Best friends

Katie Walker and Laura Pemberton

are settling in for their annual two-week vacation together by watching a movie, but this year

s o m e t h i n g i s d i f f e r e n t

about Katie. She is distant and angry, and Laura is determined to

g e t t o t h e b o t t o m o f i t .

Director David Pope reviews the shot list with Director of Photography Quintin Brenner

Writer and Producer Grace Baldridge answers Tina Tozzi’s (Katie Walker) question about one of her lines.

SUMMARY Best friends Katie Walker and Laura Pemberton have begun their annual summer trip to Burbank, California as they always do, by watching a movie. This two-week trip is the only time out of the entire year that the two girls get to spend time together, but this year something is different. Katie has a secret, and as her nerves wear ever thinner and her anger starts to rise, Laura knows she has to get to the bottom of it. Movie Night explores the tumultuous na-ture of divorce and the doubts that those involved can experience in its wake.

CAST and CREW

LAURA PEMBERTON....................Jennifer RobertsKATIE WALKER.........................................Tina Tozzi

Writer/Producer...............................Grace BaldridgeDirector....................................................David PopeDirector of Photography...................Quintin BrennerSound Design........................Robert “Bobby” WattsUnit Publicity..........Kaitria McGill and Sarah Farland

CAST

CREW

C A S T

JENNIFER ROBERTSLaura Pemberton

Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Jennifer started acting for fun when she was a young girl. Going through high school, Jennifer never expected to be pursuing acting as a ca-reer; she mainly worked on the tech side of school productions. The first time she considered acting as a potential profession was when someone suggested that she audition to perform in one of her school’s shows. She took the chance and fell instantly in love. When Jennifer first arrived at Elon, she wanted to be a part of the musical theater pro-gram. It was not until she looked into the acting program that she realized that it was the perfect option for her. She auditioned for that program during the spring semester of her freshman year. She was then offered a position, which she immediately and gladly accepted.

The journey in Los Angeles has been extremely educational for Jennifer. “I’ve always been enamored with filmmaking,” she said, “I wanted to act for the camera since all my experi-ence prior to this has been on stage.” The transition from stage to film was surprisingly easy for the actress who said, “At first I was very aware of the camera, but soon I found myself completely at ease.” The script of Movie Night hit especially close to home for Jennifer who had a friend a lot like Katie when she was younger. “I originally thought that connection might be an obstacle for me,” she commented, “But when we sat down in front of the camera it really helped me.” Jennifer added that working with Tina Tozzi made it much easier. “I felt like I was in good hands with her as a partner,” she added.

At first I was very aware of the camera, but soon I found myself completely at ease.

TINA TOZZIKatie Walker

Tina is from a small town in New Jersey, named Ogdensburg, and is proud to say that she has had a passion for acting since the age of five. When it came time to decide what to do in college, however, she chose to pass on an acting degree and instead pursue an Elon University degree in media arts and entertainment, where she has enjoyed learning the history of the television and film industry. She was excited to take the acting opportunity that Elon in Los Angeles offered her. “This gives me the chance to take an upper level acting class without the prerequisites that I would have to do on campus,” she explained. Having the chance to be involved with Movie Night is something that Tina is especially

excited about. “Movie Night is very dialogue- and character-driven, so I was really excited to be a part of it.” Tina enjoyed being on set for the film and having the opportunity to work with people that she hadn’t gotten to work with before. She says of her co-star Jennifer Roberts, “It was great working with someone who takes acting so seriously.” This year, Tina’s last at Elon, she will be very focused on filming and creating new proj-ects. She says that this opportunity has reawakened her love of performing and she hopes that she can continue that when she returns to campus in the fall.

Movie Night is very dialogue- and character-driven, so I was really excited

to be a part of it.

Writer and Producer Grace Baldridge reviews her script before shooting begins.

C R E W

GRACE BALDRIDGEwriter/producer

Grace, a South Carolina native, has spent the majority of her life living abroad in Wa-terloo, Belgium. When she was young, her father, an Episcopalian priest, took an assignment living abroad to give his family a new experience. While the move was only meant to last three months, her family ended up staying through her high school graduation. No matter where her home has been, Grace has always maintained a particular trait: she has always liked entertaining people. She has spent much of her life creating content with the singular goal of making people laugh. That is why she became involved with Down South Improv, in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the student television show Elon Tonight, at Elon University, where she is a member of the 2013 class.

Comedy is where she is comfortable and where she flourishes, but Movie Night is defi-nitely stepping out of her comfort zone. When explaining the goal behind attempting this dra-matic script, Grace says, “I’m really inspired by the notion of people making a decision about whether or not they buy into ‘love’ and start deciding whether or not marriage is right for them.” The story she has written is based on a personal experience, which is where she is most comfortable basing her writing. This is her first time delving into a dramatic subject. Her previ-ous film experience has been focused on comedic Web content and stand up comedy. She is eager to see the experience unfold. “I’m excited about working with the actors,” Grace adds, “I want to see how they work with the script and creatively interpret what I’ve writ-ten.” Grace admits that she is not the best when it comes to coaxing great performances out of actors, and this is why she is so grateful for the film’s director David Pope. “I’m excited to work with David because we communicate very well,” she commented, “I know he will be able to get really authentic performances out of our actors.”

