Chatham Teen Wants To Make A 90s Movie. You Can Help

CHATHAM, NJ - She may have been born after the decade ended, but Chatham High School senior and professional actress Bridget McGarry wants to make a movie about the 90s. And with the help of friend Victoria Leigh, their respective fathers and some generous donors they hope to make their dream a reality.

"Tori’s dad Kevin (Morales) came up a premise that explored his generation's effect on today’s world. Kevin didn’t want to just write this by himself though, because it would be too nostalgic and lack the energy that actual teens have," McGarry said. "Also, Kevin knew how invested Tori and I are in filmmaking in all aspects. In order to create change in Hollywood those with privilege have to lift those without it up. Kevin realized he has the opportunity to help Tori and I realize our dreams."

McGarry and Leigh met while filming an episode of Law and Order in 2015, entitled “Patrimonial Burden.”

The duo became fast friends and in the summer of 2017 began writing the screenplay. They are both high school seniors, while McGarry is in Chatham, Leigh attends the Professional Performing Arts school in NYC.

McGarry's credits include television series like "Blindspot" and "The Jim Gaffigan Show" as well as movies like "Louder Than Bombs" and "#Horror."

The film is about a group of teens who go on a journey of self discovery of three days in a luxurious vacation home in the Sierras. Filming is set to take place this summer with an ensemble cast of nine includes many different types of teens.

"We took the premise, the characters, his story, and fused it with our current high school experience," McGarry said. "We also reached out to actual gen-Xers about their high school experience and took a lot of inspiration from the surveys we took from them."

McGarry said her father Patrick is the executive producer of the film and Morales serves as co-writer and director. McGarry said their father's lived through the 90s and help bridge the generational gap.

"The movie also explores generational theory, as explored in the book Generations by William Strauss and Neil Howe," McGarry said. "So it is easier to explore that idea when we’ve put a little time difference from ourselves and are able to see the picture more clearly."

As far as the toughest challenge they have faced thus far, that is easy for McGarry to point to.

"The biggest challenge that we’ve had to face thus far was the creation of the crowdfunding campaign," she said. "We actually have our location, cast, and crew mostly set but the crowdfunding campaign has so many different pieces to it and it’s not something that we are familiar with. Since we’ve been reading scripts and making movies for years, filmmaking something that we understand and can deal with easily."

McGarry said the film script reflects an attempt to portray teens in a more authentic light.

"Often, the teen experience in movies and TV shows is not accurate to what it’s like to really be a teenager," McGarry said. "We really tried to make sure that we represented our experiences and our friend’s experiences as authentically possible."

And that meant drawing from life experience.

"There’s some of my personal experiences in the film for sure, although they’re heightened and dramaticized for film," McGarry said. "My mom was even an inspiration for one of the adult characters."

McGarry also noted one major difference between the final decade of the last millennium and our modern era.

"They don’t have cell phones so they have to actually talk to each other," McGarry said. "There’s no way for them to remove themselves from the conflict."

McGarry and Leigh have been working on the script since the summer of 2017 and the pair have been splitting the time between Chatham and Brooklyn on weekends.

"We each spent long hours on New Jersey Transit and NYC subways! You could say half of the script was written in Chatham," McGarry said.

McGarry also noted part of the movie will be filmed in Chatham and they are currently scouting locations here.

"We are looking for a deli or convenient store and a church for two of the scenes," she said.

Beyond Chatham, there are plans to film in the Lake Tahoe area in Northern California starting in May. McGarry said principal photography could wrap by July.

"Then we have to edit," she said.

Those interested in contributing can donate here.

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