FILM NOTES
HOPE’S CHOICE was originally a church play. In
1995, Jerry Whitfield was commissioned by a good friend to write a play that
would send a message to the urban youth that he worked with in his church. He
needed the characters to reflect the realities that the kids experienced every
day. The play was a huge success
for the church and allowed Jerry’s friend to communicate with the youth of the
community in a very different way.
After the play had ended, Jerry shelved the script
for seven years. In 2002,
Jessica Funches
, a graduate Producing student at the University of
Southern California (USC) began looking for a script that she could use to apply
for a grant that her program offered called “The Peter Stark Special
Project” which is funded by the famous producer, Ray Stark. She, however, was
not looking for just any script. She wanted something that had a universal, yet
powerful message. She approached
the graduate Screenwriting program at USC in search of a like-minded writer.
She was introduced to Jerry Whitfield. Jerry pitched some of the short
scripts that he had written to Jessica. As a side note, he mentioned a church
play that he had thought about converting to a screenplay. Jessica loved the
idea and told Jerry that she would like him to finish the screenplay.
Although Jessica would have loved to direct the
piece, the grant required that the producer and director be different people.
She then turned to her friend, GARRETT THOMPSON, who was a Production student at
USC and a budding director. She
pitched the idea to Garrett and he was eager to come on board.
After Jerry completed the screenplay, Jessica
submitted it along with Garrett’s director’s reel, and some promotional
material to the competition. Two months later, Jessica was notified that
HOPE’S CHOICE had been selected as one of the three Peter Stark Special
Projects. Jessica, Garrett, and
Jerry continued to work and rework the script. They began pre-production in
January of 2003. Jessica and Garrett began looking for a Director of Photography
who could light African-Americans in a complimentary fashion as well as make the
overall images sharp and vibrant.
While participating in Project Involve, an
Independent Film Project Program for student filmmakers of color, Garrett met
JOHN SAVEDRA, a recent graduate of Cal Arts with an interest in becoming a
Director of Photography. Garrett invited John to meet with Jessica so that he
and Jessica could review John’s reel and talk about the project.
Jessica and Garrett had reviewed dozens of reels, but had not found
anyone who particularly impressed them. John’s
reel was a different story. They were impressed by John’s visual style and
offered him the DP position on HOPE’S CHOICE. He readily accepted.
Although the grant covered an enormous portion of the
budget, Jessica knew that it would take quite a bit more to completely cover all
of the costs for the film from pre-production through post. She and Garrett
approached family and friends as well as contributing some of their own savings
to complete funding.
JEFFREY GELBER, a friend whom Jessica met during an
internship, offered to handle principal casting. He had a classmate at UCLA
named JOCKO SIMS whom he thought would be a great fit in the role of Dante. He
brought Jocko in to audition for the role.
Jocko had a powerful presence in his audition. His simplistic yet
engaging portrayal of Dante sealed his participation in the short.
Principal photography began in the last week of May
in 2003. It was originally scheduled as a six-day shoot, but due to scheduling
issues was expanded to seven days. The crew worked extremely hard every day.
Unlike many shoots, there were no on set conflicts. Everything was not perfect,
but it was comfortable. After a few pickup days in late June 2003, production
wrapped.