Filmmakers Bring 'New Life' To Area
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
And proposed. And proposed. And proposed. And kept proposing even after the students left.
And every time he popped the question, Ava accepted, full of excitement. Then they got married in full dress, with a full bridal party, and drove off in a Rolls Royce.
It was just another day on the set of the movie “Nouvelle Vie/New Life,” directed and co-produced by Drew Waters (“True Detective,” “Bones,” “NCIS”), where scenes were being shot and reshot, from different angles, to get it right. Waters said Monday was week three, day 12 of a 21-day shoot.
“We’re on schedule so far,” Waters said between takes. “We’re making our schedule with a lot of help from the community and crew.”
Every day has been 12-hour days, he said, and they’ve been lucky with the weather so far. He said with the help and openness of the community and places like Grace College and the Village at Winona, the making of the film has been possible. Extras were cast locally, with some even having speaking parts. All the kids in Ava’s classroom were local except one who flew in from Washington to take part in it.
“I thought it was fun and kind of exciting,” said Harrison Lewis, 12, Winona Lake. “I’ve always wanted to be in a movie. Doing it made it fun.”
“Some of it was boring. When I was acting, it was more fun,” said Christian Lewis, 9, Winona Lake.
Waters said the film crew is from all over, from East to West Coast.
“We’re running about 76 (people) in this, and that’s not counting the cast. There are 39 speaking roles,” Waters said.
The movie stars Jonathan Patrick Moore (“The L.A. Complex”) as Morton and co-producer Erin Bethea (“Fireproof”) as Ava. At age 7, Morton found the love of a lifetime in his driveway – Ava, according to a synopsis of the film. As they grow up during a period of almost 30 years, their love grows and strengthens. When life takes an unexpected turn, Morton’s future is called into question.
“She is full of life,” Bethea said in describing Ava. “She’s a little bit sarcastic. She’s strong, but she’s got a big heart, she’s kind and fiery spirit. I wrote her, so I got to make her whatever I wanted her to be.”
Ava is the kind of girl that guys will think is fun and cool, while girls will identify with her and also think she’s fun, Bethea said. “I wanted to make her relatable.”
“Nouvelle Vie/New Life” is a love story so the proposal and wedding are a big part of that, she said. Proposals and weddings are a big part of anyone’s life, she said.
Bethea was very glad to finally be working on a film with scenes with Moore, too. They were both in the film “Christian Mingle the Movie” but didn’t have a scene together.
“I think Ben is a guy who is a fixer of things,” which can be a bit of a problem sometimes, Moore, 32, said of his role. Morton sometimes lets Ava down, but she’s great at bringing them back together, Moore said.
In the film, Morton also is working very hard at getting a family life together, but that can cause him to spread himself out and lose focus.
Moore, who’s originally from Australia but now lives in Los Angeles, said he can see himself in Morton a bit.
“I’m sensitive as he is, but I don’t cry as much. I can appreciate him trying to get everything in place toward a greater goal,” Moore said.
He said “Nouvelle Vie” is such a sad story, but also one about coming out of grief when something tragic happens. Moore said there’s not a lot one can say to a person when they’re dealing with grief while they’re going through it, but a story like the one in this movie might help them find a bit of peace.
“If it moves them, I think it’s a good thing,” Moore said.
“These are the kind of stories actors want to play because we’re so lucky we get to follow these actors for 30 years,” Moore said.
Designing the costumes for the movie over that course of 30 years is Anna Redmon, who also is a stylist in Nashville, Tenn., for a lot of country artists.
“I’ve worked with Erin before. I’ve worked with a lot of this crew before, a lot of them over and over,” Redmon said.
She said she and Bethea worked on the film “Alter Egos” together, but they also knew each other because they attended the same college.
“We’ve known each other for awhile, and we became fast friends, so when she had this movie she called me,” Redmon said.
For Ava alone, Redmon said there are almost 60 costumes. There are over 60 for Morton. She and her assistant, Sheena Winiarski, also have to oversee the costumes for all the extras.
“We will always approve every look on camera,” Redmon said.
The wedding was not the hardest to plan for, she said, because “weddings are actually pretty easy because everyone has a wedding.” The most difficult part of costume design are films with different time periods. “Nouvelle Vie” goes from the late 1980s to 2016, and Redmon said the ’80s were a horrible time for fashion because it was “non-descript and basic but not done very well.”
The costumes are a mix of clothes brought in and bought for the film.
“We have a huge stock of clothes we use for extras. I have a few vintage pieces I brought with me. I shop a lot,” Redmon said.
A blouse Bethea wore as Ava during the proposal scene was handmade by Redmon.
“I owned a clothing line for awhile, and that was from that,” she said.
In the proposal, Morton wears lavender and that color is carried over to the wedding scene. In a college scene, Ava is wearing a particular T-shirt, which she wears again when she’s sick.
“It connects you emotionally and you don’t realize it,” Redmon said of carrying a color or item throughout a movie.
Throughout the three decades depicted in the film, characters get injured, ill or age. Special effects makeup artist Alexander McPherson is in charge of making sure it all looks right. He said throughout the filming he does some very simple aging of the characters like graying of hair.
