July & Half of August: Screening at Videology

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Last Friday, we had a screening of July & Half of August at Videology in Williamsburg (Brooklyn). It’s a wonderful space with a bar in the front, a screening room in the back. You can have a party in the screening room, you can have it catered, you can screen whatever movie you want for friends/family. (I want to have my birthday party there and screen Jailhouse Rock. It’s important to have goals.) There’s a server, too, for the screening room alone, so your guests can order drinks as they watch the movie. It’s fantastic!

People came from every area of my life. It was amazing. The only “group” not represented were friends from high school. Old college friends, my sister drove down, my film critic buddies, a cousin of mine and his girlfriend, a friend from my New York Times gig, long-time New York friends, my Bloomsday buddy Therese, and two folks who 1. have read my blog for years, but – and more importantly 2. are actors and artists themselves, whose production of Tennessee Williams’ Two-Character Play – a play I also love – is one of the most memorable theatrical productions I’ve ever attended. The fact that they showed up – with flowers, no less! – was so touching to me! The funniest thing was: my friend Allison and I had been having a hilarious text exchange an hour and a half before the screening. A situation had come up in her life and she had texted me to tell me she was sorry, she couldn’t make the screening. I was like, No worries, we can watch it together some other time. Then began this text exchange which would defy description, especially to anyone who doesn’t know us, that left the two of us guffawing with laughter, and all we could do was text the words “Laughing out loud” “Dying over here …” “Lol” and on and on. She was like, “Okay, I’ll let you go – so sorry I can’t be there!” Cut to 45 minutes later, I’m standing outside the bar/screening room, with my sister, a couple other friends, and suddenly, there Allison was, strolling towards us. She had decided: “What the hell. I MUST go to this.” She rallied like a superhero, put her life-situation on hold, and came out to Williamsburg. It was as though she had flown in from Zimbabwe, that was how I reacted. It was awesome that she came. So much fun! There were also two people there – old good friends – David and Jen – who had performed the roles of Jack and Neve in the very first reading of the script (of two of the scenes, the only ones I had written at that point) in New York.

It can be overwhelming to be surrounded by so many people who know you. Also, to have everyone be there for me to watch something I did. I kept telling everyone it was “only 12 minutes long,” – those words were in the invite too – and the first or second thing David said to me when he showed up was, “Stop telling everyone it’s ‘only’ 12 minutes long.” Hahaha. But it was great, the mood was celebratory and I was excited to share the film with everyone.

We only had the screening room for an hour, so I told everyone it was essential to show up on time so there would be time for a QA afterwards. Bless everyone, they all showed up on time. Everyone descended onto Videology in a 10-minute period. My sister drove down from Rhode Island and actually found a parking spot a couple blocks away. If you know the neighborhood, then you know what a miracle that is. The room was dark, with candles on the table, and people sat at the big picnic-type tables, talking. I made a little welcome-thank-you-for-coming speech and then it started.

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I stood in the back. I feel distant from the film now (it took a while), and seeing it in the theatre in Albuquerque, filled with strangers, showed to me – in no uncertain terms – that the film works. It’s not that I didn’t think it worked. It’s that I was too close to it to even WATCH it, let alone SEE it. But now I have that distance. Now I can see it, and I can enjoy other people’s reactions. It was so fun to watch it unfold, to hear people bursting out laughing (I am obsessed with the humor in it, and always have been: the tragedy will unfold no matter what, and that also kills people, but I NEED the jokes to land. I NEED IT DESPERATELY.) I don’t have worries anymore that the jokes won’t land. I know that they do. But still: it’s gratifying to hear an entire group of people erupt into surprised laughter. When Jack gestures to the bartender for another round after an awkward moment, people roared. When she started babbling about Tess of the D’Urbervilles people lost it. These were moments I hadn’t thought of as particularly funny. So it was cool to see how closely people were watching/listening.

