THE ROAD TO MARGARITAVILLE (2012)
9-episode web series.
Screen Test: Roxie Fuller as Lissa (3:00)
Screen Test: Ben Smith as Nick (2:16)
Directed by Jason Underhill. Written by Jason Underhill & Ben Smith. Cast: Roxie Fuller, Ben Smith, Ignacio Genzon, Alex McDougall, Josh J. Peters.
The story starts in front of a dumpster. Nick, destitute, meets Lissa, who dances. The series focuses on the nuances of their increasingly volatile relationship, with stories occasionally spiraling out to the local population beyond the (stained) walls of Nick's motel room/home.
This project is based on two stories told to me by the lead actors, Roxie and Ben, while we were shooting Howlin' (2009). Roxie told me about a dancer who, after seeing news footage of the September 11 attacks, asked 'What movie is that?' Ben's story was about finding a paranoid motel manager in the lobby at 2am, clutching a rifle and hunting an invisible snake in the dark.
These stories stuck with me, and each time I'd revisit them, they'd become more distorted, expanded and extended in own imagination, adding supporting characters and building context. I liked the idea of somehow directing that distortion, performed by the same duo that had originally told me the stories.
Directed by Jason Underhill. Written by Jason Underhill & Ben Smith. Cast: Roxie Fuller, Ben Smith, Ignacio Genzon, Alex McDougall, Josh J. Peters.