Love Spreads is an exploration of the creative process when the pressure is mounting on band members to put together another album.
Following the end of their first tour, the members of Glass Heart head to Rockfield Studios to record their sophomore album. The trio–and their band manager–are couped up there in an effort to create some music. Like any sophomore effort, the pressure is on and for singer-songwriter Kelly (Alia Shawkat), it starts to become too much. Band manager Mark (Nick Helm) is frustrated with the lack of results.
While Kelly struggles to create, another band member has come up with several song ideas. However, there are really about 6-7 of those songs that could realistically work for the second album. Then there’s Alice, who has come up with some chord ideas. Meanwhile, Jess helps Kelly with writing some beats. Altogether, the songwriting process is a team effort. But at the end of the day, will it be enough to put together songs for the always-pressured second album?
This is a a film that I’m sure many creatives can resonate with at the moment. It’s mid-April and many of us have been couped up in quarantine for a month with no end in sight. I’ve looked at a blank page on a screen only to struggle when it comes to typing words. So yes, I can completely resonate with Kelly and I know I’m not alone in this regard.
I like what writer-director Jamie Adams is doing with the film. Writer’s block can be a serious problem. Now more than ever, there’s so much anxiety that it can become very problematic in overcoming. In exploring the creative process by way of a band, Adams looks at how the friendships can break down during the recording process.
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Jamie Adams
CAST: Alia Shawkat, Eliza Gonzalez, Chanel Cresswell, Nick Helm, Dolly Wells, Tara Lee
Love Spreads was scheduled to premiere during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight Narrative program. Grade: 3.5/5
http://www.solzyatthemovies.com/2020/04/22/tribeca-2020-love-spreads/
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a positive news story in challenging times. Filming is underway on a charitable, filmed-from-home pilot starring Brian Cox (Succession), Claes Bang (The Square) and journalist-presenter Mariella Frostrup, among others.
UK producer Maggie Monteith (Swimming With Men) has enlisted an all-female, transatlantic team of writer-directors for whodunnit The Agoraphobics Detective Society, whose proceeds will go to UK and U.S. film and TV freelancers impacted by coronavirus.
The pilot for the eight-episode show will see a distraught group of patients band together to find a renowned expert psychiatrist who disappears without explanation.
Also among actors filming their parts digitally from home during the lockdown are Ian Harvie (Transparent), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits), Antonia Campbell-Hughes (Kelly + Victor), Grace Van Patten (The Meyerowitz Stories), Nicole Ansari-Cox (Remember Me), Simon Kunz (The Parent Trap) and Josephine Butler (Doctors).
The pilot will be available to view later this month at the Pinpoint Presents site and viewers will be asked to donate what they can afford to view. Funds will go to the UK’s Film And TV Charity and the Motion Picture & TV Fund in the U.S.
The writer-directors of the pilot comprise Dolly Wells (Doll and Em), Suzi Ewing (10×10) and Heidi Greensmith (Winter).
The Souvenir and Swimming with Men’s David Raedeker is undertaking cinematography duties, Connor Hamill is looking after camerawork and Anousha Payne and Ryan Thomas are providing production design. Denise Coombes and Karen Bertellotti are handling costume design and Mandi Anderson is providing make-up and hair consultation.
Adelina Bichis and Gideon Gold are editing, and post-production services are provided by Pat Wintersgill at Film Shed and Nick Baldock of Art4Noise. Walter Mair is composer and is due to shortly reveal collaborations with U.S. artists for the soundtrack.
Producer Monteith told us about the project she originated, “The logistics of filming where people are sheltering in place was the toughest logistics problem to solve outside the mystery of international time zones. A bespoke solution was found for each actor, according to their phones, laptops and computers. A combination of downloadable apps and enhancements, and help delivered in the form of props, wardrobe, hair and makeup products and tech items, made it possible to get usable takes.”
Episode notes
Actors Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells join Anna Smith for a lively discussion about films, friendship, nostalgia, and the notion of ‘strong women’. The pair take us behind the scenes in their TV series Doll & Em, and talk about Good Posture, Dolly’s directorial debut starring Emily as a reclusive writer living in New York. Dolly also discusses Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Emily reveals the connection between The Newsroom and Doll & Em. The second of Girls On Film’s special ‘Isolation Pods’, this episode also features Doll and Em’s recommendations for home viewing, from family favourites to edgy new gems on streaming. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please review and subscribe to Girls On Film and considering supporting us by becoming a patron. www.patreon.com/girlsonfilmpodcast Thank you! Share your #homemovieposters created during quarantine at: www.twitter.com/girlsonfilm_pod www.facebook.com/girlsonfilmpodcast www.instagram.com/girlsonfilm_podcast/ Girls On Film is an HLA production, exec produced by Hedda Archbold and audio produced by Jane Long. This episode was recorded in April 2020.
https://podfollow.com/1439182513/episode/6f90de4846f7bc7ec913ee2440a87904fcbf3cae/view