After the film, Brooke and I went up front and she ran the QA, asking me questions, with other people asking questions, or just responding to what they had seen. Thank you, Brooke! She and I have known one another since college, she’s one of my oldest and dearest friends (some of you might remember when I interviewed Brooke about her job as a casting director), and so here we are, present-day, and she’s moderating a QA for a film I wrote. Life is beautiful like that sometimes. The responses were wonderful. Some people asked questions. Others just started to speak of what they got. Everyone wanted to know “what happened next.” This happened in Albuquerque too and it’s the best comment possible, for me, as a writer. I talked about the filming process, about Brandeaux Tourville the director, and the brilliant cinematographer he brought on, Peter Mosiman. We had a great discussion about the decision to go black-and-white. Everyone really REALLY responded to the visuals. I talked about how we got these two genius actors, how wonderful they were, and the first “rehearsal,” where I Skyped into Los Angeles from New Jersey. Annika and Robert had worked together before, but they hadn’t “read together” my script until that first meeting. And there it was: the whole thing. The two of them, scripts in hand … and it was basically a final product already. What you see on the screen in the final version, was what I saw over my iPhone-Skype that night. They clicked in instantly, to one another, and to the 12-minute arc of that conversation. They’re both brilliant.

Afterwards, we all hung out in the bar, talking and catching up. I got to hear everyone’s reactions, thoughts, opinions. I love to hear what people “got.” I just listen and shut up, because I don’t want to explain myself. It’s more important that the thing lives on its own, that people have whatever reaction they have without me saying, “Well, actually what I meant in that moment was THIS.” It’s not mine anymore. Everyone “gets” different things. It’s a romance. People bring their own lives to it. Everyone sees different things. That’s what I want to happen.

Jean and I drove back to my place. It was 1 in the morning. I haven’t been up that late since … well, last year, when we filmed the movie. We crashed, then woke up in the morning, had coffee, and took a long walk around the reservoir near my house. The weather was beautiful. I felt happy. I have a good life and I am very proud of the film. So happy to share it with people.

To quote Tennessee Williams’ constant refrain: “En Avant!

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29 Responses to July & Half of August: Screening at Videology

  1. Melanie says:

    //I felt happy. I have a good life and I am very proud of the film.//

    Yay!

  2. bainer says:

    I’m happy for you, Sheila!

  3. DBW says:

    Sounds like such great fun. I’m jealous of all who attended.

  4. Myrtle says:

    Sometime words seem inadequate and only smiling faces will do 8) 8) 8) . So happy for you!

  5. Melissa Sutherland says:

    Such an amazingly vicarious moment. I am so happy for you. You must know that. All the way up here in NE, I can feel the energy you are feeling, the “get back” from everyone that cares about you. Most of these people know you really well, and from someone who’s never met you, it is a different kind of moment. I am so happy for your success with your “only” 12 minute film. The best 12 minutes of your life!

    • sheila says:

      Well, I don’t know if it’s the best 12 minutes of my life – :) – but it is definitely something I’m proud of, especially considering the sheer amount of work it took to get “only” 12 minutes onscreen.

      happy times – looking forward to whatever comes next!! Thanks Melissa!

  6. Brooke says:

    “I have a good life.” Nothing tops that. Nothing. xo

    • sheila says:

      I am rather amazed at that statement myself, swordfish. But it’s true. Thanks for being there and running the QA. It was brill!!

  7. carolyn clarke says:

    I can’t think of any other way to say that I, too, am happy for you. You so deserve it. Sounds like a fabulous evening and the memories will always be sweet.

  8. Jessie says:

    This is so wonderful!

