Something New

“Something New” brings the audience into the intimate, behind-the-scenes process of women preparing for a wedding, minutes before the bride walks down the aisle. On the surface, five ladies in a wedding party are bustling about, dressing, drinking and dishing, while the bride remains locked in the bathroom. Over the course of fifteen minutes, too much champagne is consumed, secrets are revealed and the extreme stakes of this day slowly come into focus. What at first appears to be a romantic comedy about a bride with cold feet takes a turn and we come to understand that something much more sinister is at play. When the bride, Leah, finally emerges, it’s revealed that she’s barely a teenager, and part of an undisclosed religious society that marries underage girls off to grown men.

This project is unique because the film is told in real time, in a single room. This reflects both the confines of these societies, which exist in sects of virtually every major mainstream religion in our nation. The real time storytelling underscores the urgency of an issue that affects more than 300,000 women in the US in the last twenty years.

The film was shot at a beautiful bed and breakfast in Pasadena where we decorated the set in florals and soft pink hues. Over the course of the movie the color story evolves from a traditionally “feminine” pastel palette into a colder more male dominated set of hues with each member of the cast dressed in “something blue” by the end of the film.

My longtime collaborator, cinematographer Ioana Vasile, shot the film assisted by two female ACs. Our production design was lead by Rose Krol. My post-production team included Sarah Williams (editor), Anastasia Shepherd (colorist), and Nicole Pettigrew (sound editor). Overall, we sought to employ women and people of color on this film. Representation on screen and behind the camera is always important to me as a Mexican-American, female director but as this is a story about an underrepresented group, we felt it was imperative that the creative team should reflect this perspective.

Our team was led by three female producers with eclectic professional backgrounds as an entrepreneur, a lawyer and a storyteller each with a deep commitment to social justice and a passion for the arts (dating back to their time at NYU, where they first met).

I came onboard through a previous relationship with the screenwriter/producer:
Jacey Powers. Jacey and I had previously workshopped one of her plays together in New York through two prominent off-Broadway theater companies: 59E 59th Street and the Director’s Company. A long-time veteran of the stage, this is Jacey’s first film as writer and an actor.

The rest of our cast includes Sami Rappoport (Pen15), Laila Ayad, Derek Carley,
Sherry Mandujano, Leah Sprecher and Kate Sullivan.

Something New is a film about a phenomenon that is shockingly common in this country today. Through the humor, depth and compassion of our story we aim to bring this issue to the forefront of the audience’s consciousness and bring humanity to this crisis.

We hope that by experiencing this film, the audience will be moved to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves. The practice of child marriage is not something new, but we will continue to shine a light on this issue to make it a thing of the past.