Solstice

1 location, 1 day, 4 actors, 12 crew members, and a first-time director.

There was a moment in July 2020 where I realized I couldn’t not make “Solstice”. The entirety of the project came together amid COVID-19. Early in the pandemic everything was so uncertain and it was incredibly difficult for me to just slow down. In order to attempt to embrace the quiet I began to get into journaling and yoga nidra meditation. As time went on my meditations began harassing me to make this story. This story was originally a 3 minute piece for a college screenplay writing class over a decade ago. All of my current feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, and lack of control were funneled into the angst of the updated story. Start to finish, the project was conceptualized, completely rewritten, scouted, cast, designed, filmed, edited, loved and hated in under two months. I really liked the thought of teenagers having to trade one future for another. Plus, women and men are so different at that age. This film also needed to be told by a woman, starring a strong, relentless female character. Having female representation on set was important to me and my goal was to have a 50% female crew, however we ended up with over 50% female crew.

The aesthetics of “Solstice” were exceptionally important to me. As the sole location is inside of a motel room, it was relatively simple to be able to control and curate the entire environment into the tone I was looking for. Even as I was writing it, I knew which motel I wanted to film in because the rooms had so much character. The intent was always for the look to be moody but not dark and hopeless. I spent hours every night finding images to enhance the aesthetic through color and light. I wanted to keep the room very simple so the light coming in felt very important. I am so pleased that DP Daniel Zollinger was able to convey this concept.

The lead characters of Olivia and Jacob bring everything to the story, so I went in fully aware that casting would be all-important. As the funds for this project were almost nonexistent, I had to cast it myself. I used Backstage to find my actors. In the time of COVID-19 the entire process of casting and rehearsing was done via video on Zoom. It was definitely a gamble to cast Jacob and Olivia without meeting them and without them meeting each other. Their chemistry and how they interact with each other is inherently the story and the story does not work without their chemistry. It was paramount to the heart of the story that it be real teenagers. There is a naiveté and openness to how teens see the world that doesn’t exist when it’s a 30 year old playing a teenager. Their hair and makeup was toned-down to be true to life.

I am continually stunned that so many people still can’t have a level-headed conversation about abortion. There are people who will vote for politicians entirely based on their stance on this topic. Abortion affects so many women; 1 in 4 women will have one before the age of 45. Not only can they be very difficult to obtain but they can be financially destructive. There’s a healthy part of society that’s currently missing if we can’t have logical conversations about topics like abortion. I felt emboldened about the story and topic, even more so when it prompted some serious roadblocks in the casting process as several actors were uncomfortable taking part in portraying a story that involves abortion.

I chose the title because the solstice has so much meaning in the spiritual world. The winter solstice is celebrated as the shortest day of the year and the longest night of the year, while it’s on the cusp of bringing lighter, brighter, longer days. The winter and summer solstices are when energy shifts in a different direction, having reached a sort of breaking point. The solstice also has a lot of connection to rebirth and self-reflection as well as new beginnings. This parallels Olivia and Jacob’s story, as well as how a lot of us are feeling in the pandemic. It even parallels my life and how I relate to making this project. The solstice is a time for reflection, quiet energy and giving yourself the opportunity to look within yourself to focus on what you want, need, and to set future intentions.