Printed in The Portsmouth Herald on 4/24/08

Written by Jeanne Mccartin

Well they have a name finally — Stagewright Films — a solid team, and the actors, which means David Mauriello and his crew will finally start shooting “Just Say Love,” his original play. “The actors arrive April 28. We’ll have a few days of rehearsal …; let people get to know one another. Then Bill (Humphreys) will start filming on the fourth, (at Granite Media Center in Tilton),” says Mauriello.

This is the first play Stagewright plans to film — doing so in a manner that maintains a theatrical sense while adapting it to the medium. The team includes Humphreys, the “hands on guy,” says Executive Producer Mauriello, who describes himself as the behind-the-scene/overseer.

Kirkland Tibbels is an executive producer and Tyler Heon and Brad Branch are co-producers.

The project has signed on with Funny Boy Films of California.

“They’ll bring us to the distributors.”

They also arranged the California auditions that brought Matthew Jaeger (film work examples: “Room Service” with Howie Mandel and “Elevator” with Elizabeth Berkeley; TV: History Channel, and A&E), and Robert Mammana (film examples: “Flightplan” and “Berkeley” and TV “The Unit,” “Numbers,” and “The OC.”

Turnaround will be fairly quick, says Mauriello. “This is not like the old days where you waited for film to be developed,” says Mauriello. “I think early summer we’ll have something, maybe not the final …; but fairly soon.”

The group originally planned to move right into its second project. But on the advice of Funny Boy we’ll wait “and see how this went first,” says Mauriello. “If this kicks in real fast and we get some money back, well, boy that would be terrific, and then we’d certainly get into the second one.”

STAGE WRIGHT FILMS producer Bill Humphreys, right, and Co-Producer Tyler Heon discuss the set for the film ‘Just Say Love’ that they plan to shoot at Granite Media Center in Tilton. (DARYL CARLSON/CITIZEN PHOTO) * Order a print of this photo

Granite Media Center has landed its first feature film contract and with production scheduled to begin in May, the project could be a boon to local businesses.

According to producer and three-time Emmy winner Bill Humphreys, the filming will require a crew of 30 professional technicians, all of whom will be staying at a local motel and eating local food.

“We’re taking over the majority of the Lord Hampshire [Motel and Cotteges],” said Humphreys. “We’ll plow about a quarter of a million into the local economy.”

Stagewright Films, a New Hampshire-based production company that melds the world of stage with the world of screen will begin filming Just Say Love on May 5. It expects to have 16 filming days and hopes to be finished by May 23.

Humphreys said the company will begin building the set on April 28 and he expects to get to know the people in some local hardware stores pretty well because the five individual sets will be built from scratch.

Written by David J. Mauriello, who is also the executive producer of the film, Just Say Love is about the evolution of a relationship and, in its original theater version, played successfully to audiences in Portsmouth, Boston and Chicago last season.

The film version stars Matthew Jaeger, who has appeared with Howie Mandel in Room Service, and Robert Mammana, who has appeared in the Broadway production of Les Miserables and in the movie Flight Plan with Jodie Foster. His television credits include Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise.

When asked why he chose the Granite Media Center, Humphreys said his company didn’t want to leave New England to produce the film and he has a long relationship with the media center, having been one of the original people who looked into converting the existing building into a film studio.

“To come back was really a treat,” he said.

Humphreys spent many years in Los Angeles before he came to New Hampshire to be the executive producer of New Hampshire Public Television, producing a series on Robert Frost’s work for public television. The last 10 years he has been an independent producer.

He said this type of film attempts to recreate the stage experience, only on the big screen. It will be filmed entirely inside the 10,000 square-foot studio, where the five different sets will be built, rather than on location.

Humphreys described his style as almost retrofitting back to the early days of Hollywood, when the set was stationary and the screen was backlit and rotating, giving as an example how in early filming the actors would be in a stationary car and the set would move behind them to simulate motion.

Humphreys has high hopes for both the Granite Media Center and New Hampshire in general as a place to make movies.

“To rent this much space in Boston would cost four times as much,” said Humphreys, adding that about 90 percent of the crew would come from New Hampshire, including interns from Keene State College.

As for the actors, Humphreys said they were “thrilled to leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind them.”

“One is even bringing his dog,” he said, laughing about the “set hound” that is half Labrador retriever and half greyhound.

New Hampshire has a lot going for it, said Humphreys, who added that the lack of a sales tax plus its Right-to-Work status makes the state a desirable place to do business.

“Massachusetts tax breaks are enticing but New Hampshire still has a bigger payoff,” Humphreys said.

He said the relative quiet of New Hampshire, as opposed to Boston, helps with the “creative process” and the facility is very close to mountains, the ocean and rural areas.

