A locally produced independent film is set to make its debut Saturday at Hearst Castle. It’s based on a local writer's personal experience with dementia.
Local Psychologist Steve Brody has a history of writing. He has previously tackled television news and has even authored a few books.
Now, he said he was inspired by his family to become a screenwriter. After seeing his brother write some scripts, and his mother battle dementia, Brody wanted to tell his own stories.
“My mother also had what's called Lewy Body dementia with Lewy body, which is very common along with Alzheimer's,” Brody said.
In his new film “Hidden Creek," the protagonist struggles with that same diagnosis. Lewy Body Dementia typically causes people to have problems with thinking, movement, behavior and mood.
Brody said in his personal experience, his mother was beginning to distrust the people around her. He wanted to show the film’s audience what that looked like.
“The person that has the dementia begins to suspect things are happening around him that he does not understand and suddenly these keys are missing or he can't find something or people, you know, you get kind of paranoid because he can't figure out what's happening. So he thinks people are plotting against him or her,” Brody said.
The main character is a rancher on the central coast.
Brody said the point of view switches in the film, from the rancher struggling with the diagnosis to his children who are taking care of him.
“From the hero's point of view people are conspiring around him. Midway through the film, the point of view shifts and you see it from the family’s point of view, which is the old guy’s losing it and we got to preserve the ranch. And so they're hiding his keys and trying to make a deal to sell the ranch, etc,” Brody said.
Brody said writing and creating this film was serendipitous. He got some funding from Steve Hearst – who is an old friend – but still had to find filmmakers to partner with.
Another friend told Brody she had recently seen Christmas Couple Unwrapped…
That film is by local filmmakers Darian Jewel and Julian Mercado Avila. Brody’s friends encouraged him to approach these recent film school grads.
“We would have never met Steve if we didn't shoot the Christmas movie we shot,” Mercado Avila said.
He and Jewel met in Middle School when they made their first film together at the YMCA youth institute in Cambria.
“From there we kind of just we kept doing it every summer until the program ended and at that point, we're like juniors in high school. So we got together put a small team together during our senior year in high school and created a feature then too,” Mercado Avila said.
They eventually moved to Burbank together to attend film school and returned to Cambria to make the Christmas movie. After its debut, Brody reached out to them.
“He says I have a script, I have this much money. What do you think? Can we do it and we're like, sure,” Mercado Avila laughed.
Once Jewel and Mercado Avila signed onto the project, it was a done deal. Brody knew he could finish creating the film.
Tickets for the Hidden Creek premiere are on sale now, with prices ranging from $60 to 120.
Pricier tickets include wine socials before and after the showing and a personal meet and greet with cast and crew members.
Proceeds from the event will go towards promoting the film and its expenses.
You can watch the “Hidden Creek” trailer, here.
The KCBX Arts Beat is made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation, San Luis Obispo County.
