Divorce Video Therapy (2018) is a 10-episode dramedy web series.
View the 10-minute series highlight reel here Stream all episodes here
Director's Commentary
This episode is a mosaic that took shape over the course of two years of filming throughout Connecticut, New Jersey and New York City. Christina Dufour stars as Colleen, an aspiring painter who married Jim Acheson (David Kubicka), a self-absorbed workaholic billionaire. She was whisked from a humble apartment in Brooklyn out to a suburban New Jersey castle, where “the silence was deafening”. “Our honeymoon lasted 72 hours—that’s when he got an emergency call from Geneva,” Colleen recounts to Neil Osprey (Alex Fuller) during one of her divorce video sessions. She then spent 3 or 4 years in a soulless haze, baffled as to why on earth the women at pilates would be envious of her “glamorous life”. The first 30 seconds were originally placed in episode 1, but for pacing I lifted it and used this as the introductory segment in episode 7. When she says “Yes, I cheated on him”, the viewer needs to know that plot point, and can’t be expected to remember it from all the way back in episode 1. Neil’s “outdoor office”
We were all set to film at a pristine wildlife preserve, only to discover that it was closed that day for deer population control. Hmmm….
Re-scheduling was out of the question, and we lucked into an alternate scenic location—which was by a small airport. But we got the takes very efficiently, in between planes. Jan Klier filmed this scene with his Sony FS7. Billionaire!!!
We had the great fortune of filming on the grounds of an actual billionaire’s estate!
The premise is that this mansion is in Alpine, New Jersey, lair of the celebs and other mega-millionaires. Luigi Benvisto captured the stunning footage with a tiny handheld stabilizer device called the DJI Osmo. Show Me, Don’t TELL Me
We had gathered all of this footage over the course of one year, and I could feel the pressure of “show me, don’t tell me” mounting. It was time to create a flashback sequence in which Colleen and Jim are interacting.
They’re having “date night” in the West Village—actually it’s their 5th wedding anniversary, and it could not possibly be less romantic. In fact, it’s downright dysfunctional. It is starkly evident that this marriage is over with. Filming in the West Village
Filming on the street is always a challenge, especially in terms of audio. The first scene is on a side street, where it was relatively quiet. After that, the crowds were unavoidable (by the Whitney Museum and High Line entrance). Somehow we pulled it off.
As a bonus, I had gotten permission to do some brief filming (no dialogue) at a picturesque wine bar. My original shot list had us arriving there by 4:30, but it was now 6:00 and getting dark. The dinner crowd was flowing in, and we were not welcomed with open arms (far from it). I informed the maitre’d that Jane-Do-the-Manager had given me permission, but he was having none of it. I don’t begrudge him for this; I had no leverage. I wanted to order a glass of wine for each of the actors, and just film them for 10 minutes—nope, no dice. And yet, miraculously—during this painfully awkward interchange—the actors had already seated themselves in a window booth. They were doing some rehearsal takes, and Luigi Benvisto was grabbing focus on them (with his Blackmagic Ursa Mini). From these minuscule outtakes, I was able to extract a few precious moments. A screengrab from one of these moments became the poster art (custom thumbnail) for the trailer and for this episode. Priceless. The viewer is blissfully unaware that I never had a chance to say “Action” and get ANY takes at the wine bar!!! Cuckolding the billionaire (while he’s away in Geneva)
Byron Clohessy plays Steven, who has been having an affair with Colleen. He is tragically head-over-heels for her, yet she appears to have been using him just to make Jim enraged. It actually took Jim a year to figure it out (easy to be out of the loop if you’re in Geneva or you’re at the office 75 hours a week).
We happened to be filming in Madison Square Park during the holidays, and I love the glittering light show in the background! (I filmed this with my Canon 60D.)
Steven texts her: “Jim is such a big crybaby—he’ll only speak to you through his celebrity lawyer now?”
Colleen responds: “By the time they finish nitpicking the stupid prenup, that guy will probably get more money than ME!!!” Finally, she is gearing up for her return to a non-materialistic lifestyle. The $500 haircuts, pilates, shopping sprees and long naps are behind her now. After taking a 7-year hiatus from her true self, Colleen is anxious to roll up her sleeves and devote her life to painting and all things creative. Alex Fuller Writer/Director alexfullermedia.com
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Divorce Video Therapy (2018) is a 10-episode dramedy web series.
View the 10-minute series highlight reel here Stream all episodes here
Director's Commentary
Faith’s ex dragged his heels for many years on the subject of having children. As she shouted in episode 1: “Thank you for wasting my best child-bearing years, you piece of shit!!!” Annaliese Kirby stars as Faith, and Alan Dronek co-stars as Kevin. "Who is this man that I married?"
Hindsight is always 20/20, so it's easy to be critical of these characters.
Didn't they discuss the subject of having children before marriage? Isn't that what everyone does? Well, you'd be surprised. Assumptions are a dangerous thing. And why did Kevin marry her, if he had such looming anxiety about the financial responsibilities of parenthood? Maybe he didn't want to lose her. Maybe Faith figured he would "grow up" once they were actually married. Even if Kevin's salary hadn't been cut by 40%, might he have finally gotten on board with raising a family? Hmm...not likely. "The whole no-sex, no-sleep, changing-diapers, losing-all-your-money thing has never sounded appealing to me."
