MARYSVILLE – Feeling sorry for yourself won’t get you anywhere.
That is the overall message of the movie “What Lies Within Us,” produced by the Marysville Getchell International School of Communications.
Three classes collaborated in the movie over 1 1/2 years, with 22 writers, more than 30 actors, about 60 extras and an eight-member film crew.
The movie is based on a true story. Teacher Andrew Christopher has a friend whose son was a star football player.
“His girlfriend dumps him after he is injured, and he has to re-examine his passions and priorities,” Christopher said, adding that person is now pursuing a music degree.
Student writers in Melanie Kreiger’s class developed the character profiles, including appearance, mannerisms, relationships and attitudes last year. Lead writers filled in holes and added characters and scenes to add intrigue.
“We may have bit off more than we could chew” to get everyone involved, but “we pulled it off,” Christopher said. The production team worked with a 165-page, 80-scene script.
“It takes some great student leadership and lots of planning to be able to have that many moving parts to make a film,” he said.
In the film, Tristan Hasseler plays football standout Shawn Bennett whose girlfriend, Keziah Nelson, breaks up with him in a note as he lies on a hospital bed after suffering the injury in a game.
His sister, Kirsten Daniels, and best friend, Conner Mclellan, try to get him to quit feeling sorry for himself afterwards. But it takes a combination of his music playing, love interest (Kayla Graham) and a friend battling cancer to convince him to create a new path for himself, Christopher said.
Dylan Thomas and Nolan Bennett directed the film, which was produced by Makaila Wood and Kennaah Martin. “There’s so much art out there, and not enough people who enjoy it,” Thomas said.
Asked what his favorite part of being in the movie was, actor Will Eliason said, “The movie made us closer.” He added that he really didn’t know many of the other students that well before the film. The students plan to put the movie on Youtube.
