Youth is a time of exploration, yet too often we are told to follow predefined paths and urged against the new. But we cannot become impactful individuals without discovering ourselves first. It is the freedom to wander the unknown that reveal to us our responsibilities in the world.
During the summer of 2013, while I was stuck in a hospital in Nanjing due to appendicitis, I wrote the first draft of" Youth" hoping to convey that very sentiment. It was a 22-page debacle of incoherent plot lines and preaching characters. Over the next year, I gradually workshopped the script into just 5-pages.
“Youth” is not a film about parties or hookups, but rather the adolescent explorations and transgressions that help us discover ourselves and begin to see with independent, empowered eyes the world we are maturing into.
Development
I officially began developing "Youth" for production in April 2016. I had already sought the opinion of friends on the script, but in May I had my first public workshop at Tryka Film Coalition's general body meeting.
Tryka is a student-run filmmaking community consisting of high school filmmakers, actors, designers, musicians and artists in the DMV area. Check them out! https://www.trykafilm.com/
While the film was being workshopped and re-written, I began assembling the Creative Team. Thanks to Tryka and previous projects, we brought in Elliott Powell as our DP, Gemma London as Production Designer, and Adrian Wong-Valle as Sound Designer.
We had about 2K of funding from various sources and equipment supplied by the Independent Study program at Imagination Stage and IB Film at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. Our biggest challenges were location and extras for the party scene.
Producer Diana Whealan spent several weeks securing basements and bedrooms as well as budget for crafty and food services for a set that would at its peak have 50+ people. Producer Leo Kelly reached out to acting communities in the area to come up with a database of extras and costuming them.
Casting and Rehearsals
I wrote the part of Emma for Nina Cavalcanti, and when Ashley Behnke came on-board for the role of Emma, I was ecstatic.
The biggest struggle was finding someone to play Mother. We reached out everywhere we could - theater communities, teachers, friends' moms - before finally a mentor from Round House Theater's Teen Performance Program connected me with Jane Petkofsky, an extraordinary member of the Keegan Theater company.
We had two short rehearsals where we largely stayed away from the script and explored the mindsets each character represented and tried to connect personal experiences to each scene.
Production
With three cars of equipment, and 70+ cast and crew filed into the basement of a house in suburban DC, not to emerge until we had a film.
Picture credits to the kind house owner and photographer, Edward Bernstein.
Day 1, 7:00 to Midnight, 17 hours - We loaded into the house, shot the morning-after scenes, and pre-rigged for the party next day.
Day 2, 7:00-2:00, 19 hours - 30 some extras showed up. We spent 2 hours in hair & makeup and blocking, the dived straight into the "dark party" portion of the film. Crew slept at location.
Day 3, 5:00-0:00, 19 hours - extras return for part two of the party, where we used a DJ to control the crowd with music, and heard the same songs on repeat for 10+ times as we did take after take. Began loading out around 7pm.
Day 4, 12:00-2:00, 14 hours - after a few days of rest, we did a company move to Dupont Circle, where we shot the protest scene and then redecorated the house for hookup, bathroom, and living room scenes. Accident arises: While shooting outside, thieves stole multiple personal items of our crew and tried to make us pay for their return. While one of the producers dealt with the police report, we shot into the night.
Day 5, 14:00-0:00, 10 hours - another company move to a house in Rockville Maryland, where we pulled off the opening crane shot while dealing with both a lack of extras (many worn out after previous days of shooting) and crew (many demoralized due to police report previous day). While we got most of the footage, we ended up reshooting much of this scene later during PIckups.
Post-Production
"Youth" became a meme in the DMV student film community because of the extraordinarily long amount of time for it to be finished.
The project went through three different composers before finally having a full score. The recording then took multiple sessions before I felt it was right.
Meanwhile, our colorist was studying abroad in Spain, and so an extra 2 months of so passed before the film was graded.
Despite the time, we are all damn proud of the result.
Reception
In May 2016, "Youth" had its first screening at the Tryka Film Coalition End-of-Year Party as a tribute to the support of the film community in making the film. It made its second round of thanks by having its public premiere at the Leopald Awards, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.
The film entered into competition at the All-American High School Film Festival, was nominated for Best Overall Film, Best Drama, and won Best Screenplay.
It also is a Finalist in the 59th CINE Golden Eagle Awards, a Silver Peer Promise Award from Television, Internet, and Radio Association of DC (TIVA-DC).
"Youth" will be having its international premiere at the 2017 Seoul International Youth Film Festival.
Beyond any awards, I will always be proud of the crew and cast for pulling together despite all the hardship and obstacles and tackling this ambitious film with unceasing passion. In many ways, the making of this film will be a memory of my youth.
