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The Girls Making Ghost Town by Doniphan Blair
Debra in a scene from 'Ghosttown'. photo: Jennifer Juelich
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FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, AS
the world awoke to issues of gender identity, it is often important to look back on a time when expressing one’s identity wasn’t accepted as it is now. Even though it continues to be challenging for many to open up to family and friends, there was a time in the not-so-distant past, when it was entirely unwelcomed by many, especially in rural America and that is theme of an ambitious short film now in pre-production.
Written and directed by local Bay Area filmmaker Jennifer Juelich and co-produced by actor Kari Wishingrad, “Ghost Town” tells a story of a woman, Angie, who returns to her hometown after 30 years and reconnects with a childhood friend, forcing her to question her life, love and sexual preference.
The film opens with Angie and her husband Gary attending her mother's funeral, and the sadness and uneasiness that involves, but soon involves Angie’s childhood friend, Zoey, with whom she had a secret, adolescent affair.
It was a relationship that Angie herself had initiated but ended, due to the era's climate of intolerance, and, after moving away, repressed in exchange for a safe, conventional life. Zoey ultimately confronts Angie about that choice and what it may have cost her emotionally.
Even though baby boomers enjoyed an era promoting individuality and sexual expression, not all were able to embrace that ideal. “Ghost Town” explores those themes of reaching middle age and reflecting on youthful decisions, choices often shaped by fear of retribution.
Juelich and Wishingrad feel their film is unique in that it focuses on a time when society's view on sexuality were changing, yet many still felt the weight of an earlier morality, especially in certain parts of the country. Their hope is to expose how intolerance and bigotry of a community can often create a lifelong fear for those most vulnerable.
Another scene from 'Ghosttown'. photo: Jennifer Juelich
Hoping to create a visual poem for those who have lost their way, "Ghost Town" is their first film as co-producers but have worked together on many films as writer/director and actor. They met when Juelich was casting a supporting role for her feature film “Neon Sky”, a local indie hit about a traveling carnival family, and Wishingrad ended up getting a part.
When Juelich brought her the script for “Ghost Town” several years back, Wishingrad found it compelling and immediately wanted to play the character of Zoey and, eventually, decided to co-produce as well.
Juelich has a degree in creative writing and has written and directed six shorts (“Legacy”, “An Honest Man”, “Cross Town”, “Northern Lights” and “Airspace”) and two features (“Love Doll” and “Neon Sky”). They have been accepted in several film festivals, including the local Sonoma International Film Festival, Tiburon Film Festival and most recently the San Francisco Indie Film Festival. She has also authored many short stories, given fiction is a true loves, and recently attended the Squaw Valley Screenwriter’s Workshop.
Wishingrad began her performing career at an early age, having grown up in New York City, attended a performing arts grammar school and seen many Broadway productions. She has performed in numerous plays and musicals throughout her life, both here in the U.S. and in France. She was in the award-winning Bay Area play “Tokens: A Play on the Plague”, produced by Whoopi Goldberg, written by David Schein, and directed by Robert Ernst.
For over 23 years, Kari has performed in dozens of films, many of these films finding critical acclaim on the film festival circuit. She’s also appeared in numerous TV shows, National commercials, print advertisements, and her smooth voice has been heard in numerous commercial, animation and corporate productions.
Filmmaker Jennifer Juelich (let) and producer and actor Kari Wishingrad. photo: Jennifer Juelich
This short will ultimately be used as a proof-of-concept to produce a full-length project on the subject, expanding not only on the story but adding additional characters and their struggles to come to terms with their past choices and how to move forward.
Currently, they are in pre-production and have launched a Seed & Spark funding campaign. If you are interested, please help. They plan to begin shooting in the fall of 2023 at a farmhouse and other locations around Sonoma, CA.