  9. Sheila
    Sweet Evening! And extra fun to read this as we were there and this is exactly as it was! I wrote you an email, I’m not sure if you received it, so I’m going to post it here, if you don’t mind.
    Dear Sheila:
    After your film Charlie and I over dinner talked about your film for the rest of the evening. We both felt as soon as it opened seeing the black and white choice we knew it was going to be good.
    I had just went to a festival of NY shorts the other evening and your film knocked all those films I watched off the face of the earth.
    The filmmaking, the actors, very fine work but it was the writing in July and Half of August that elevated it and gave it a knockout punch.
    The main reason I became an actress was because of the writers, the playwrights, the poets. I wanted to say those words that those people were expressing what I felt so well.
    Those people are my heroes, it’s not a secret you are one of them.
    When the woman in July and Half of August goes into that thing about it being too late for happiness it just devastated me. I could weep right now, but she said it though through her tears there was no self-pity. I don’t know how to explain that. This young woman knew herself well and there it was.
    There was a deep connection between these two people and yet it wasn’t to be. The deep sorrow of life and how life can be sometimes.
    And the humor too! The hilarity and quickness between these two. The stuff about ‘Tess’. The abrupt literary reference. The love of literature just bleeds into her life, nothing forced. Jarring but natural.
    “An artist has to put his life on the line” Tennessee Williams, ‘In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel’
    Which is exactly what you do. And though this is your life it translates into the universal, as all great art does, and boy do we know what you are talking about.
    The lines about the guy’s kid, I can’t remember exactly, the “morose” phrase, evoked for me J.D. Salinger.
    “She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.”
    That’s you Sheila. Thanks for inviting us. Thanks for the very fine writing. Regina

    Some funny things:
    You were saying a lot, “It’s only 12 minutes!” I think I heard it about 5 or 6 times all over the room.” Charlie yelled after you, “Will there be an intermission?!” But I don’t think you heard him.
    While I was standing next to you and talking a little in the middle of it you blurted out loud but very much to yourself almost in a trance, “Oh there she is!” I didn’t know who you were talking about but assumed it was someone special to you. Now I know, Allison!
    After the screening a friendly young woman walked up to us and we started talking about the film and all, how much we liked it, etc. I asked a little shyly,”Are you a good friend of Sheila’s?” She said, “I’m her sister Jean.” I hope I didn’t scream into her face as I said, “You’re her sister Jean?!” Like I knew her, but I kind of do, because of your vivid writing.
    I also said, hopefully not screaming, “I got to meet another O’Malley!”
    Thank again for the wonderful film and a beautiful evening!

    • sheila says:

      Regina!! Please please thank Charlie for me as well for coming! When Jean and I got home, we found a couple of vases to put the flowers in (they smell so good!) and they are brightening my kitchen as we speak!!

      I haven’t checked that email in the last couple of days – so thank you for posting it here – I’ll reach out in private when I have a second.

      It’s interesting what you say about “without self-pity.” One of the actresses who played the role along the way said to me, point-blank, “Any tips before I start playing this role?” The only thing I could think of was: “She has no self-pity. Avoid self-pity at all costs.” She nodded – and it’s amazing: if the actress plays the role with self-pity it is rather unbearable. Without any self-pity she becomes … rather eerie and matter of fact. I’m not sure – but I love that you picked up on that!

      and hahaha Charlie “will there be an intermission.” dying!! No, I didn’t hear that. Hilarious!!

      Your words on my writing move me very much and thank you for your generosity in saying them and sharing them. It means the world to me. You know how it is – you put your self out there, in whatever you do … and you hope that the message travels. Like, that’s why we do what we do.

      Thank you again. It meant SO MUCH to me that you both attended. xoxoxoxo

    • sheila says:

      and ha! about me being “in a trance” – I just couldn’t believe Allison showed up! She and I are the same: once we’re home, and in our pajamas, no WAY will we get up and leave. But she did!!

      I love that you met Jean. Jean would like to know where you got your glasses. She needs to get new frames and she loved yours. :)

  10. Helena says:

    This sounds like the most joyful and wonderfully vindicating of evenings and I dream of a screening in the UK.

    • sheila says:

      We really need to take our show on the road. That is true!! There’s gotta be a “shorts category” in the various UK film festivals. I’m not in charge, but maybe I should be.

  11. Natalie says:

    This is so awesome!

  12. Heather says:

    Sheila,

    Congratulations! What an accomplishment.
    Toronto has a short film festival!!!!! Bring it here!

