North Pointe Hosts Red Carpet Event For 'New Life'
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Not since “American Teen” in 2008 has Warsaw had a red-carpet movie event like Thursday night’s for “New Life (Nouvelle Vie).” There was a red carpet for cast and crew to walk, fans seeking autographs and selfies, and area media conducting interviews and taking photos. Before the film was shown in several of North Pointe Cinemas’ theaters, VIPs got to socialize with the cast and crew. The film was shot primarily in Warsaw, Winona Lake and Goshen in 2015. Those attending the event last night were some of the first people to see the finished product before it rolls out to theaters in October across the nation. “New Life” is a love story about hope. Benjamin Morton’s life changes forever when he meets the little girl next door, Ava. From their childhood and into adulthood, their love grows. When life takes an unexpected turn, their future together is called into question. Jonathan Patrick Moore plays Morton as an adult. “I love it. I knew it was a special film when we were making it, and I think we pulled off something really beautiful. It’s romantic, it’s hard, it’s heartfelt. It’s really great. I’m really happy with it,” Moore said on the red carpet. He said returning to the place where it was shot makes the premiere even more special. “Winona Lake and Warsaw and Goshen, the whole area, really turned it on for us and gave a lot to the film, so it’s really special to be back here and say thank you with this night,” Moore said. When creator and director Drew Waters arrived, he spoke loudly so everyone there could hear him. “Thanks to the people behind me, we were able to bring this movie to Winona Lake and Warsaw, Indiana, and we can’t thank everyone in this town enough to give us the opportunity to do so,” he said. “... This is a very passionate and personal piece for me. Thanks to this beautiful woman (Mary Louise Miller) right here, and I say this from the bottom of my heart: She believed in us, she believed in this story and she believed we needed to get this story out to touch people.” In an interview later, Miller said, “It’s a movie that everybody must see. It’s a wonderful love story, so I hope the world can see it.” Her late husband, Biomet co-founder Dr. Dane Miller, “loved this movie as much as I did,” she said. “That’s why we did it. He loved the story the minute he heard it. And then when Drew said he wanted it to be in Winona Lake, we wanted to do that, too.” Later in an interview, Waters said in the last year he’s been really trying to flesh out the story. “It’s so funny. You write a story, you shoot a story and then you edit a story. It goes through three different stages. So the last year has really been fleshing out the true story and the honest side of the story, what we wanted to tell to the audience so they could understand it better and also so they could leave the theater with a direction, maybe a positive outlook and direction. “So we’ve been really working hard with a lot of incredibly talented people throughout this industry to make that happen. And tonight, we held our promise and stayed true to it, and we would not want to show it anywhere else for the first time to a large audience like this than Winona Lake and Warsaw where they allowed us to come in and make this movie. This movie could not have turned out as well as it did without the community getting involved, and they did an amazing job. This movie has reaped the benefits from it. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts,” Waters said. Along with playing the adult Ava, Erin Bethea also co-wrote and co-produced “New Life.” She said since its filming last year, she’s only been concentrating on the movie. “It’s been quite a journey. We’ve been focusing on this movie and getting it perfect for you guys to see, and getting it ready for release this fall. Very excited for people to see it and that’s pretty much our whole lives. Drew and I have been living and breathing it,” Bethea said. She said showing the movie for the first where it was shot was more nerve wracking than its fall release will be. “On one hand it’s a relief because we feel like hopefully people will love the movie anyway because it was shot in their town and they will see people and things they’re familiar with, but on the other hand we owe it to the community to make sure they look good and tell a good story and they have a personal stake in this film. So we want to make sure they’re happy with what they’re seeing, so it’s definitely nerve wracking but also I don’t know if it will get more exciting than this,” she said. Up until this point, Bethea said they really haven’t done any national advertising for the film, it’s all been social media and word of mouth. “We’re starting a ‘New Life’ moment movement with MudLOVE where people can buy ‘New Life’ bracelets and help us promote the movie and also help give back to some amazing charities. And we’re just focusing on getting this theatrical, determining what cities we’re going to go into and getting the word out,” she said. Nickolaus Schnetzky, 7, plays the youngest version of Ben Morton. “It was really fun,” he said. Asked what he liked best about making the movie, he said, “Meeting new friends and being in the movie.” Playing teenage Ben Morton in the movie was Devin Dawson. “It was incredible. It really was. It was the highlight of my summer. I had a lot of fun with it,” he said of the experience. “The movie itself really has a great message. It taught me to always look up when you’re going through something hard, and it tells you there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. It’s great,” Dawson said. Sophia Ntovas, from a suburb outside of Chicago, is teen Ava in “New Life.” She said that while she’s done films before, it was her biggest supporting role so far for a film. “This film is my favorite project I’ve worked on. The story itself, the director, and everything, it really was a passionate project. From it being written from a really heartfelt place to all the actors and crew working on it for that same reason, I think that’s something that really drew me to it initially and it came through in the end,” Ntovas said. Cast as Sara in the film was Mary Clemens. “She’s the wife of the cancer patient played by Barry Corbin,” Mary said of her character. “He’s very ornery. It was a bit of a challenge because when I read the script it said I should be nice, and my reality is that I would be normal and challenge him and keep him in line. It was fun.” Mariah Kindschy, 18, was an extra in the film. She didn’t walk the red carpet, but stood along it to greet the cast and crew to get autographs and selfies. “It was really cool to experience the different parts of making the movie,” she said. “We’re really excited (to see it). It looks like it’s going to be really good.” Halle Hudson, 12, also was an extra. “It was really amazing. I love acting so it was just really cool to see how they put it together and took a long time to shoot the one scene, but it was so worth it,” Hudson said.