Production Notes
I was able to film Annaliese in the suburbs during peak foliage, and it even started to drizzle as we got some quick b-roll shots in the park (perfect for the mood). Alan’s Harlem apartment is a classic long thin railroad layout. If there was any budget for locations/production design, this is precisely the kind of place I would have secured(!) Alex Fuller Writer/Director www.alexfullermedia.com
Divorce Video Therapy (2018) is a 10-episode dramedy web series.
View the 10-minute series highlight reel here Stream all episodes here
Director's Commentary
Jolie Curtsinger stars as Maya, whose soon-to-be ex-husband Derek slept with her best friend (among others). Her wounds are quite fresh, and she lashes out at Derek by speaking directly at the camera. Does he or any of the other ex-spouses actually watch these diatribes? They probably at least click the play button (out of morbid curiosity).
As of the casting phase, none of the 7 primary characters had a fully fleshed out backstory. Once the casting was in place, it made it so much easier for me to then bring these characters to life.
Based on the strength of Jolie Curtsinger’s self-taped audition, I knew we would be able to tackle some very intense drama. I maximized Maya’s agony by intertwining the miscarriages and the serial cheating. Here is a skiing analogy (even though I’ve never done downhill skiing): my brother has told me about those insanely dangerous double black diamond trails. Experts only—all others will perish. I knew that was the kind of script I needed to create: no risk, no reward. I teed it up for Jolie, and she absolutely crushed it like I knew she would!
We filmed this at a scenic oceanside park called Chaffinch Island (Guilford, CT). I used my trusty Canon 60D and a 50mm portrait lens. There were some children walking by here and there, but it’s okay—the show must go on, F-word and all—we were in the zone.
A month later, I ventured into Brooklyn Heights to get the walking shots. As she rounded the corner, how fitting was it that a woman happened to be walking by with her stroller! Serendipity. Alex Fuller Writer/Director www.alexfullermedia.com Divorce Video Therapy (2018) is a 10-episode dramedy web series. View the 10-minute series highlight reel here Stream all episodes here Director's Commentary Don’t worry, it’s not all misery and regret—there’s plenty of comic relief. This series is for online viewing, where adult attention spans revert to that of an infant—or maybe a 7-year-old (4 minutes tops for videos? 8 on a good day?) You may wonder why filmmakers keep plodding upstream like salmon, dropping dead at the end of the journey just to spawn yet another web series (which, tragically, will probably not get very many views). The answer is: it’s hopefully a stepping stone to something bigger. The content serves the purpose of being a demo showreel for the actors and the writer-director. Thanks to SAG-AFTRA and its New Media Agreement, I’ve been able to connect with a large handful of very talented New York actors. This film project was produced on zero budget, and I never could have come close to pulling this off without that precious resource. By early 2016, my concept for this series was in a larval state. It’s based on themes from a feature screenplay by a different name (much more on that in future posts). By April of 2016, I had a vague sketch of 5 or 6 characters: the one whose husband ditched her out of the blue after 22 years, the one whose husband slept with her best friend, etc. A jolt of inspiration arrived when the startup app Vibbidi was doing person-to-person outreach with filmmakers. It was positioning itself as the Next Big Thing in shortform video. They were hyping a huge June 1 launch. I Skyped with the guy, and it was a nice conversation. Episodes had to be 60 seconds max—how the hell do you do that with drama? They were offering very significant prize money: each month, there would be an in-app film festival. Okay, very cool. This enabled me to really focus and create some killer one-minute scripts with multiple characters and their one-liners. June 1 arrived and the crickets, they were a-chirping: the app was MIA. Month after month, no updates. I guess they ran out of funding before launching—hmm… As a side note, it eventually was re-branded as a social sharing music app. Anyway, I was already in full creator mode and primed to get this series going. Even though the characters had no backstory, I decided to announce that the series would be in production by late summer/fall 2016. I created a 60-second monologue for actors to tackle via a self-taped audition (not too short or too long). I got a good amount of response, with a wide range of acting ability. Casting the primary 7 divorce video client characters fell into place seamlessly. One of them had to drop out, and I had the incredible fortune of finding Annaliese Kirby (Faith in Episode 4) as her replacement. In the fall of 2016, I started filming scenes by the Connecticut shore. Then on to NYC in 2017, which I never could have accomplished without DP Jan Klier. (What was I gonna do—take the train in with my camcorder and travel tripod? That ain’t filmmaking.) We also captured some great New Jersey footage in Alpine, Closter and Paramus. This project blossomed into something much larger in scope than I originally envisioned. That’s why it took 2 years to produce 10 episodes. I’ve been striving to make it cinematic, as opposed to just a “talking heads” series with a mockumentary tone. It’s a matter of “Show me, don’t tell me”. When characters are discussing their ex at length, it becomes imperative to cut to a flashback or even extended flashback sequences. Divorce Video Therapy is about the human condition, and how we cope with adversity.
Whether you are someone who has been directly affected by divorce or you are an indie film enthusiast, I hope you find this web series engaging. Alex Fuller Writer/Director alexfullermedia.com |
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