    • sheila says:

      Thank you, Heather! It’s so nice to get something out of my head – in the endless planning stages – and out into the world. It’s such a RELIEF, as nerve-wracking as some of it has been.

      I would love for it to come to Toronto!! We need to get on the stick with this!!

  13. Sheila
    So funny about the ‘self pity’ stuff. A lot of actors sometimes show, ‘oh here I am not being self-pitying’ or ‘here I am controlling these tears’. She just did it. Very powerful.

    The talk after was great too. C and I were talking about how clear you were. No cutesy or aw-shucks moments either. You answered the questions directly and listened simply.
    Another thing funny too though, you were talking about Tennessee Williams and Kazan and then hastily added, “Not that I’m comparing..” We all burst out laughing, because you obviously weren’t doing that!
    You knew what you wanted from the actors. I think it was said how these two people could be from any time. Due to the black and white and their acting skills. The age range was hard to pin down too. I couldn’t say if they were 25 or 35, early or late.
    They were a man and a woman. So simple, yet so rare to see these days.
    Oh, no need to email me, you are a busy woman! I just emailed before I saw this posted or I would have put it here first anyway!
    Glasses! Tell Jean they are Dolce-Gabbana purchased at Cohan Vision Center on Delancey Ludlow. They did cost a God-damned fortune though! But worth it to me because they are always on my face for one, and they turn into sunglasses and are big enough for bifocals, which I need.

    • sheila says:

      Regina –

      I will pass on the glasses info to Jean! Thank you!!

      You know, it’s interesting coming from an acting background – like I do – and then being outside of that for this project, and have to assess what is needed for these roles, and what can’t be included. It was a kind of trial and error process for me as a writer – and each reading/workshop helped me figure out what was wrong, what worked, what needed to be clearer.

      My BIGGEST lesson was that whatever I wanted to happen NEEDED to be in the script, on the page. This was where T. Williams was such an inspiration. Because Blanche, let’s say, is on the page. You read that script and there she is. Whether or not an actress can pull it off is irrelevant – because she exists in words.

      Early drafts of my script – I had to really struggle with that. I had Neve and Jack in my head – but then two actors would read it and I’d realize that they weren’t “picking up on” what I wanted. Not because they weren’t talented – but because I hadn’t done my job. Actors aren’t mind-readers and all the information they get should be in the language. SO helpful and illuminating for me.

      In earlier drafts, Neve was a chatter-box head case. hahaha. And so actresses played it that way. I realized I was missing THE thing about her – her softness and vulnerability. Part of that is casting. We need to cast an actress who is totally vulnerable and can do that kind of vulnerability. But I needed to add in moments where – with a whoosh – she shows you her heart, behind the wall of words. And same with Jack – who was pretty passive in earlier drafts. Mainly because Neve took over. She is just such a strong character. I think I said in the QA after that the second draft was mainly about filling out Jack, and giving him all the power he needed. Even if an audience turned on him (and sometimes they do – some people have wanted him to be “gentler” with her – but … but … that’s not the dynamic I want). They’re tough on each other.

      The other thing that CANNOT happen at any time is that either one of them gets defensive. These people are OFFENSE people, not DEFENSE. It’s a subtle distinction but so important. One actress played Neve defensively in one of the workshops – every line was defensive – as though Neve was always wondering what Jack was up to, what shit he was trying to pull, what he was hiding – and, honestly, it was terrible. The entire play fell apart. (And that was a case of mis-casting. Other actresses clicked right into the vibe needed. I think that particular actress had issues with men and it bled over into the performance. So it just didn’t work. What it ended up looking like was this nice guy got roped into dating a bitchy uptight woman. Now I KNOW that that’s not what I wrote. But it was another good lesson, in terms of casting. We knew then that when we set out to cast Neve, we needed someone who was vulnerable.) When Neve is on the OF-fensive, and so is he, equally strong … THAT’S the play.

