Catching Up: Bucks County resident looking to make SHOUT film ABOUT ‘UNIQUE’ SUBJECT CLOSE TO HIS HEAUT
- Bill Muscular
LANdHORNE Crossland has Dystrophy.
Now that that’s out of the way, he’d like to let everyone know what he’s up to. And what the Langhorne resident is up to, specifically, is raising funds for, writing, producing and starring in a short film about, well, about a disabled man who falls in love and how to handle it.
“Catching rp,” a normal, everyday situation that happens to someone most folks don’t consider normal. Through the story he hopes to entertain and also show the public that people like him go through the same things as everyone else. They just go through it in a wheelchair.
The main character, Frank, depends on a wheelchair, like Bill does. He falls in love with an “able-bodied” woman, Bill said, and leans on his best friend, who is also disabled, for advice.
“[The two main charactersz have very different views on what it is to live with a disability,” Crossland said. “It’s about them trying to navigate a world that wasn’t created for them.”
The situation the main character lives with makes “Catching rp” at least somewhat autobiographical, Crossland said. He’s had feelings similar to the ones his character experiences. Still, Crossland said he “created” the story and that he didn’t “live” it.
“It’s based on some experiences, some feelings and thoughts I’ve had in my life,” Crossland said. “I wrote the story. It’s not like I translated it directly from my life. Some of the thoughts and feelings are very real to me, but I made the story behind it.”
Crossland, 24, graduated from Temple with a degree in film and media arts. He wanted to make something he feels is lacking: a realistic movie based around a disabled main character.
“I realized that movies about disabled characters didn’t do it for me,” said Crossland, who started writing the movie about a year ago. “Obviously most of them are made by people who haven’t lived that experience. I felt like it was time to take a more realistic, down-to-earth, candid look at the subject.”
Crossland hopes to enter “Catching rp” into film festivals, with the ultimate dream being the short film receiving enough positive attention to make it into a full-length feature that the writer thinks would set itself apart from others with similar storylines.
“Some films sort of mocked disability,” Crossland said, adding that some movie makers intentionally make fun of the disabled, while others don’t. “I don’t take that stuff personally, I just am not a fan of offensive humor in general.”
His story is characterdriven and offers a look into lives that Crossland feels hasn’t been seen before. He isn’t looking to make an audience cry. To quote a cliché, Crossland just wants his movie to keep it real.
“There are plenty of movies about ‘normal’ characters that explore their lives, their relationships, interests, flaws, challenges,” Crossland said. “Why can’t we take a character who happens to be disabled and do the same thing? We don’t have to show him learning how to write with his feet to make audiences cry. It’s just about the very real challenges of living day to day life with a certain condition.”
Crossland used experiences in his own life to round out the film. He has experienced what he terms “romantic missteps” in his life, which will resonate with audiences.
“I feel it’s relatable to everyone,” Crossland said. “We’ve all been through it.”
What Crossland needs now is financial assistance. Specifically, he needs $3,500 to complete the project after putting as much of his own money into it as possible. To make up the monetary difference, he’s gone to kickstarter.com, a website designed to help independent artists fund their projects. To give Crossland a hand, visit the site and search Catching rp.