First trailer for "Detours" feature film released!

I'm just finishing post-production on my 2nd feature film (I wrote & produced), and I'm thrilled that we're releasing the first trailer today.  Detours is a road-trip comedy about a newly single New Yorker (played by Tara Westwood) who has to re-locate to Florida for her dream job.  She drives south with her widowed Dad (Carlo Fiorletta), her mom's ashes in a coffee can, and a GPS with a mind of its own.

Detours has an outstanding supporting cast, including Richard Kind, Paul Sorvino, Michael Cerveris (the TONY Award winner also provided several songs for the soundtrack), Vanessa Aspillaga, and Phyllis Somerville.

Here's the link to the trailer - I hope you like it!

More Truth Within Fiction: An Alcoholic in the Family

Johnny Hopkins as Hank Malone in Surviving Family

I grew up hearing stories about my mother's alcoholic younger brother Hugh.  In a family where both parents were alcoholics, it was something of a foregone conclusion that it would hit at least some of the kids.  Hugh was next in line age-wise to my mom - 2nd and 3rd respectively out of 5 kids - so she was always trying to help him out.  He was a heavy drinker by high school, and was always in trouble - getting in fights, or landing in jail for whatever stupid idea he or his buddies dreamed up.

My mom gave him a place to stay more times than she could - or would - count.  Things would start out well, amid promises that it was "different this time."  Then the drinking would start.  Again.

Here's the scene from Surviving Family that's inspired by that; Sarah Wilson stars as Terry Malone, Billy Magnussen is her fiance, and the terrific Johnny Hopkins plays Hank (catch him next in Ed Burns' upcoming series Public Morals).

Inevitably, things would go wrong and the drinking would start again, usually in secret.  He sometimes stole from her.  He always disappointed her.  Sort of like this:

I spent more than a year showing Surviving Family at festivals around the US, as well as in Canada and Germany.  I was amazed - although although I probably shouldn't have been - how many people told me that they have a friend or family member just like that.  While I certainly wouldn't wish these problems on anyone, I'm damn glad that people can relate to the characters.

If you're wondering about the great restaurant location in the 2nd video - thanks once again to the great folks at Satis Bistro in Jersey City, NJ.

If you like the clips, watch the entire movie on Amazon Prime or iTunes.

The Question I'm Asked Most Often

Carlo Fiorletta (photo by Dana Halsted)

I see myself as a writer first and a producer second:  I write because I want to but produce because I have to.  I'm frequently asked if I've always written, and the answer is a resounding "no."  The 2nd question, of course, is how and why I started to write.

I met my husband Carlo Fiorletta (pictured at left) in 1995, and he had already been acting for several years.  I went with him to numerous off-off-Broadway plays in and around NYC, mostly in small black box theaters.  I eventually reached the following conclusion:  a lot of the actors were terrific, and a lot of the directing was good as well.  But much of the writing was downright awful.  It's not that there aren't good playwrights in NYC:  there are tons of them.  But much of what got produced at that level was written by the actors or directors simply so they could highlight their talents.  As much as I understand that, it didn't make for great theater.

After I said that a few times (ok, I whined about it), Carlo had a simple response:  If you think you can do better, do it yourself.  I thought I could, so I started to take a few classes.  First, some classes at the Gotham Writers Workshop.  Later, screenwriting classes at The New School.  I found that I could indeed do it, although I'm definitely a fan of Dorothy Parker's statement :  "I hate writing, I love having written."

The pay-off moment for me - when I realized what a rush it could be to have my writing performed in front of a real live honest-to-goodness audience - came on September 19, 2001.  Carlo was a member of the NYC group Love Creek Productions.  This now 30 year old group produces one act plays on a year-round basis, and he had the opportunity to direct a new play of his choice.  We agreed that he would put up my romantic comedy "Bermuda Triangle."

My little comedy went up in midtown Manhattan just 8 days after the 9/11 terror attacks.  The theater was full.  My sister and brother-in-law came up from the Philadelphia area, at a time when people were afraid to be in the city.  People laughed.  And applauded.  They so very much wanted to laugh, to get away for just a few moments from the terror and death and fear of the past week.  It was the most amazing experience I had ever had.  That was the moment that I knew that writing would always be my "thing."

So no,  I haven't always written.  I didn't always want to be a writer.  But I love having the ability to touch people's emotions.

Here's a recent profile of Carlo that appeared in Backstage.

Movies on Bi-Polar Disorder: It's Great to be On a List with "Silver Linings Playbook"

Silver Linings Playbook - winner of 1 Oscar for Jennifer Lawrence as Best Lead Actress and nominated for 7 others - is the #1 rated movie about bi-polar disorder on IMDB.

With a movie like that as #1, it is absolutely awesome to see that Surviving Family is ranked #12 on that list!  Take a look at the clip below, then check out Surviving Family on Amazon Prime or iTunes.

Mental Illness in a Movie - It Ain't Easy

I knew when I started to write Surviving Family that I wanted to incorporate the subject of mental illness.  It's something that affects many families including my own (see stats from the National Institute of Mental Health HERE).  Treatment has improved markedly in recent years, but the issue still struggles to emerge from the shadows.  It took numerous re-writes to come up with something that was reasonably accurate (keeping in mind that it's fiction) while still being (I think!) entertaining.

A wonderful aspect of the millenial generation is that they are far more upfront, accepting, and honest about many things that were taboo in the past - this has been the subject of much discussion lately regarding their overwhelming acceptance of the GLBTQ communities.  But it's true with regard to mental illness as well - I've seen it within my own family.  That's something I wanted to highlight:  young people are often far more comfortable acknowledging and dealing with mental health issues than their parents and grandparents are. 

In the clip below, teenager Lily Malone (played by the terrific Katherine C. Hughes) tells her aunt (Sarah Wilson) about her diagnosis while Lily's mother (Tara Westwood) squirms uncomfortably.   Joining in them in this scene are Billy Magnussen as Terry's fiance, Bill Sage as Jean and Terry's dad,  P.J. Sosko as Terry's step-father, and Sophia Parra as Helen.