‘HOMETOWN’ HORROR
LOCAL DUO LOOK TO MAKE FRIGHT FLICK IN MEDIA BORO
MEDIA » Did you ever view or drive through a city or town and think, “This would be a great place to make a horror film?”
That’s exactly what friends Jeff Ayars and Omri Dorani did while spending time in Media. They felt that the county seat would be the perfect setting for the horror film that they dreamed of making. Now, they’re asking for local residents’ help and support in making their dream film become a reality.
Ayars grew up in Media, graduated from Penncrest High School and Cornell University, and works as a creative lead at NBC-Universal in New York City. Dorani grew up in Lower Merion, graduated from the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr and the Art Institute of California, and is a full-time director of commercials and independent films. When Dorani was working on a film project seven years ago, he put an ad on Craigslist to seek actors and Ayars responded. The two guys became fast friends and have collaborated on film projects ever since.
“We clicked immediately,” Dorani remembered. “We both had the same creative perspective on life.”
After working on many projects together, Ayars and Dorani joined forces with actress Simone Policano of New York City, a graduate of Yale University, and experienced script writer Robert Harmon of Los Angeles, an alumnus of Southeastern University, to collaborate on the proposed horror film, “This is Our Home.”
In order to bring “This is Our Home” to “Everybody’s Hometown,” the co-creators need people to visit their Seed and Spark film page at https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/thisis-our-home and hit the “follow” button. Viewers can also watch a brief film trailer on the site, where they’ll likely identify a few Media landmarks and read more about the project. The “follows” are needed before the deadline of Oct. 13 in order to win a contest that could be crucial to the future of the film.
Seed and Spark is an artsy/business crowdfunding site where filmmakers can stream clips of their films to gain human and capital investment in their projects. With still over a week to go until their deadline, the “This is Our Home” film crew has already surpassed their goal of raising $7,500 through the site. The film makers are offering creatively fun and spooky incentives to those who donate, including acting as an associate producer of the film, photoshopping the donor into their favorite horror movie poster, using Ayars’ gift of mimicry to deliver a special or scary voice message, allowing the donor to be an extra in the film and an opportunity for the donor’s name to appear in the film credits.
By gathering “follows,” Ayars and Dorani hope to catch the interest and backing of Duplass Brothers Productions in a “Hometown Heroes” contest that runs until Oct. 13. Owners/filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass have joined with the crowdfunding platform Seed and Spark, to search for new filmmaking talent. The Duplass Brothers will choose five winning feature film projects from those entered and then contribute up to $25,000 total in production costs, as well as back each project with their inside knowledge and industry clout to further help each project on its path to the big screen. Mark and Jay Duplass will serve as executive producers of the five chosen films.
According to Dorani, “This is Our Home” has been consistently running in the top ten submissions on the site, out of hundreds of entries, since the contest started on Sept. 12. He said that he receives daily e-mail updates of their status.
Winners of the Hometown Heroes contest will be announced on Nov. 1. The initiative specifically encourages filmmakers to make their movies using their local community and resources in order to foster bright new talent and tell truly diverse American stories.
“At Duplass Brothers Productions, we’re committed to expanding the storytelling universe and empowering the next generation of creators,” Mark Duplass said recently in an official statement. “Seed&Spark presented us with an opportunity to do just that, as well as support local sustainability across the country. We’re excited to provide this opportunity through the Hometown Heroes campaign to enable filmmakers to get a Hollywood opportunity by building their careers right where they are.”
Ayars has previously worked with Dorani and has collaborated with lead actress Policano on a variety of projects, including one featured at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Ayars, Dorani, Policano and Harmon formed a natural team of creativity and vision for the new project. Between them, the four principals have made dozens of indie short films. “This is Our Home” is a horror story built upon relationships.
“What could be scarier than human relationships?” Dorani asked in a recent interview. “Through the heightened torment of our couple, we’ll explore the nuances of relationships and the terrifying nature of fully trusting another person.”
