entertainment, featured, film
- March 20, 2009
LIGHTS, CAMERA, MURDER
By Ken Cervera
In a departure from their usual goofy, web-based fare, members of the stylized comedic film group The Vacationeers – Todd Berger, Kevin M. Brennan, Jeff Grace and Blaise Miller – explore the gritty depths of the fabled Eastside in their upcoming crime-noir thriller, The Scenesters.
“Between the old zoo, the Hall of Justice downtown and the hidden stairs and passageways of Silver Lake, this place is like living in a film noir theme park,” writer/director Todd Berger explains. “And [this part of town] has always been that older, grittier and realer part of the city for me.”
While movies such as Swingers and Shop Girl may have shined a passing light over Eastside hipster counter culture, Berger, a long-time Los Feliz resident and self-professed “lover of film noir” hopes to offer viewers a rare glimpse into the place he calls home.
Still from The Scenesters (2009)
“The movie really plays on two things: one, being the locations, which were basically a 1930s art deco film set for us to use,” says Berger. “And it’s also about the crossing of these locations with the people, the ‘hipster’ eastsiders. The reason I wanted to do this is because I feel those are two incredibly unrepresented things in movies in general.”
From (the now defunct) Tangiers, to dialoging about Spaceland, to shooting in front of the Griffith Observatory, “The Scenesters is really a tribute to the Eastside,” says producer Kevin M. Brennan. “Just as Venice has their skater/surfer douche bags, we’ve got our emo, trust-fund hipsters. In The Scenesters, there’s a little something for everybody to hate.”
The film’s soundtrack features a host of local talent, including Le Switch and The Air Borne Toxic Event.
But, how exactly does one define an “Eastsider?” All transplants themselves, the artists behind The Scenesters have their own ideas about the contentious labeling.
Still from The Scenesters (2009)
“If you like watching live music, going to art galleries, eating at eclectic restaurants and actually walking around and meeting new people,” Kevin Brennan explains, “that’s what living on the Eastside is about.”
“When we were looking for locations, the community just opened up,” says Jeff Grace. “From the bars to the businesses, people literally gave up their homes when they found out we were shooting a movie about the Eastside.”
Grace, a graduate of Chicago’s Second City theatre group, defines his first encounter with West LA as being “exactly like what you see in the movies.” “It felt so alien to me,” he says. “I just never thought of it as a place where people actually live.”
Blaise Miller, who plays the lead role of “Charlie” in The Scenesters, is no stranger to the neighborhood’s many charms. “Ah, the smell of skunk,” says Miller, leaning back in his chair.
Along with the rest of his Vacationer cohorts, Miller can be seen in the web series Googling, as well as several other stylized comedy films featuring the razor-sharp and fast witted repartee for which the group is known.
With The Vacationeers putting their lives on hold, and in some cases quitting their jobs entirely, getting down to the business of independent film turned out to be no laughing matter.
“Making an independent film these days is incredibly difficult because you basically have to presale foreign distribution to ‘Romania,” says Todd Berger, “and in order to do that you need Jude Law or Christina Ricci ready to do your movie for nothing.”
The Vacationeers. From left: Blaise Miller, Jeff Grace, Todd Berger, Kevin M. Brennan.
“At Sundance, every single movie has major stars in [it],” says Grace. “With The Scenesters, we’re hoping to be that truly ‘old school indie’ from film festivals past.”
Raising funds for The Scenesters was “difficult at first,” says Berger, “and when you’re dealing with private investors, no one wants to be the first person to put their toe in the pool.”
It was in making the decision to move forward and shoot something, regardless of budget size, that initially got the money wheels turning for The Vacationeers.
“Once we did that, people started to take an interest,” says Brennan, “and that was when a mutual friend of mine connected us with Brett Thompson.”
Thompson, a Chicago-based producer, expressed an immediate interest in being involved as a producer on the film. Opting to come aboard as the head of business and investor relations, Bret quickly became an invaluable resource for moving The Scenesters forward.
“It’s like we’re away at summer camp and we call back to dad every few weeks to see if we still have money,” says Brennan.
The film is currently making the festival rounds, and will be looking to secure domestic and international distribution in the very near future, according to Brennan. In the meantime, The Vacationeers been working on new short films and are in the early stages of development for their next feature project.