“There are several scenes where we’re doing special effects but some are more drastic than others,” McPherson said.
When he’s not working on special effects makeup, McPherson said he’s helping with the regular makeup.
“My dad did special effects so I’ve been doing this quite awhile,” he said, with the smaller film “Alter Egos” being a big job for him as he did the work of 10 people for it.
“It was pretty grueling but worth it,” he said.
On Monday, the film shooting included Morton proposing to Ava in her second-grade classroom in Mount Memorial Hall on the Grace College campus. By about 6 p.m., the filming moved over to First Presbyterian Church for the wedding.
For the wedding scene, Waters said Morton works at a limousine garage so they wanted a vehicle that could be found there that the character could fix up. “It’s a gesture of love to Ava without Ava knowing it,” Waters said.
When they got to Winona Lake to start the filming, Waters said they found a 1938 Rolls Royce.
Jerry DeTurk, retired Winona Lake postmaster, loaned the Rolls Royce to the film. He said it was the last Barker-built one. It has only 42,000 miles on it and is all original except the painting.
“I knew Dane (Miller) pretty well,” DeTurk said. “Every time I talked to Dane, we talked about (the Rolls Royce). He had a place in London two blocks away from where it was built. If Dane had planned this movie and planned a classic car, he would have planned this car.”
The rest of the film shooting, Waters explained, includes interior adult house scenes, then to Goshen for hospital scenes, back to Warsaw for some exterior building shots and finishing in Winona Lake.
When he first came to Winona Lake, Waters said he wasn’t familiar with Evangelist Billy Sunday getting his start in Winona Lake. The movie is a crossover between a mainstream love story and one of faith.
“It’s about life, love and hope,” Waters said, comparing it to a “modern ‘Notebook’” with lots of laughter, crying, anger and hope.
He also said Mary Louise and the late Dr. Dane Miller “were gracious enough to help us and be a big supporter of this. It’s the reason we were able to come and shoot this.”
Next to Waters’ director chair on the film set is a director’s chair for Mary Louise. Waters said he’s just glad to see her happy and excited about the film.
Waters said they were looking at showing the finished film at festivals first and then a commercialized release.
New York Times bestselling author Jim Stovall (“The Ultimate Gift”) is writing the novel version of the film. Waters said Stovall, who is blind, had his assistant read the script to him on a flight and he really liked it.
Follow “Nouvelle Vie/New Life” on Twitter and Instagram at @NouvelleV_movie; on Facebook at facebook.com/nouvelleviemovie; or the website at www.newlifethemovie.com[[In-content Ad]]
And proposed. And proposed. And proposed. And kept proposing even after the students left.
And every time he popped the question, Ava accepted, full of excitement. Then they got married in full dress, with a full bridal party, and drove off in a Rolls Royce.
It was just another day on the set of the movie “Nouvelle Vie/New Life,” directed and co-produced by Drew Waters (“True Detective,” “Bones,” “NCIS”), where scenes were being shot and reshot, from different angles, to get it right. Waters said Monday was week three, day 12 of a 21-day shoot.
“We’re on schedule so far,” Waters said between takes. “We’re making our schedule with a lot of help from the community and crew.”
Every day has been 12-hour days, he said, and they’ve been lucky with the weather so far. He said with the help and openness of the community and places like Grace College and the Village at Winona, the making of the film has been possible. Extras were cast locally, with some even having speaking parts. All the kids in Ava’s classroom were local except one who flew in from Washington to take part in it.
“I thought it was fun and kind of exciting,” said Harrison Lewis, 12, Winona Lake. “I’ve always wanted to be in a movie. Doing it made it fun.”
“Some of it was boring. When I was acting, it was more fun,” said Christian Lewis, 9, Winona Lake.
Waters said the film crew is from all over, from East to West Coast.
“We’re running about 76 (people) in this, and that’s not counting the cast. There are 39 speaking roles,” Waters said.
The movie stars Jonathan Patrick Moore (“The L.A. Complex”) as Morton and co-producer Erin Bethea (“Fireproof”) as Ava. At age 7, Morton found the love of a lifetime in his driveway – Ava, according to a synopsis of the film. As they grow up during a period of almost 30 years, their love grows and strengthens. When life takes an unexpected turn, Morton’s future is called into question.
“She is full of life,” Bethea said in describing Ava. “She’s a little bit sarcastic. She’s strong, but she’s got a big heart, she’s kind and fiery spirit. I wrote her, so I got to make her whatever I wanted her to be.”
Ava is the kind of girl that guys will think is fun and cool, while girls will identify with her and also think she’s fun, Bethea said. “I wanted to make her relatable.”
“Nouvelle Vie/New Life” is a love story so the proposal and wedding are a big part of that, she said. Proposals and weddings are a big part of anyone’s life, she said.
Bethea was very glad to finally be working on a film with scenes with Moore, too. They were both in the film “Christian Mingle the Movie” but didn’t have a scene together.
“I think Ben is a guy who is a fixer of things,” which can be a bit of a problem sometimes, Moore, 32, said of his role. Morton sometimes lets Ava down, but she’s great at bringing them back together, Moore said.
