Today we’re talking with the co-directors and actors of ‘Playdate’, Laura Campbell and Amberlee Colson, as well as their cinematographer, Audrey Biche.
‘Playdate’ just had its U.S. premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival and took home both the Jury Grand Prize and the Audience Award, how is the team feeling?
We couldn’t have asked for a better start to our year-long festival run. We’re grateful that DIFF provided a platform for stories such as these and were humbled by both the awards and the reception. The passionate community really cares about their filmmakers and were generous hosts. The audiences were deeply connected to the film; specifically, mothers who had a personal relationship with the subject matter. We were touched by how many approached us to let us know they felt very seen by our story.
Many fingerprints are woven into Play Date’s DNA. We share these wins with the entire team. A special shout out to the writer, Gavin Broady, who trusted us with his powerful and heartbreaking script; and our cinematographer, Audrey Biche, who was a master collaborator right out of the gate. This film would not be what it is without her deep personal connection to grief and her innate cinematic vision. We hope to continue to screen and join the important conversations about grief and the need for human connection will.
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Tell us a little about the film.
Play Date focuses on the two mothers as they navigate the aftermath of the shooting that claimed one of their daughters. Once best friends, their worlds were shattered when their children, also best friends, were caught in the crossfire – one surviving, the other not. The film intricately explores lives forever altered, strained relationships, and how individuals cope with profound loss.
The story is set amidst the colorful world of a little girl’s birthday party, endowed with pink and yellow balloons, sprinkled cupcakes and unicorns. A stark contrast to the tragedy coloring two mothers’ lives, a year later. The party’s host (Amberlee Colson) receives a surprise knock on the door from an unexpected guest (Laura Campbell) who sweeps the host away on a reenactment of their daughters’ final play date.
Play Date is about facing the unfaceable. It’s a window into the lives of people a year after a tragedy when the camera crews are gone, and the rest of the world seems to have moved on. With this film, we want to give a face to the people left behind, specifically the mothers. We want to explore what it is to hold space for their grief, to be present with it, to be affected by it. Because maybe, if we do, it won’t be so easy to go numb.
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What were some of the challenges you faced in tackling this subject?
The biggest challenges in telling this story were the expectations we put on ourselves to do the subject matter justice. This is a fictionalized tale, but it is based on very real experiences. Unfortunately, the statistics are unbelievable. As of today, 140 days into the year, there have been 165* mass shootings in the United States. There are new real-life victims and surviving families created all the time. It’s a current, ongoing tragedy. So, as filmmakers, we submerged ourselves in research to capture, as best we could, the reality of this circumstance. We have saturated ourselves with every documentary, interview, city council hearing, and congressional session we could find. We listened to the parents as they had to relive the worst day of their lives over and over again as they tried to bring awareness to drive change. We hope that this piece will help carry the burden of keeping these stories alive and in the public eye.
Audrey, you were the cinematographer on Play Date, what kind of look were you going for on this production?
We were looking for honesty in the image, we didn’t want it to feel too manicured. I wanted the light to feel motivated, but given our subject, I didn’t want it to call attention to itself. I spent a lot of time in preproduction looking at the natural light in that space, taking photos, and reading, with the intention of staying relatively loyal to what was naturally occurring. Ultimately, I think the bulk of my work was about figuring out how to be invisible and work within the limitations of the space both in terms of lighting and blocking.
What did you shoot on?
The ARRI ALEXA Mini, with super speeds.
What’s next?
We’re excited for the rest of our year-long festival run, next up we’ll be screening at the Academy Award Qualifying LA Shorts Film Festival in July and there are some more exciting things after that. We’re currently in the early stages of development on a longer format version of Play Date. We’re interested in exploring the complex relationship between these women and their small town as the events of this tragedy unfold.
Film website: www.playdate-film.com
Film trailer: www.vimeo.com/860764840
Tracie Laymon (Producer)
www.instagram.com/tracielaymonfilms
Amberlee Colson (Co-Director / Co-Star)
www.instagram.com/amberlee_colson
Laura Campbell (Co-Director / Co-Star)
www.instagram.com/lauraeacampbell
Audrey Biche (Cinematographer)