I’m really inspired by the notion of people making a decision about whether or not

they buy into ‘love’

DAVID POPEdirector

David, from Charlotte, North Carolina, is a rising senior at Elon University studying Me-dia Art & Entertainment, with a concentration in broadcast and new media. While his direction at Elon wasn’t clear until his sophomore year when he chose to major in communications, he brings passion and conviction to his work with Movie Night. As a director, David claims a full understanding of the writer’s motivation as the main source behind his directorial skill. He names Stanley Kubrick and Christopher Nolan as inspirations for his style. David was interested in joining this project because he felt that he could bring something new to the table. “I want to improve an idea that isn’t fully formed, he said, “I’ll do my best to bring writer/prodcer Grace Baldridge’s idea to the next level.”

Recently David discovered a passion for Web design, which he has been pursuing this past semester. If it were up to him how he would spend the rest of his life, David says, “I would win the Powerball jackpot and live in obscurity in some wonderful place.” With the odds against him with that plan, David adds, “I know I want to be in the enter-tainment industry in some capacity. I’m not sure (yet) of the exact road, but I know which way the highway is going.”

I’ll do my best to bring writer/producer Grace Baldridge’s idea to the next level

QUINTIN BRENNERdirector of photography

Quintin Brenner is from Webberville, Michigan, a small town outside the state capitol, Lansing. Quintin has had an interesting journey at Elon where he started out as a psychology ma-jor. When he learned that Elon had an outstanding cinema program, he decided to give it a try and now his career goals lie in the field of production. Even though he has changed his future plans, he is still grateful for the psychology training he is receiving and feels that it has helped him in production. When Quintin was chosen to work on Movie Night, he was happy to have the chance to work with writer/producer Grace Baldridge. “She seemed very nice and outgoing and we have

a lot of mutual friends, so I was excited to work with her,” he commented. Working on this student film offered Quintin his first chance to go through all the steps of pre-production, production and post-production. When asked about any differences that he saw in this shoot to his previous projects he said, “Working with professional actors is so nice. They make the process a lot easier than casting people with no experience.” At Elon, Quintin works as an engineer on several Elon television programs. His team also records events like graduation and convocation and helps run the Jumbo-Tron at Elon football games. After graduation, Quintin would be happy being a part of production on either films or television shows.

Working with professional actors is so nice. They make the process a lot easier.

ROBERT “BOBBY” WATTSsound designer

Bobby hails from the North Carolina town of Mount Airy. He discovered Elon when he was searching for a university with a music technology program, which is what he is currently majoring in. Bobby’s very specific line of study is derived from a lifetime passion. “I’ve always had an ear for music, but I’ve never wanted to perform. I thought that doing behind-the-scenes work in a studio could be a good compromise, so I started looking into music technology,” he explained. Movie Night was a project that appealed to another one of Bobby’s interests: sound de-sign. “The film has no music at all, which is usually what I’m asked to do,” Bobby said, “Movie Night is all about the dialogue and it gives me a chance to do more sound design than scoring.”

ADR, or additional dialogue recording, is an aspect of sound design that Bobby is extremely interested in and one that he got to work with for Movie Night. His favorite part of shooting the film was not the sound, however. Bobby enjoyed the interaction of the cast and crew between takes, “it was fun getting to joke around with everyone between takes. It’s nice to not be so serious for a second.” While Bobby loves what he is learning to do with audio recording and editing, his love of music has not faded. He still writes his own original songs and sends some of them out to record labels. While it is one of his passions, songwriting is not Bobby’s ultimate career goal, although he will likely continue it as a side business. Eventually, he would like to bring his sound recording and editing skills to the cinema arena.

It was fun getting to joke around with everyone between takes. It’s nice to not be

so serious for a second.

KAITRIA MCGILLunit publicist

SARAH FARLANDunit publicist

Director of Photography Quintin Brenner sets up his camera for a new angle on his next shot.

PRODUCTION NOTES

As the sun set over Sunset Boulevard, the cast and crew of Movie Night were busily finishing their respective tasks to get ready for the night shoot.

Director David Pope and director of photography Quintin Brenner reviewed the shot list as actresses Tina Tozzi and Jennifer Roberts ran their lines. Everyone was relaxed and having a good time as filming on Movie Night began.

As the takes rolled by, the camaraderie between cast and crew grew. Be-tween takes, sound designer Robert “Bobby” Watts joked around with the cast. Soon the entire crew was laughing.

Filming in a small apartment in Hollywood resulted in some interesting ob-stacles. The lights quickly heated the small space to such a degree that the al-most instantaneously-melting ice cream felt like the dramatic personality on set. The cast and crew’s banter between takes took some of the heat off.

Some last minute, unexpected juggling was necessary when the owner of the apartment returned earlier than planned and cut the time of the shoot short. Getting creative, David, Quintin and the actors pulled together to make the last few scenes extremely efficient, making for a long, but very productive night – and having learned a lesson in time management and spot negotiation.