Jack Lewars and Finnerty Steeves of BEFORE/DURING/AFTER: Interview at 2020 Naples International Film Festival Archives; seemingly perfect 15-year marriage comes to an abrupt end

Jack Lewars and Finnerty Steeves of BEFORE/DURING/AFTER: Interview at 2020 Naples International Film Festival; when a seemingly perfect 15-year marriage comes to an abrupt end.

WHO DID WE TALK TO:

Jack Lewars (Co-Director) and Finnerty Steeves (Writer, producer, and star) of BEFORE/DURING/AFTER

WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THE INTERVIEW:

This was an interview we did during the pandemic. The film won the Programmer’s Choice Award at the 2020 Naples International Film Festival.

WHAT’S THE FILM ABOUT:

BEFORE/DURING/AFTER is the story of Jennie Lonergan, a middle-aged NYC theatre actress, who is forced to figure out the kind of person she wants to be when her seemingly perfect 15-year marriage comes to an abrupt end after she catches her husband having an affair.

The film is anchored in one day in Jennie’s life when she is auditioning for a career-making role in a play that triggers a flood of her own unprocessed memories about her marriage and the aftermath of her divorce.

WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT:

We talk about the approach to writing – and then making – a film that includes shaking up timelines and the affect each of those moments (past, current, and in the future) have on the main character’s psyche. Also discussed is the film’s rogues gallery of character actors: how they were assembled, how appropriate they were to the project, etc. Finally, we talk about how much the film was influenced by 70’s cinema. Finnerty also discusses the process of developing, writing, filming, and making a film based on your own life.

WHERE CAN YOU SEE THE FILM:

FISH & MEN is available on Tubi and Amazon.

Jack Lewars and Finnerty Steeves of BEFORE/DURING/AFTER: Interview at 2020 Naples International Film Festival Archives; seemingly perfect 15-year marriage comes to an abrupt end