EMERGING NARRATIVES, REPRESENT.

I’m Melissa B. Miller the producer of The Tested which is part of the Emerging Narratives section at Independent Film Week. We completed the lab in June and are still absorbing all the wisdom, guidance, and feedback that was so generously handed down to us, so I anticipate by December, I’ll have a clear understanding of everything I’ll have experienced this week.

I’ve been a consistent introverted extrovert my whole life so taking meetings and socializing continues to be an agonizing pleasure for me. I’m extremely proud of The Tested, so atleast I know that when I talk about it, it will be from the heart.

The film, starring Aunjanue Ellis, Armando Riesco, and Frank Vincent, is about a plain clothes cop, who guns down an unarmed teen. The teen’s mother has spiraled into a pit of despair, while his brother flirts with ganglife. As the cop prepares to get back to work, the three realize they cannot find closure without the other. It explores themes of loss, revenge, and injustice, and I hope the film will spark a dialogue as I’ve seen it do in all of our test screenings. People have not been afraid to be vocal, some even shouting at the screen.

As we approach IFW, the director, Russell Costanzo, and I are actually looking forward to having no idea what to expect. We’ve carefully prepared press kits that include production notes, production stills, and projects we have in development, and gone over our schedule with militant precision. But we realize much of it will take on a life of its own and we just have to be ready for it.

IFP has graciously scheduled our very important, stress inducing industry meetings early in the morning after our Sunday night Rooftop Films Showcase and after-party, so I’ll be limiting my sipping of the juice.

All films can’t be for all people, so we’ve given a lot of thought to the festivals we think are a good fit, and will stalk the programmers accordingly. I’m not sure how you can miss a panel called Film Music: The Bastard Child of Post Production, so I’m going to make an effort to go to that one.

So, as I push myself through social anxieties – I toast to the coming week and to all of us in Emerging Narratives who have succeeded quite skillfully in making ten completely different films, and if you see me please come up and say hello (just don’t be offended if I run and hide behind the Step and Repeat).