The story uses the lens of horror to tell a surreal tale about a young woman trapped with her fiancée in her childhood home, exposing the terrifying nature of sharing all of oneself with another person.
“My writing partner and I wanted to use horror to explore the anxieties in modern relationships. Our goal was to make a relationship psychodrama, where the scenarios would be heightened, surreal and scary, but the core issues themselves would be relatable to our indecisive, swipehappy generation,” Dorani explained. “We knew that we wanted a strong and dynamic female lead and we were aware of Simone and Jeff’s work in New York, where the two have collaborated on nearly a dozen projects over the past year. When it came time to get serious about this idea, we didn’t cast Simone and Jeff, we wrote the script around them. The two have the ability to be as bitingly funny as they do deadly serious — exactly the two people that we want to trap inside a house with the cameras rolling.”
The film team members chose Media because, as Ayars’ hometown, they were used to hanging out there. According to Ayars, he grew up in an “old spooky 1700s farmhouse” in Media, the perfect setting for the film. Through their almost decade-long friendship, Ayars and Dorani shot several home movies in the woods around the Delaware County area. Although they are unsure at this point, which landmarks and scenery around Media will be featured in the film since much of its setting will take place in the house, Dorani said recognizable local people and places will definitely be a part of the end product.
“There’s a thickness in the air here in Media, that is hard to explain,” Dorani stated. “Media has an energy that we want to share visually with others. You can feel it, even if you are just passing through the town, there’s something unusual about it that is different than anywhere else.”
When the actual film is shot, Dorani will act as director/scriptwriter/ producer, Ayars will be producer and lead actor, Policano will be producer and lead actress and Harmon will be scriptwriter/ producer. The film’s musical score will be put together by Kris Camire of L.A. Although, according to Dorani, they are all horror film fans, it is the content and theme of “This Is Our Home” that connects the group, not the horror genre.
“We’re so excited by the prospect of making ‘This is Our Home’ in my hometown and showcasing the beautiful character of Media and its surrounding areas,” said Ayars.
“We’ve had a ton of support from this area,” Dorani said last week. “People in small, vibrant towns like Media get very excited for any kind of exposure because they have a lot of hometown pride. It’s not the same when you make a film in New York or L.A. These towns don’t possess the same interesting aspect as unique towns like Media. There’s something going on here, a heightened energy and engagement, that you’d have a tough time finding anywhere else.”
Noting Media, is also ‘America’s First Fair Trade Town,’ Ayars said that the team would like to heighten awareness and support local businesses with their prop, wardrobe, and food purchases. Ayars, half of the Cannibal Milkshake comedy duo, performs live sketch comedy at New York City venues. He said that he caught the acting/screenwriting bug at Cornell and saw his first, self-produced short featured in the Philadelphia Film Festival in 2011. He credits Penncrest teacher and author Jim Zervanos and Sharon Sweeney, now assistant principal, and many Indian Lane Elementary teachers, with indulging and inspiring his creative pursuits.
“This Is Our Home,” according to Dorani, will be about 90 minutes in length and hopefully completed and ready to show by summer 2018.
“Horror films always explode in the summer,” Dorani remarked with a smile.
According to Dorani, even if, for some reason, “This Is Our Home” does not make it to the top five in the Duplass Brothers’ competition, the local film crew will still go ahead with their project, thanks to the money raised through their Seed and Spark campaign.
“We’re in a very lucky situation because we still have enough money to make the film and to show it at film festivals if we end up in the top five or not, explained Dorani. “Although don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing that we would love more than to have the Duplass Brothers’ support, knowledge and backing. They would take the film to a whole other level, for sure. However, the beauty of this day and age is that, just a small bit of seed money, will still allow us to follow our passion. We are very excited to bring more recognition to Media, everybody’s hometown. Media is a town built and thriving on relationships. We knew we had to make this film here, in order for it to feel real.”