{"id":9511,"date":"2012-06-30T03:02:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-30T10:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=9511"},"modified":"2012-06-30T16:22:01","modified_gmt":"2012-06-30T23:22:01","slug":"sierra-madre-filmmaker-screens-latest-work-at-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=9511","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Madre Filmmaker Screens Latest Work at Playhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Crowd at Sierra Madre Playhouse for screening of Not That Funny<\/p><\/div>\n

Posted 6\/29\/12 –\u00a0<\/em>On Sunday, June 24th<\/sup>, a special screening of the award winning feature film Not That Funny<\/em> was held at the Sierra Madre Playhouse as a thank you to the town, its residents and its businesses.\u00a0 Mary\u2019s Market, The Buccaneer, Sierra Madre Pizza Company, Bean Town Coffee House and Four Seasons Tea Room all provided food and beverage for the enjoyment of the attendees of the special event.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe had the screening in Sierra Madre \u00a0to thank the businesses that let us film in their spaces,\u201d said writer\/director Lauralee Farrer, \u201cthe Four Seasons, Mary\u2019s, Bean Town, the hardware store, Arnold\u2019s, oh my gosh that guy was so welcoming and hospitable and easy going\u2026 They brought food and kept thanking us for inviting them, as if we were doing them the favor. ..that\u2019s the kind of relationship you want to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Farrer is no stranger to Sierra Madre.\u00a0 She has lived on Alegria for eleven years.\u00a0 This is the third film she has made in town, the first two being documentaries that she also produced.\u00a0 Laundry and Tosca<\/em> about a woman\u2019s lifelong journey to become a professional opera singer, and The Fair Trade\u00a0<\/em>about a woman who makes a bargain with God seeking a \u201ca life worth living.\u201d \u00a0Ms. Farrer was kind enough to sit down with us for an interview, and we\u2019ll be publishing that soon, in a separate article.\u00a0 Much of this film was shot in Sierra Madre, and unlike most productions that are filmed here, which feature a fictional town name, this film claims Sierra Madre as its location, with one of the main characters<\/p>\n

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Brandon Lippard, Director of Photography and Lauralee Farrer, Writer\/Director of Not That Funny, photo courtesy of Boulevard Pictures<\/p><\/div>\n

at one point noting of the female lead, Hayley, that Sierra Madre is where she grew up, and \u201csuch memories have unimaginable power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayley is played by Brigid Brannagh, one of the stars of Army Wives<\/em> on the Lifetime Channel, and formerly of CSI<\/em>.\u00a0 Tony Hale, of HBO\u2019s Veep<\/em> and formerly on Arrested Development <\/em>\u00a0is the male lead, Stefan, a single man who rents an apartment from Hayley\u2019s grandmother Toogey, played by K Callan of TBS\u2019 Meet the Browns<\/em>.\u00a0 Ms. Callan also played Dean Cain\u2019s mom in Lois and Clark, the New Adventures of Superman<\/em>.\u00a0 Toogey (who in the movie lives on Alegria, in the real life home of writer\/director Farrer ), is a widow facing declining health and mental capacity.\u00a0\u00a0 Hayley, who has been out in the business world trying to become \u201cherself\u201d, returns home for a visit with Toogey, and must confront the reality of her Grandmother\u2019s situation, to the chagrin of her overbearing boyfriend O\u2019Neill, played by Timothy V. Murphy (Sons of Anarchy, Criminal Minds<\/em>).\u00a0 \u00a0Stefan, who has heard Toogey talk about her granddaughter for years (\u201cI\u2019ve heard a thousand stories\u201d), is immediately smitten.\u00a0 Until now, Stefan had been, in his words \u201calone, but not lonely.\u201d\u00a0 The rest of the movie revolves around his attempts to woo her, even attempting to be funny because he thinks that\u2019s what she wants, and discovering that he\u2019s really \u201cNot that Funny\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0Along the way, all three characters confront truths about themselves that they might prefer not to face, ultimately coming to understand the people that they really<\/em> are.<\/p>\n

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Scene from "Not That Funny" filmed at Mary's Market, photo courtesy of Boulevard Pictures<\/p><\/div>\n

But for\u00a0 Sierra Madre residents, the film\u2019s locations will undoubtedly be the stars they recognize most.\u00a0 Mary\u2019s Market, Bean Town, Arnold\u2019s Frontier Hardware, St. Rita’s, and Moe\u2019s Automotive all have multiple scenes in the movie, with Mary\u2019s Market even being cited as a daily stop for Toogey, as well as the setting of a dinner date for Stefan and Hayley in a pivotal scene.\u00a0 The beautiful patio of Four Seasons Tea Room with strings of lights overhead, is the site of another pivotal scene in the movie featuring Stefan and his good friend Kevork, played by John Kapelos, probably best known for his work in three John Hughes\u2019 films, The Breakfast Club<\/em>, Sixteen Candles<\/em> and Weird Science<\/em>. \u00a0St. Rita’s is shown in several scenes, both in semi-distant shots which display its dramatic architecture and in closeup shots of its stained windows; there’s even a shot of the plaque commemorating its construction. \u00a0The Buccaneer is also featured a couple of times, along with Sierra Juice, and there are numerous outside shots of Alegria, Baldwin Ave., Kersting Court and Sierra Madre Blvd.<\/p>\n

One of the scenes featuring Kersting Court is a melancholy reminder that nothing in life is permanent, as the pepper tree that stood for more than a hundred years in Kersting Court has been removed since the film\u2019s shooting.\u00a0 Another reminder: Sierra Madre Books and Harlequin Gallery are both seen in the movie, neither of which remains in business any more.<\/p>\n

Nora Graham of Sierra Juice is seen as herself in a couple of scenes, as is Moe Marshall of Moe\u2019s Automotive (albeit as an employee, not the owner).\u00a0 Nikki Stevens, bartender at the Buccaneer, and \u00a0Carolyn Dapper of Mary\u2019s Market also appear briefly, as does Sierra Madre\u2019s adopted favorite dog, Squirrel (yes, she made the credits), sitting in the lap of Buccaneer patron \u201cLA Times Bob\u201d Woolson.<\/p>\n

Not That Funny<\/em> does not yet have a distribution deal, but hopefully the positive response it is receiving in film festivals will help to change that, with the film having won audience awards in two of the three Festivals in which it has been shown.\u00a0 It won the Audience Award, Best US Film Feature Award at the 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival, and the Audience Favorite Award at the Rainier Independent Film Festival.\u00a0 It is scheduled to be featured at the Fandana Film Festival at Huntington University in Indiana in August, and at the Port Townsend Film Festival in Washington, in September.<\/p>\n