Many student filmmakers dream of the day when they'll walk down the red carpet at their own film premiere. That day will come this weekend for the crew of Experience for Beginners.
The film's protagonists are two female college graduates. One is mourning the death of her girlfriend, and the other is eight months pregnant. After the latter has a falling out with her mom over whether or not to keep the baby, she has nowhere to go except to her mourning friend. The friendship pushes each to grow up and let go as they help each other heal.
This is the second year the philanthropic student production group Applause for a Cause has written, shot and produced a feature film, a unique feat in the scope of Northwestern's student filmmaking community. Communication juniors Sarah Jane Inwards and Alec Ziff co-founded the group in order to benefit charity through filmmaking.
"I went to a leadership conference, and they said to be happy you should find a way to do what you love so that you can help people," Inwards said. "I started fiddling with that idea, and that's how Applause for a Cause came to be."
Inwards had participated in a group of this nature during high school, and upon coming to Northwestern and realizing it didn't exist here, she enlisted the help of Ziff to organize the group and define its philanthropic mission.
Applause for a Cause chooses a different charity each year as its main beneficiary. This year the group chose Make-A-Wish Foundation in order to help local children's wishes come true. "They obviously have a program that's really successful and that impacts people in a special way," Inwards said. "We knew that we could specifically help this area because there's a chapter just for Illinois."
Last year the group raised $1,500 for the Ronald McDonald House near Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Seeing their hard work impact the community makes it all worth it, Ziff said.
He acknowledged that the hardest part about creating a feature length film is organizing the crew into specific roles. This was the first year Applause for a Cause had a defined executive board, and that inspired more teamwork and dedication among members.
"Everyone has a weekly responsibility that they have to do," Ziff said. "It's just made the whole process way smoother and way more professional. It's been enjoyable because there are so many people working on this movie. It's so collaborative."
This kind of collaboration makes a huge difference in the set experience, said Chad Eschman, who plays Jason, the supportive best friend. Eschman, a first year Communication MFA, said working on this particular film was a unique experience. "I've gone and worked on professional films in the outside world that didn't always feel quite as tight as this one did," he said.
Besides the teamwork, Communication freshman Dulcinee DeGuere said the greatest experience in playing Grace, the mourning college grad, has been getting a glimpse of the finished product in the trailer. "There were a lot of very long and tiring days," she said. "Seeing it all come together was just a crazy experience. Everyone worked so hard for five months on this, and to see it come together as one huge project is going to be phenomenal."
Inwards and Ziff said they are already looking forward to next year's Applause for a Cause film. It will be their senior year, and their primary goal will be finding people who will step up and perpetuate the group after they graduate.
"We're rising seniors, so it's about finding people who want to take on an awesome and epic project to do," Ziff said. "Once you're in it, you're in it to win it. There's nothing like it in the world."
The red carpet premiere of Experience for Beginners starts at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 18 and continues through Sunday, May 20 at 1 p.m. at Harris Hall. Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for adults and faculty.