Private Project

Melrose

"Feel Good About You, Today."

Fearing forced eviction, a struggling actor in his early twenties takes a sketchy door-to-door job on Melrose Avenue - where he meets a mysterious coworker and discovers firsthand the dark reality of living in transition.

Melrose is the debut feature from Soren James, and the first starring roles from Jinny Ryann and Drew Koles [Winner: Best Actor, Best Actress, & Performance of Festival at The Actors Awards, Los Angeles). It was financed with college tuition money & minimum wage paychecks, and as a result - has an air of authenticity difficult to emulate in any medium, film or otherwise. It's fast paced, dark, funny, unpretentious, and a rollercoaster ride of emotions unlike anything else that's out there, on TV or in film.

It's a film about twentysomethings. Made by twentysomethings.

  • Soren James
    Director
    Playground, Samaria, 3AM
  • Soren James
    Writer
    Playground, Samaria, 3AM
  • Andy Manson
    Writer
    Playback, Mimic
  • Soren James
    Producer
    Playground, Samaria, 3AM
  • Jinny Ryann
    Key Cast
    "Rachel Zeitlyn"
    Sideways Gravity, Many Faces, She Comes In Colors Everywhere
  • Drew Koles
    Key Cast
    "Clarke Martin"
    Easy A, Who Is Simon Miller?
  • Merlin Froyd
    Key Cast
    "Barry Silas"
    Finding Red Cloud, Photograph, One Nighter
  • Marie Oldenbourg
    Key Cast
    "Justine Claire"
    NCIS, Mr. Happy, Jersey Chasers, Teddy Bears Are For Lovers
  • Emily Karlsson
    Key Cast
    "Brenda Macintyre"
    The Candidate, What Once Was, Death Of Seth,
  • Justin Marco
    Key Cast
    "Justin"
    The Muppets (2011), Community
  • Austin James Wolff
    Key Cast
    "Nelson (uncredited)"
    Alice In Wonderland, Dead Souls, A Better Place
  • Michelle Ranae Gamble
    Key Cast
    "Shame"
    Rebirth
  • Skylar Harrison
    Key Cast
    "Reason"
    Jersey Chasers
  • Ian Joshua Burns
    Key Cast
    "Wallace"
    Le Marie Originale, Sour, How Eamon Lost His Liveliness
  • Mairin Deasy
    Key Cast
  • Andy Manson
    Crew
    Screenwriter / Original Story by
  • Zack Beveridge
    Crew
    Special Cinematographer / Site Designer
  • Nick Falabrino
    Crew
    Second Assistant Camera / Production Sound Operator
  • Frank Munoz
    Crew
    Production Sound Mixer / Post Production Consultant
  • Bruno Solis
    Crew
    Third Assistant Camera / Glidecam Operator
  • Hansen Li
    Crew
    First Assistant Camera / Behind The Scenes Photographer
  • Michael Pena
    Crew
    Music Supervisor / Composer
  • Eric Persing
    Crew
    Composer / Sound Designer
  • Soren James
    Crew
    Writer / Director / Cinematographer / Editor
  • Todd Lampe
    Crew
    Script Doctor
  • Jaz Persing
    Crew
    Script Reader
  • Skylar Harrison
    Crew
    Additional Script Reader
  • Jamie Coblentz
    Crew
    Creative Producer
  • Jinny Ryann
    Crew
    Co-writer (Additional)
  • Skippy Bastard
    Crew
    Sound Editor / Sound Designer
  • Christina Ferraro
    Crew
    Concept Artist
  • Kris Sorensen
    Crew
    Charcoal Artist
  • Emily Jenkins
    Crew
    Illustrator
  • James Fairview
    Crew
    Editor / Sound Mixer
  • Drew Koles
    Crew
    Co-writer (Additional)
  • Ian Joshua Burns
    Crew
    Script Doctor
  • Mike Dean
    Crew
    Grip
  • Celeste Pillay
    Crew
    Dolly Grip
  • Sage Persing
    Crew
    Double Dolly
  • Joe Franco
    Crew
    Additional Grip
  • Tiago Santos
    Crew
    Location Consultant
  • Tolga Gurpinar
    Crew
    Lighting Equipment
  • Epiphany Hulburd
    Crew
    Hairstylist / Makeup Artist
  • April Fiske
    Crew
    Special Effects Makeup Artist
  • Alex Elliot
    Crew
    DCP
  • Liz Sanchez
    Crew
    Associate Producer / Publicity Manager
  • Project Type:
    Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Coming Of Age, Dark Comedy, Drama, Romance
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 46 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 31, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    7,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    N/A
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:40:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Actors Awards Los Angeles
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Best Actor In An Indie Film - Drew Koles
  • Culver City Film Festival
    Culver City
    United States
    December 7, 2018
    Los Angeles Premiere
    Official Selection
  • New York Film Awards
    New York
    United States
    11/5/18
    Winner - Best Feature & Official Selection
  • Los Angeles Film Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    November 2, 2018
    Official Selection 2018
    Best Independent Film (Won) - Best Supporting Actor (Won) - Merlin Froyd
  • Rome Prisma Awards
    Rome
    Italy
    International Trades
    Official Featured Review
  • Around Films International Film Festival
    Barcelona
    Spain
    ARFF Audience Award
  • Actors Awards Los Angeles
    Los Angeles
    United States
    WINNER - Best Performance Of Fest & Best Actress - Jinny Ryann
  • New Visions International Film Festival
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    August 13, 2019
    Official Selection
  • NewFilmmakers New York
    New York City
    United States
    September 12, 2018
    East Coast Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Monaco International Film Festival
    Monte Carlo
    Monaco
    December 3, 2018
    European Premiere
    Festival Opener / Angel Award - Nominated in All Categories
  • Downtown Independent
    Los Angeles
    United States
    June 15, 2018
    First Showing
    Full House - Room Capacity 500+ - Filled
  • WIND International Film Festival
    Burbank
    United States
    11/12/18
    Official Selection
  • New Jersey International Film Festival
    New Jersey
    United States
    12/6/18
    Official Selection
  • Festigious Film Festival