      Part of the reason why they worked as a couple is that they both speak a rough kind of truth, lobbing it at one another, and they can talk to each other in a way they can’t talk to other people. So he tells her he misses her, she says, “Boo hoo” and he laughs. He gets a kick out of it, whereas other men would be hurt that she wasn’t validating his feelings. It’s kind of a weird vibe to get a hold on, and capture, you know? It’s delicate.

      Casting the right guy for Jack is crucial … it can’t be a guy who has ANY hostility to women. Strong women, weak women, whatever. Not even subconsciously. Even her obnoxiousness is entertaining to him because it frees HIM up – he doesn’t have to play nice with her. He can say anything to her. They’re both borderline obnoxious (and that really comes out in other scenes in the full-length – mainly in a scene where they are in a wedding party together, and it’s after they’ve broken up, and they’re both drunk. That’s my “screwball comedy” scene. They basically ruin someone else’s wedding with their own failed-relationship drunken drama. And neither of them give a shit. hahahaha) Another character might back down in the face of Neve saying something like, “Come on, knock it off, we never dated and you know it.” or get defensive because she’s wiped him out of her memory banks. But he says, “It’s important to me that you remember this the right way.” That’s a pretty vulnerable thing to say – as well as obnoxious and controlling – but it’s human and he’s on the offensive when he says it. Does this make sense??. He LIKES fighting with her. And that can only exist if you don’t have that passive-aggressive defensive dynamic that you so often see in films/scripts featuring men and women.

      So once the script was clear-er – it took about a year – then what happens is that all we need to do is cast the right people who can “just” show up and say the lines. We were so so lucky to get these two! But every actor so far who has played these roles – even the defensive lady – have been incredible and have helped me enormously in figuring out the script, recognizing problems with it. As you know, smart actors reveal weaknesses in a script with swift efficiency, just by reading the damn thing out loud. Like: if they’re not getting it, and if the moment isn’t playing, then it’s probably the script at fault. SO HELPFUL.

  14. Sheila

    Yes! The fun watching these two go at it and play hard like a boxing/chess game. Then, each of them laughing as they watch their punches land. When they laugh you can feel their history, oh yes, it’s YOU again!
    And you wonder and want to know what happened to them and probably the variety of reasons why they didn’t make it.
    The Wedding Drunk Scene might explain some things and also sounds hilarious!
    I want to see that!
    I felt he made a safe choice. Probably married a lovely woman, has a nice life and obviously loves his kid. (not that there is anything wrong with that!) The safe choice might just be the right choice.
    But. Here SHE is again. OH NO. And SHE probably never made a safe choice in her life. Then again, she probably might be no picnic to live with. But a feeling that he met his match and backed down.
    There’s a lot of longing in this movie.
    But he doesn’t have this electric stuff with his wife and definitely misses it.
    But, then again, you can see how he cares for this woman and wants her to have happiness.
    Then the happiness thing goes on.. And she lets him have it. The old one two, knock out…..
    The punches just fly and land.
    I also love how their intelligence and references are not hip or cute like they might be in another movie. They read, they watch movies. She read the book. He saw the movie. But he’s obviously not stupid (and it’s true what he says about the movie, and so funny!)
    Also, a shout out to the bartender. She came on and I immediately loved her!
    P.S. The eye glass store is on Delancey and ORCHARD. And spelled Cohen. (C said I misspelled it the Cagney version, Cohan, as in George M., Haha, our references… (and he said, although George M did produce a lot of ‘spectacles’, oh no….)

  15. Maureen says:

    I’m late commenting, but sometimes when I read one of your posts, I get so many feelings (that sounds strange…)-that it is hard for me to express myself in a comment. I’m not a writer, and my words don’t seem to do justice.

    But I am beyond happy, how well this went for you. I really hope that somehow this will become available for me to see, as much as I love your writing-I know I would enjoy the hell out of this.

    • sheila says:

      Maureen –

      I so appreciate your words and thank you so much for being happy for me – it really means a lot!!

      I know, I hope more people get to see this damn thing too. Working on it!! :)

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