RIVER CREST
A thirty-minute comedy short video Click here to watch the RIVER CREST promotioal demo!DIRECTOR'S TREATMENT
This comedy short follows the lively roller coaster ride of characters in their twilight years in a privately owned senior citizen retirement complex called River Crest Lodge, for Independent Living.
RIVER CREST is a 30 minute short depicting the hyjinks of the residents of a retirement home situated on the outskirts of Winnipeg. This is the first of a trilogy of shorts loosely based on true stories solicited from the inhabitants, administrators and staff of retirement homes. The stories are funny, poignant and are interwoven into the heart of the scripted piece. This is not a journalistic expose' of retirement home causes. It is more like "Cocoon" on steroids. We are celebrating age not moaning about it. River Crest Lodge represents seniors who are "hell bent for leather" to have fun and race to the inevitable end trying to cram as much life experiences into the time they have left.
River Crest is a tribute to "independent living" which gives the residents freedom to live and stay active while experiencing life to the fullest. Their emotional and physical safety net is maintained by the staff. Beneath the postcard image of quiet, serine living lays the chaotic activities of wacky characters who are far from submitting to the assumption that their lives are over. They are "going out with a bang" not a whimper and anyone who is waiting for the grim reaper is soon dragged into the frantic activities of the River Crest inhabitants. Every day presents a new challenge and they are going to meet these problems head on even if the solutions are somewhat deceptive in their planning. The latter years of the occupants limits their patience as they continually jump the hurdles that are placed in front of them by families, politicians, health care workers and just the world in general in their hurry to get on with life. A University Dorm would pale in comparison to what goes on with these rascals who have all the experience to elude and confuse anyone who expects these characters to fade away quietly.
Yes, age does bring on ailments and emotional changes in their lives but this does not slow them down it forces them to become efficient with their time as this is the commodity that is most precious. You may think it's a tribute to the staff, their tolerance, their unorthodox way of treating the idiosyncrasies of the inhabitants of this building, and that is true, but they appear to be as warped and demented as the people they are looking after. Anyway, at River Crest the residents run this institution.
The strength of the show lies in the fact that the stories are related to us by the people who experienced them and we will take the dramatic license to develop them; This, along with the fact that this is a character-driven show it is funny because of the truth of the characters. We are also sad for them as they experience life's bitter times because we grow to love the characters. Even from the tragic moments comes comedy. You will remember an important message about life or death when comedy enters into the equation. This is not a put-down of seniors; we will not make fun of them. We will celebrate the aging process through humour and the revealing stories that they have experienced.
The research of the storylines is being solicited from the administrators and the residents of retirements and convalescent homes throughout Canada. We find that anyone involved with these institutions have stories to tell and we want to exploit those tales. The writer will be able to collaborate with the cast so that the characters become part of the development phase of the story.
River Crest Lodge has seen better years, having been built fifty years previous, it is always on the brink of being bought out or closed down (the land has value). The bills are not always paid on time but everyone (staff and residents) contribute to its survival with their wits, talent and energy trying to stay one step ahead of anyone who may put their way of life in jeopardy. Although there is no leader in creating devious plots to fight an adversary it just seems that everyone slides into a survival mode in keeping the enemy at bay.
Jillian Jack (JJ) is the Owner/Manager of River Crest and really cares for the residents. Her intent is to maintain the safest, quality residence but she always assumes there is a problem, never a solution. Her ability to make "mountains out of mole hills" always keeps her in a crisis moment which almost always brings her to the emotional breaking point forcing her to hide in a closet; or under her desk or in the kitchen's walk in freezer rather than deal with the situation. She just can't focus on finding the elusive solution. It is unthinkable though that River Crest would no longer exist. Besides, what else would she do with her life? Born with a silver spoon in her mouth and supported by her wealthy husband, whose money was gained by dubious means, her attempts to solve a problem results in her trying to pacify everyone and satisfying no one.
Once a comedy team FrankanStan performed professionally on the circuit for many, many years. Sidekicks, Frank and Stan, became residents of River Crest to "beat the system" and have their lodgings and meals supported by their pensions and government support. They are lovable rouges who without any official titles expend their energies running the operation of River Crest championing the causes of all the other inhabitants. No, they don't own or officially manage River Crest; in fact they spurn authority and find it much easier to avoid the rules and regulations of any establishment. They just naturally take up the causes of the rights and privileges of the other residents. They gladly take on various roles to thwart the enemy or will slide into one of their routines while directing the willing residents in "show biz schemes" to confuse and cease any outsider's attempts to alter the lives of the people of River Crest. FrankanStan also think they have found an audience who understand their humour but in reality everyone assumes their laughter will pacify the two as they have seen their routine far too many times.
Although the main characters in the film will be actors they will be supported by residents from various retirement homes selected from the audition process who will play themselves and speak directly to the camera (The Office style). Their one-liners or poignant phases will bring great comic relief but they will also set up the plot line and move the story along. Acting classes for the novice actors will be applied to put them at ease in front of the camera and prepare them for their time on set. Also there will be a two day rehearsal period for all cast and key members of the crew in order to prepare for the pressure of a seven-day shoot.
The 55-Plus Demographic has been sorely unrepresented and ignored by television. It's like youth doesn't want to be that close to death so they choose to believe that the aged have stopped living so place them in a home and visit them when it's convenient. River Crest represents the life of a community of elderly experiencing the final stage of their existence. The characters are in your face; irreverent; pious; and don't have time to be politically correct.
Also we will use the 55-plus crowd as extras as well as audition them in hopes of finding some natural talent that we can utilize.
The Structure
The Characters
Why Rivercrest Needs to be Done