Movies You Made: “Layover”
Want to see what kind of movie you can make for $6,000? Check out Layover, written and directed by Joshua Caldwell. Here is some background on the movie which is being self-released on VOD as of today:
Joshua Caldwell is an accomplished director, writer, producer, former digital exec and MTV Movie Award winner. He has worked with a number of high profile producers, including CSI: creator Anthony E. Zuiker, for whom he produced Cybergeddon the online global motion picture event for Yahoo! and directed all of the film’s ancillary content for the immersive website. His award-winning short film Dig, starring Mark Margolis of Breaking Bad, was featured in numerous film festivals. He’s directed episodes of Welcome to Sanditon, the new series from the creators of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Furrocious, a webseries for Discovery Channel Online. Most recently, released his latest short film Resignation and his debut feature film Layover had its World Premiere at the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival where it was nominated for the New American Cinema Award.
LAYOVER: In this French-language feature film debut from writer/director Joshua Caldwell, Simone (Nathalie Fay) is a young Parisian en route to her wedding in Singapore. But when the airline cancels her connecting flight, she’s forced to spend the night in Los Angeles. She decides to make the best of it and contact an old acquaintance, Juliette (Bella Dayne), who is going through a rough patch in her marriage. Invigorated by her friend’s arrival, Juliette insists on taking Simone out for a night of club-hopping. With little regard for her friend, Juliette soon disappears with a stranger, leaving Simone stranded downtown without a ride. When an attractive motorcyclist (Karle Landler) appears and offers her a ride, Simone cautiously accepts, leading to an evening of adventure that results in her questioning her life’s direction and, ultimately, if she’s truly ready to make her connection in the morning.
“Gorgeous and hypnotic, writer-director Joshua Caldwell’s feature film debut, Layover, invites favorable comparisons to the early films of the French New Wave. Needing little more than a beautiful woman, a mysterious man, and a fast motorcycle to conjure the experience of fleeting youth,Layover is an exercise in visual storytelling that will make you remember why you fell in love with the movies.” — SIFF Program
“Layover is a film in the tradition of Linklater’s Before series, and I found that it perfectly captured the paradox encountered by many a millenial: feeling trapped, while also realizing that the possibilities for your life are still endless. It’s a beautiful, moving, and wistful film.” — David Chen, Slashfilm.com
In an exclusive arrangement for Go Into The Story, you may go here to download a scene from the script for Layover. Compare to the movie version of the scene here [password: layoveropen]:
Here is the trailer:
As a special deal for GITS readers, you can download the movie and get $1 off by going here. And if you go here, you get $1 off the DIY bundle which includes commentary, interviews and anatomy of a scene videos.
I’ve known Joshua almost as long as I’ve been hosting the blog. In fact if you go here, you can read a Dispatch from the Front Line written by Joshua back in 2011. I’m happy to support his creativity and persistence.
Layover is a testament to getting out there and making a movie. In fact, Joshua has an initiative for low-budget filmmakers which you can read about on the Black Board here.
Declare Your Independents and support filmmakers like Joshua and movies like Layover.