official Facebook Page

Next post there will be some more info about the making of the movie, including press kit bios, production stills, and--le gasp!--a possible trailer? KEEP CHECKING THIS PAGE!!!!

CAST AND CREW LIST:

CAST:

SHERIDAN STEVENS as Skye Larson

ERIN JOHNSON as Emerson Price

SIDDHARTHA RAJAN as Elias Larson

HARRY HUNTER as Jack Fischer

ROWEN KAHN as William Carter

CREW:

AVERY UDELL—writer, director, editor

KEATON MANNING—director of photography

GUS PÉWÉ—producer

TRAVIS COE—assistant director

AARON TYSON—production design

MILES CAREY—art director

SAM KEEBLE—gaffer

NICOLE ABBOTT—costumes and vanities

KYLIE CLARK—assistant camera/camera operator

COLIN CAMPBELL—audio

CONNOR EINARSEN—key grip

JAY FUNG—grip

JAMIE TUCKER ROBBINS—grip

RICHIE SIEGEL—grip

JOHN STANTON—grip

PIPPA ADAM—graphic design

BONNIE BRADE—graphic design

original music by PRESTON CRAIG

recorded at Interlochen Public Radio

“Dust” written by Preston Craig, performed by Dani Katz, Preston Craig, & Jarryd Elias

“Every Time” written by Preston Craig, performed by Rigoberto Ernst, Preston Craig, & Jarryd Elias

“First Name John” written by Trevor Cochran and Tommy Colangelo, performed by Gus Péwé & Sam Keeble

“The Bassist” written by Rachel Gerson, performed by Rachel Gerson, Dani Katz, Preston Craig, & Jarryd Elias