| The Watermelon |
| Directed by |
Brad Mays |
| Produced by |
Lorenda Starfelt, Ronald M. Williams, Michael Hemmingson |
| Written by |
Michael Hemmingson |
| Starring |
Will Beinbrink, Kiersten Morgan, Mike Ivy, Bob Goulb, Julia Aks, Steven Shields, Elyse Ashton, Volt Francisco, Willow Hale |
| Music by |
Peter Girard |
| Cinematography |
Lawrence Malloy |
| Editing by |
Brad Mays |
| Distributed by |
Celebrity Video Distribution, Inc. |
| Release date(s) |
September 28, San Diego Film Festival |
| Running time |
92 minutes and 16 seconds |
| Country |
 United States |
| Language |
English |
The Watermelon is an independent feature film[1] penned by Michael Hemmingson and directed by Brad Mays. It is produced by Lorenda Starfelt at LightSong Films in North Hollywood.[2]The Watermelon is Michael Hemmingson's first produced full-length screenplay, and director Brad Mays' fourth feature film.[3]
Description
The Watermelon has been called "a story without seeds" and "a film about how really weird stuff can happen."[4] It is a metaphysical comedy about a fellow who receives a mysterious inheritance from his long lost alcoholic stepfather: a ratty old trailer painted like a watermelon. This draws in a number of odd characters who bug him, including a romantic interest, a woman on the run from her psycho drug-addict criminal husband. The quirky love story stars Will Beinbrink and Kiersten Morgan. Mike Ivy, who plays Homer, is a regular on The Sarah Silverman Show. Bob Goulb, who plays Creon, has been seen in Goodfellas and Art School Confidential.
Background
Production on The Watermelon began when Lorenda Starfelt posted a call on Craig's List for screenplays which featured a limited number of characters and locations, and had prominent roles suitable for actresses Kiersten Morgan and Elyse Ashton. The ad specified that the writer sum the story up in three sentences or less. Hemmingson was the first to respond, and did so within fifteen minutes with the following email:
THE WATERMELON by Michael Hemmingson
A man inherits an old, oblong trailer that is painted to look like a watermelon, which attracts a bunch a weirdos, oddballs, strangers and the curious, including a woman he finds sleeping in it. The woman is on the run, having escaped from a man who was keeping her in a cage and is now on her trail. He decides to help her, and a quirky romance develops.
Starfelt read the script that night and optioned it within days. She was delighted to learn that there really was a watermelon-painted travel trailer in San Diego, that belonged to a former associate of Hemmingson's, which was the originating point for the screenplay. According to Michael Hemmingson, the impetus for the script was "for Liv Kellgren to act in, she was an unknown stage actress in San Diego whose biggest wish was to act in indie films. I wrote it to direct, for us both to use as a vehicle into the film industry. She betrayed my trust and lied to me and nearly destroyed the project. I found LightSong Films, who optioned the script and made it, with the wonderful Brad Mays at the helm."[5]
Beach scenes were shot in Malibu, on the property of Tony Romano, executive producer of Catch Me If You Can and I, Robot.[6] "Hemmingson is one of the best screenwriters out there," Romano has stated, "only no one in this goddamn town knows it."[7] Interestingly, an intimate beach scene was fashioned by director Mays into an homage to the famous "bullocks scene" from Ken Russell's 1969 film Women In Love, with Kiersten Morgan dancing and singing I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles, parodying actress Glenda Jackson's dancing to the same tune sung by co-star Jennie Linden. [8]
Other scenes were shot in Pasadena, Beverly Hills, and North Hollywood, although the film is supposed to take place in an unnamed beach community in southern California, a cross between Encinitas and Ocean Beach in San Diego.
Director Brad Mays gave as much time to rehearsing the actors as the production budget would bear, and encouraged the actors towards inventiveness in exploring their roles. The actors were also directed to memorize their lines "down to the semi-colon". The film itself was shot in the summer of 2007, over a roughly three week period. By most accounts, the set was very pleasant for both cast and crew. Post production on The Watermelon took the better part of a year. A great deal of attention was given to the soundtrack. The original live vocal performances were very carefully worked, in order to avoid overdubbing, which would have destroyed the immediacy of the actors' performances. Peter Girard was engaged to write the original score at a point about six months into post production, and the final musical cue was laid in roughly ten days before the San Diego Film Festival, where the film premiered.
Release, distribution
The Watermelon received its World Premiere at the San Diego Film Festival 2008,[9] where it quickly became (and remains) the #1 film in terms of audience and industry buzz.8,[10] It was subsequently acquired by Celebrity Video Distribution and released to the public on July 7, 2009.
Quotable Lines
"I'm stealth!" --Persephone
"Oh fuck a fucking duck." --Creon
"He was clear and adamantine." --Homer
"I hear you're knocking but there's no one at the door." -- Ex-wife
"I'm clean, fed, and happy." --Persephone
"I have integrity. I've seen that trailer in a vision -- it's like, Manifest Destiny, you know?" --The Artist
"It's fugly." --Patroclus
Achilles: I don't mean to be an asshole.
Persephone: No one ever does, but the world is filled with them.
References
External links
