Off the Rails

If I had to come up with the best word to describe growing up, it would be eventful. I met a lot of people over the years and learned a lot of lessons about life that have impacted me to this day. My escape was through the TV. I know it's that old cliche that movies and TV take us to different worlds, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. One of my favorite shows growing up was Thomas the Tank Engine.
Like me, Henry loves trains. As the title implies, it is related to Henry’s love of trains and when he feels all these changes in his life happening. I feel the main reason autistic children love trains is that they are familiar and stick to one pattern the whole time. He is about to experience something different when he figuratively goes off the rails by meeting Olivia. While she too has certain quirks, she enjoys buses. In essence, they are both opposites but I wanted to create a feeling where people would feel like they would indeed hang out with one another. Even though she doesn’t like trains I want her to take a huge chance and do something out of her comfort zone, because that’s always the place to go.
The best day on set is when we were at the trainyard, which is behind the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum. The foreman showed me a 1922 LIRR coach. It had old advertisements on the walls and it was positioned in such a way that all natural light came through the windows. Elias gave his all and Francesca was at her most sentimental mood in terms of the character. Watching the two of them come together in that moment emotionally was the most rewarding part of directing them. Francesca as Olivia, who in essence was everyone I’ve ever met over the years, told me it was ok to be who I was.
All in all, this is a very personal film for me and I would really love to tell it. Combining childhood memories, homages to some other really great films, a warm subject matter, and everything I’ve learned at Hofstra, I hope to make this film shine and for everyone else to enjoy. Thank you.