Why did I do this?

This is the question every filmmaker asks themselves at some point (or likely many points) during the process of making a film. Other questions like “Am I insane?” and “Is my therapist lying to me?” often follow. But still, the filmmaker carries on because what else is there to do? In for a penny. In for a pound.

DETENTION 101 is a film I created during the pandemic. Originally, it was just going to be a handful of talking head videos posted online and then I had the incredible notion I could actually make a feature film out of it and that was followed by the concept of releasing the film in two formats, a feature film AND a full 20+ episodes web series.

So why did I even begin the madness? Well, first off, I was frustrated for a number of reasons. First, I had been trying for years to get a project of mine, PINK MIST (now titled THE GHOST IN THE ATTIC) funded and was actually getting close to a first investor and then PANDEMIC!!! This was the plight of a number of indie films in 2020. I had already had four actors cast who were now left without a project.

Second, I was incredibly frustrated with what I was seeing in the world in terms of classism and privilege and I needed to get a lot of how I was feeling about that and other reactions to be trapped at home off my chest. And third, I just needed to make something.

I felt like I was stuck in seemingly never-ending home detention and I started thinking about THE BREAKFAST CLUB which is a film about classism in a high school also known as “cliques”. And so, an idea started to form in my mind. What if we are all being held in detention for some reason we don’t know about? What would an adult “breakfast club” look like?

And so I wrote DETENTION 101, straight from the heart in a stream of conscious manner. I wrote the entire piece in one sitting and then did one revision before the shoot began. Things, of course, changed in the editing room but on the whole this film is my varied perspectives, day to day on society shown from different vantage points of white people: the wealthy, the middle class, the blue-collar and the overly-righteous.

It’s done with a sense of humor that I used to keep myself sane through the pandemic and the process of making this film.

That was quite an adventure of itself. Next week, I’ll write more about that, but for now, click here for a behind the scenes look at the making of the film.