TPHS graduates’ film selected as finalist in Slamdance Film Festival

By Diane Y. Welch

Jana Winternitz and Michael Gallagher at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Online networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have shown tremendous growth over the last few years. But along with the surge in users comes a concern that some are abusing these virtual, interactive social gathering places.
An independent movie, URFrenz, produced by Virtually Exposed Productions, examines the dark side of this trend. Through a compelling storyline inspired by a real-life tragedy—where online bullying drove one teenager to suicide—the movie has been chosen as one of 10 finalists in this year's Slamdance Film Festival.
Co-produced by Michael Gallagher and Jana Winternitz—both 2007 graduates from Torrey Pines High School—the feature length movie was chosen from more than 5,000 entries to be a part of the renowned film fest that will run from Jan. 21-29, 2010 in Park City, Utah.
The festival, which runs concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival, started 16 years ago.
“Sundance originally started out as a showcase for independent films but then slowly became a place for big studios to submit their less expensive movies; that inspired the launch of the Slamdance Film Festival. To qualify you have to be a first-time filmmaker and the project has to [have cost] less than $1 million [to produce],” said Michael Gallagher in a recent interview.
Winternitz and Gallagher were a part of a creative team that worked swiftly to make the October deadline for entry into the festival.
“We shot the film in 16 days in August and we only had the rough cut when we submitted the film. We were so elated to get chosen. The story must have resonated with the judges, as this was not a polished film,” Winternitz said.
The nature of the story is extremely topical. “There are many reported cases of cyber-bullying, kids getting too involved in the online world, people pretending to be others, and this is what the movie is about. It shows how a parent may take protective measures too far and how this can actually be devastating,” Winternitz explained.
This was a subject matter that was very close to the heart of the family of director and screenplay writer Jeff Phillips, an industry veteran with more than two decades of experience in Hollywood.
“Because of his own experience, he was adamant about keeping the realism to tell the story,” recalled Winternitz. “The film handles the subject matter in a very mature way through a beautifully crafted story. And by the end of the movie the message is hit home hard; it stays with you long after.”
A big influence on the film was a teen suicide case that made headlines in 2006.
“This was a story about a girl named Megan Meier who, through MySpace, essentially fell in love with a boy who turned out not to be a boy, but [a former friend’s] mom, taking on the identity of this boy. The girl ended up committing suicide as a result of the humiliation caused by this hoax.”
Gallagher's mother, local resident Elaine Gallagher, of Gallagher and Gallagher Real Estate Company, understands the possible dangers of online social networking.
“Facebook & MySpace are not safe, potentially, so adults and teens need to know this. These sites are for sharing news, to update photos, and to catch up with friends, family and career. When used inappropriately this information could get in the ‘wrong hands’ and lives could be destroyed.” Elaine Gallagher said. “Common sense is the key.”
The movie also serves as a means to open up a discussion between parents and their children. What is right, what is wrong, where is the line and how involved should a parent go to protect their children.
“Every parent wants to protect their children and the bottom line is that there is often a slight disconnect between the new technology, with the kids always trying to be up-to-date with it, and with their parents’ understanding of it,” said Michael Gallagher.“This is the sort of film that parents and teens could see together, to each enjoy it from their own perspective, then to talk about it afterward.”
“Growing up I was surrounded by this virtual world, and it's something that is really coming to its height; everybody is always on their blackberry, texting and being on line and it feels like there is always a need to be connected,” added Winternitz. “Interaction does not necessarily have to be face-to-face anymore, people can hide behind their computer. The interesting thing in this plot was that the mother was involved, doing something that she wouldn't normally do, face to face. It creates a power that hadn't been there before.”
With a powerful message and a compelling storyline, the Virtually Exposed Productions team is hopeful about it's chances of winning in the feature film narrative genre. When Winternitz, Michael Gallagher and director Jeff Phillips, who was a former lecturer of Winternitz's at Chapman College in Orange County, teamed up to work on the project, they built on Michael Gallagher's experience as a short film finalist at the Cannes Film festival in 2008, a result of his skills learned as a student at the Los Angeles Film Academy. Phillips also knew of Winternitz's producing talents — which were honed at Chapman— and invited her to collaborate on the project.
And after the screening at the Slamdance 2010, Michael Gallagher and Winternitz, both Los Angeles residents who relocated there from San Diego to further their careers, are looking ahead to the possibility that their movie production will find a home nationally, with a distributor or a studio. “The goal is to have your film seen by as many people as possible, to be shown in theaters or distributed as a DVD,” said Michael Gallagher.
To learn more about URFrenz visit www.URFrenz.com. To see more of Michael Gallagher's work visit his online comedy series, at www.totallysketch.com, and to learn more about Slamdance 2010, visit www.slamdance.com