A “hybrid” documentary featuring cast and crew members from a local professional theatre company gets its world premiere at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival on Monday, April 27 at the Palm Theatre.
The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville & Documentary (or TGAM&V&D for short) takes viewers “behind the curtain” to witness some rehearsals and performances during the Oceano company’s recent 50th anniversary season. It also incorporates a unique film structure that uses parody (inspired by the Melodrama itself) in service of the filmmaking.
The 23-minute short is the brainchild of director and screenwriter Eileen McNulty, a native of San Luis Obispo who now lives and works in the film industry in Los Angeles.
“Eileen reached out to me about the project for her UCLA grad school program,” according to Melodrama managing director Stacy Halvorsen. “Its focus would be on the actors’ experiences in the industry using the Melodrama as a background and style for the film.”
Halvorsen essentially opened up the theatre and let the filmmakers do their thing. “We conducted our process normally,” she says. “Eileen and her team coordinated everything for the film. We simply allowed access to the space and let them create.”
The intention, according to publicity materials for the film, was to communicate the community, creativity, and joy of live musical theater.
“Sitting with my grandmother, a soft pretzel, and a cup of nacho cheese during one of my trips home,” McNulty says, “I realized that The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville was the perfect setting to explore some of my personal questions about the form of documentary.”
McNulty attended St. Olaf College, and then the MFA program at UCLA, which pushed her to develop her instincts and technical skills. “Much of my learning in each of these places came from the mentors and cohorts that surrounded me,” she says, calling out colleagues Peter Becker Nelson and Kristy Guevara Flanagan (both SLOIFF alumni), Christopher Hager, and Kat Skibbe.
McNulty, who has several other short films on her CV, calls her work observational, but says it is still shaped by the technical choices she makes during the process. “I was searching for a unique film structure which could let the audience in on the constructed nature of the documentary while maintaining an earnest and essential sense of truth,” she says. “At the Melodrama, farce and parody are the packaging for earnest stories about friendship, family, love, and community.”
McNulty says she is lucky to have connected with the folks at the Melodrama. “Stacy is incredibly kind and insightful and puts enormous faith and support into the creative teams around her,” McNulty says. “Shortly afterwards, I got to meet Johnny Keating, the artistic director, who is a genius and funny as well. They were immediately excited about my vision for the film and handed over immense trust and support. I am so lucky to have found my way into that environment for this film.”
TGAM&V&D is headed to more festivals, McNulty says. “I finished the film to meet the SLO Film Festival submission deadline this year so the film’s journey is just getting started.”
Many filmmakers see making a short as a proving ground for making a longer, feature-length version of the story it tells, but McNulty is satisfied with this film’s 23 minutes. “There probably is a feature’s worth of footage from rehearsals and shows, but for this project I think this short is the perfect length.”
Premiering the film at the SLO Film Fest was always her goal. “I am so happy that the people featured in the film get a chance to see it and that I can share the film with loved ones,” she says. “I grew up in SLO and have really fond memories of discovering movie-going as an event through the programming at SLOIFF and punch cards at The Palm Theater. It is an incredible honor to be screening at the theater that shaped so much of who I am.”
McNulty wants to bring more of her projects to the Central Coast. “I live in Los Angeles but am consistently inspired by the filmmaking community on the Central Coast,” she says. “One great example of the talent and experimentation coming out of the arts community is [community film festival] MicroHorrors run by Katie Neville and Jason Kaiser.”
McNulty, as well as some of the Melodrama cast and crew who participated in the making of TGAM&V&D, plan to attend the film’s world premiere. In person, McNulty may even share how the crew encountered Helen, the ghost of the Melodrama, whom she claims was captured on film by her cinematographer Paloma Ronquillo.
“Films which look towards personal histories, cultural atmosphere, and poetic voice are central to my portfolio,” McNulty says. “Ultimately I want to make work that is brave and exciting. And fun!”
Editor’s Note: Read Charlotte Alexander’s review of The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville & Documentary which screens at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival this month.