He said Stagewright Films also has other projects in the works and Laconia might be a good setting for one of them.

Humphreys said Just Say Love will be ready for distribution in the fall and he anticipates the premier will be in the Lakes Region.

Meanwhile, Eliza Leadbeater, the former executive director of the Belknap County Economic Development Council who is now a consultant with Granite Medial Center, said they have been kept busy preparing office space for the crew, private space for the actors and getting the center ready.

She said they’ve hired a Laconia caterer, Christine Ricker of Portable Feast, to feed the 30-member crew during their stay and have made lists of local attractions, including places to go and things to do during their off time.

“We’ll be eating in your restaurants and visiting lots of local businesses,” said Humphreys. “You can count on that.”

You can read all about Stagewright Films and “Just Say Love” in the April issue of Imagine Magazine!

A recent article about “Just Say Love”… Read the original article HERE.

Got a note from producer Kirkland Tibbels (I just love that name!) whose company, Funny Boy Films is reponsible for such gay-themed movies as “Latter Days” and “Naked Boys Singing.” Kirkland has this news about a new film: “Just Say Love”: actors Matthew Jaeger (pictured, left) and Robert Mammana have signed on to star. The film is based on the original, award-winning play by David J. Mauriello has been crafted for the camera by three-time Emmy Award winner Bill Humphreys.

The story centers on the emotional and spiritual development of a relationship. The two characters, Doug (Mammana) and Guy (Jaeger), begin their involvement through the base need for physical attraction. In time, as their relationship develops they find a deeper affection for life and love.

Mauriello and Humphreys created Stagewright Films and teamed with Funny Boy Films to co-produce and release the stage-to-screen feature motion. Production begins in New Hampshire this May. Says Kirkland: “This is a great fit for us. We have had success with this kind of adaptation and are looking forward to putting that experience to work with Stagewright on what promises to be a much talked about movie!”

POSTED ON: OUT IN HOLLYWOOD: http://www.insidesocal.com/outinhollywood/2008/04/leading_men_cast_in_just_say_l.html

NH BASED STAGEWRIGHT FILMS
TO SHOOT FILM AT GRANITE MEDIA CENTER
LA BASED FUNNY BOY FILMS TO DISTRIBUTE

Stagewright Films, the newly formed New Hampshire-based production company has just finalized casting on the first of a series of feature films melding the two worlds of live theatre and film. Stagewright has just signed Los Angeles actors Matthew Jaeger and Robert Mammana to star in David J. Mauriello’s two man story JUST SAY LOVE.  Granite Media Center in Tilton, NH has been chosen as the production facility and JUST SAY LOVE will be the first major project to be produced at the new production facility. Both Stagewright and GMC are planning to make the most out of the state-of-the-art facility.  Stagewright has also signed with Funny Boy Films of Los Angeles as distributor and production administration.

A collaboration between three-time Emmy Award winning Producer/Director Bill Humphreys and multiple award winning Executive Producer/Writer David J. Mauriello, Stagewright Films was created to blend the worlds of live theatre and motion pictures on screen.  Humphreys states that “…through the use of theatrical staging techniques we will set time and locale in an abstract way to support the theme and personality of the stories we tell which will allow us to focus on the content and the performance.  With the vast storehouse of well-written stage plays which, for many reasons, may never be produced, Stagewright was formed to offer a venue where quality work can reach a larger audience.”

JUST SAY LOVE is the first in the series of projects to be produced by Stagewright Films.  Mauriello originally wrote the script for stage.  Humphreys has crafted the screen adaptation and will serve as director.  The stage version of JUST SAY LOVE premiered at the Player’s Ring in Portsmouth, NH and was recently nominated in the Best New Play category by the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards and the Best Original Script category by the Spotlight on the Arts awards.  Over the past year it has been mounted in both Boston and Chicago. There are plans for several other productions of JUST SAY LOVE in the coming months at venues across the country.

Casting recently took place in Los Angeles and Mammana and Jaeger were booked within days.  Recent regional auditions brought some exceptional local talent to the forefront as well. They are being kept on tap for future projects.

The crew has been assembled from all over the U.S. and the company received interest from outside the States including the U.K., Spain and as far away as Tel Aviv.  Other members of the Stagewright production team include: Kirkland Tibbels as Executive Producer; Bradshaw Branch as Co-Producer/Press Relations and Tyler Heon as Co-Producer/Production Manager.  Nate Beaman of Burlington, VT will serve as Director of Photography.

Shooting is scheduled to begin May 5 and run through the end of the month with all principal photography being done entirely on site at the GMCNH studio.  Once completed the film will be distributed by Funny Boy Films, out of LA whose most recent hit is the film version of Broadway’s NAKED BOYS SINGING.