    United States
    Winner: Best Dark Comedy - Honorable Mention - Best Actress
  • Latitude Film Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    Silver Award
  • Los Angeles Theatrical Release Competition
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Finalist
Distribution Information
  • Gravitas Ventures, LLC
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Soren James

Soren James is a writer / director from Los Angeles, CA. "Melrose" is his first feature film, which he produced independently with college tuition money and five friends. He previously was a freelance editor and filmmaker who gained attention for his short, "Samaria" at the Tower Of Youth Film Festival when he was 16 years old. The film, a gritty retelling of the Good Samaritan parable as a contemporary story about Islamaphobia, made him the most decorated filmmaker at the festival, having not one but two (the other being "3AM" a comedy set in a local drive-thru) top scoring films in the same year. He lives in Los Angeles.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When you're in your twenties, everything either feels like its going too fast, or too slow - that life's passing you by, or you're not keeping up. We (my friends and I) felt this feeling tremendously in our daily lives, so we wanted to create a cinematic experience that didn't just portray that dichotomy for what it is, but instead, immerse the audience in it, first person - so that the story would resonate on a deeper, far more visceral level for everyone watching.

It's one thing to show people living the highs and lows dangerously close together - its another thing to have the audience feel those highs and lows as vividly as possible - through the use of rapid-fire editing techniques, hyper-saturated cinematography, followed by long takes, the use of silence, stillness, and space. Contrast is everything, and this film was an exercise in exploring the contrast between the audience and the characters, and how close one can impart the feeling of being in transition through all the various cinematic techniques, not just story and performance.

We felt as performers, our leads deserved a cinematic language that could reinforce their characters' journeys as equally as the emotions their characters are feeling, from moment to moment. Plus - we were all fans of eachother, and nothing made us happier than enabling one another to top ourselves, and push ourselves to the limit of what we could express in a 2 hour narrative.

All in all, I feel we came very close to what we wanted, and that the film reflects what transition truly feels like at a certain age. It's not an experience you write about easily. My hope is that for the audience, its just something you just feel. We felt it was time to see a story like that on the screen, where each part of the film added up to a big screen experience of a small screen emotion. Something intimate - portrayed through something larger than life. Our story is about intimate things happening in large spaces. We all come from Los Angeles as either Natives or long time transplants, and we wanted to give a little slice of what being young is really like, warts & all.