In the film, Morton also is working very hard at getting a family life together, but that can cause him to spread himself out and lose focus.
Moore, who’s originally from Australia but now lives in Los Angeles, said he can see himself in Morton a bit.
“I’m sensitive as he is, but I don’t cry as much. I can appreciate him trying to get everything in place toward a greater goal,” Moore said.
He said “Nouvelle Vie” is such a sad story, but also one about coming out of grief when something tragic happens. Moore said there’s not a lot one can say to a person when they’re dealing with grief while they’re going through it, but a story like the one in this movie might help them find a bit of peace.
“If it moves them, I think it’s a good thing,” Moore said.
“These are the kind of stories actors want to play because we’re so lucky we get to follow these actors for 30 years,” Moore said.
Designing the costumes for the movie over that course of 30 years is Anna Redmon, who also is a stylist in Nashville, Tenn., for a lot of country artists.
“I’ve worked with Erin before. I’ve worked with a lot of this crew before, a lot of them over and over,” Redmon said.
She said she and Bethea worked on the film “Alter Egos” together, but they also knew each other because they attended the same college.
“We’ve known each other for awhile, and we became fast friends, so when she had this movie she called me,” Redmon said.
For Ava alone, Redmon said there are almost 60 costumes. There are over 60 for Morton. She and her assistant, Sheena Winiarski, also have to oversee the costumes for all the extras.
“We will always approve every look on camera,” Redmon said.
The wedding was not the hardest to plan for, she said, because “weddings are actually pretty easy because everyone has a wedding.” The most difficult part of costume design are films with different time periods. “Nouvelle Vie” goes from the late 1980s to 2016, and Redmon said the ’80s were a horrible time for fashion because it was “non-descript and basic but not done very well.”
The costumes are a mix of clothes brought in and bought for the film.
“We have a huge stock of clothes we use for extras. I have a few vintage pieces I brought with me. I shop a lot,” Redmon said.
A blouse Bethea wore as Ava during the proposal scene was handmade by Redmon.
“I owned a clothing line for awhile, and that was from that,” she said.
In the proposal, Morton wears lavender and that color is carried over to the wedding scene. In a college scene, Ava is wearing a particular T-shirt, which she wears again when she’s sick.
“It connects you emotionally and you don’t realize it,” Redmon said of carrying a color or item throughout a movie.
Throughout the three decades depicted in the film, characters get injured, ill or age. Special effects makeup artist Alexander McPherson is in charge of making sure it all looks right. He said throughout the filming he does some very simple aging of the characters like graying of hair.
“There are several scenes where we’re doing special effects but some are more drastic than others,” McPherson said.
When he’s not working on special effects makeup, McPherson said he’s helping with the regular makeup.
“My dad did special effects so I’ve been doing this quite awhile,” he said, with the smaller film “Alter Egos” being a big job for him as he did the work of 10 people for it.
“It was pretty grueling but worth it,” he said.
On Monday, the film shooting included Morton proposing to Ava in her second-grade classroom in Mount Memorial Hall on the Grace College campus. By about 6 p.m., the filming moved over to First Presbyterian Church for the wedding.
For the wedding scene, Waters said Morton works at a limousine garage so they wanted a vehicle that could be found there that the character could fix up. “It’s a gesture of love to Ava without Ava knowing it,” Waters said.
When they got to Winona Lake to start the filming, Waters said they found a 1938 Rolls Royce.
Jerry DeTurk, retired Winona Lake postmaster, loaned the Rolls Royce to the film. He said it was the last Barker-built one. It has only 42,000 miles on it and is all original except the painting.
“I knew Dane (Miller) pretty well,” DeTurk said. “Every time I talked to Dane, we talked about (the Rolls Royce). He had a place in London two blocks away from where it was built. If Dane had planned this movie and planned a classic car, he would have planned this car.”
The rest of the film shooting, Waters explained, includes interior adult house scenes, then to Goshen for hospital scenes, back to Warsaw for some exterior building shots and finishing in Winona Lake.
When he first came to Winona Lake, Waters said he wasn’t familiar with Evangelist Billy Sunday getting his start in Winona Lake. The movie is a crossover between a mainstream love story and one of faith.
“It’s about life, love and hope,” Waters said, comparing it to a “modern ‘Notebook’” with lots of laughter, crying, anger and hope.
He also said Mary Louise and the late Dr. Dane Miller “were gracious enough to help us and be a big supporter of this. It’s the reason we were able to come and shoot this.”
Next to Waters’ director chair on the film set is a director’s chair for Mary Louise. Waters said he’s just glad to see her happy and excited about the film.
Waters said they were looking at showing the finished film at festivals first and then a commercialized release.
New York Times bestselling author Jim Stovall (“The Ultimate Gift”) is writing the novel version of the film. Waters said Stovall, who is blind, had his assistant read the script to him on a flight and he really liked it.
Follow “Nouvelle Vie/New Life” on Twitter and Instagram at @NouvelleV_movie; on Facebook at facebook.com/nouvelleviemovie; or the website at www.newlifethemovie.com[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092