Movies You Made: “Things To Keep”

Scott Myers

17 Mar 2014 • 4 min read

March is Movies You Made month at Go Into The Story where we feature the work of some independent filmmakers.

Today: Things To Keep.

Production notes from writer-director Jared M. Gordon:

My short film, Things to Keep (11 min.) was an official selection in the Bare Bones Film and Music Arts Festival and the Garden State Film Festivals in 2011. It’s about a young woman who leaves her platonic male best friend behind to go off to her dream school, but when she lands in big trouble there, she must extricate herself, for the first time in her life, without his help. I wrote and directed it.

We filmed the last scene on the beach in Rye, NY on Memorial Day weekend. There was a big police presence as well as the National Guard and Air Force, for various demonstrations for the local municipalities. As the actress was dressed in a cap and gown, I told the police at the beach barricade that we were simply shooting my friend’s graduation photos. They let us pass through to the beach, but warned us that an Air Force demonstration was imminent, and that if we weren’t off the beach by the time it began, due to security precautions, we’d be forced to remain out there on the beach for several hours. As my cast and crew had rehearsed the scene several times beforehand, we went in, shot it, and made it out in 25 minutes. We were seriously like Navy Seal Team Six. The police and military even waved us goodbye as we left. Very proud of that.

Written and Directed By
Jared M. Gordon

Produced By
Kathryn Sherburne

Cast (In Order of Appearance)
Kelsey Dorris played by Jamie Bock
Brandon Pierce played by Scott Kay
Barry Dorris played by Gary DeMattei
Tara Claymore played by Brittany Ritcher
Party Guests played by Caterina Amadeo, Andrea Cimino, Joanna Hellman, , Samantha Hyman, Cat Trzaskowski, Jesse Wagenberg, Andrew Wang, Walter Ward
Ari Wilson played by Stoddard Blackall
Steve Murray played by David Travers

Executive Producer
Wendy Gordon

Cinematography
Genya Lowell

Edited By
Thomas Corino

Art Direction
Brianna Cherrier

Production Design
Jennifer Houghton

Sound
Peter Yannantuono

Assistant Camera
Willa Mercer
Kyle Appel

Key Grip
Lawrence James

Production Assistants
Mina Knight
William Reisman

“Stone By Stone”
Written and Performed by Laura Vecchione

Here is the 10 minute movie Things To Keep:

I asked each of the filmmakers in this month’s series to answer this question: What inspired you about this particular story to make it a movie? Here is Jared’s response:

I believe that all of the best stories are coming of age stories. That counts whether your protagonist is 12, 30, 50, or 75, such as in the case of Pixar’s Up. In the case of Things to Keep, I wanted to tell a story about a young woman finding her courage and becoming a role model for herself. The idea of Kelsey’s (the protagonist) relationship with her best friend Brandon popped into my head while at a Mongolian barbecue place in Harvard Square. I wanted to tackle a relationship that wasn’t romantic and yet was still intimate. Brandon has a line in the film, “I know you better than a boyfriend could,” which epitomizes this idea. Kelsey is awkward and that lands her in trouble. But she’s not afraid to do the right thing, even after she’s left Brandon behind. He’s still with her, in his own way, inspiring her to do the right thing. As I teach screenwriting and production to undergraduates in Boston, I’m surrounded by a lot of people who are Kelsey’s age, most of whom are questing to define themselves, as the Wellsbury University application essay in the film implores Kelsey to do. Defining yourself, however, can be a lifelong process, and becoming is always more interesting than being.

In the case of my more recent Are You with Me, there’s an even more personal inspiration behind it:

Back in 2006, I received a frightening call. My Aunt Wendy, then 54, had fallen down some stairs and was in a hospital in New York. I was living in Massachusetts at the time and zipped down to her bedside.

Wendy and I had always had a tight relationship. So you can imagine how matters were complicated when it came out that she had fallen down the stairs after blacking out due to a bit too much cocaine. I, Wendy’s siblings, and my cousins were upset and hurt. However, I was surprised to discover the depths of the family’s anger.

“If she behaves this way, we’ll turn our back,” became the party line. “She has to choose: the drugs or her family.”

At Wendy’s bedside, I told her how hurt I felt and how colossally stupid I thought she had been. She said, “I can accept that. But you need to know that I don’t mean to stop. I don’t want help, I like my life, and I don’t want to change anything.”

Then, as I’m assuming that both of us had the rest of the family in mind, she asked me something I’ll never forget: “Will you turn your back with the rest of them, or are you with me?”

I told her, “You’re an adult. You’ll do these things whether I want you to or not. But I can’t judge you. I’m with you, Wen. Even if you’re an asshole.”

She liked that.

The family was upset with me, some going far enough to accuse me of undermining their “plan” to make her quit. They didn’t understand that Wendy was Wendy, and that she wasn’t going to quit whether we cut contact or not. Given that, while I didn’t endorse her life choices, I certainly wanted to maximize whatever time with her that I had left.

Wendy and I continued a strong relationship until she passed away suddenly last August, due to natural, non-drug-related causes. She was 62.

What’s a lesson I took from the experience? That it’s okay to be unpopular if you choose the right thing. That people who make bad decisions need love and forgiveness, not vengefulness and victimization.

Are You with Me is about a driven, angry young woman who, after a night babysitting a difficult child with a secret, comes to forgive her addict younger brother for invading her privacy and hiding drugs in her room. It’s dedicated to Wendy.

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