By April Wright (writer/director of Layover)
(February 2009)

A couple of years ago, I was driving cross-country for my documentary about drive-in theatres. As I went through each small town, I thought about all the differences between people who stay in their hometown and people who move away. There are positives and negatives in each lifestyle and the underlying human desires that are sometimes in conflict: to feel at home or to escape. The basic concept of Layover came to me: What if two people crossed paths during a major change from one life to the other, and they got stuck in the middle - both literally and figuratively?

As a writer, I eavesdrop on conversations, so I had a folder full of interesting quotes and philosophies I'd either heard people say or had in conversations myself. I knew Layover was the film where all these topics could be explored, and I knew with two characters in essentially one location, I could manage the scope in a way that would make this a good first film for me to direct. I hope people will relate to both characters in some way. Yes, they've had extremes in their lives, but I hope people will realize that what we all have in common is stronger than our differences.

Writer/Director April Wright

Knowing I would direct it, I intentionally tried to mitigate the ways the film could go wrong during production by keeping the scope very controlled. But there were many challenges! Finding an airport was the greatest hurdle, but then I met someone from the Montana Film Office, and they helped us find the perfect location. The texture and colors of the airport in Bozeman are so interesting, it really sets the tone for the film.

The other huge challenge was dialogue. This script was an actor's dream (so it seemed) - a whole script with just two people onscreen all the time. There are only a couple of brief moments when we see them apart. I'd made the creative decision that I always wanted both actors in frame, even in each other's coverage. So the actors literally had pages and pages of dialogue to memorize for every night of shooting. It was a challenge. Some nights I didn't think we'd get through it, but we did. I told my actors they'll never have it this hard again!

Layover at the airport in Bozeman, Montana

Layover is a personal movie. And it's a mature movie. You have to immerse yourself, and listen, and take the whole journey with these characters, because the truth of the characters is in the details. And the people you think you meet in Scene One aren't the people you've gotten to know by the end of the movie. So I hope there's both an emotional and intellectual banter happening as you watch the film. I like films like this. I like talkie films; I like philosophical films; I like films that make me think. And I like character pieces. Don't get me wrong; I like other types of films, too, but I realize this is a specific sub-genre, and I hope others who like these kinds of films will really like Layover. I know it may not be for everybody. This isn't a film that you can passively watch and catch a plot point here and there; you have to really submit to these characters.

Richard (Daniel Rhyder) and Tiffany (Stacey Miller)

We chose Montana so that we could sell the weather delay when we were shooting in late March, but when we arrived, Bozeman was having record-setting warm weather! It was hot. The locals assured us the weather changes quickly and that a storm front was on the way. We'd scheduled a day to shoot the external snow shots and feared we'd have to reschedule, or maybe even pick up those shots later or at a different airport that would have snow. But on the scheduled day, a huge storm came in, and, right on cue as we were driving to set, it started to snow. Not just a light snow, but a massive blizzard practically came out of nowhere. Needless to say, we got all our shots! It was also cool that one of our actors, an L.A. native, had never actually seen it snow before! I thought it was really fun to see someone experience snow for the first time. -MPM

Wright's first narrative feature, Layover premieres at Cinequest (February 25-March 8 in San Jose) and will screen at the Reel Women International Film Festival (March 27-April 2 in Los Angeles). The film is also being honored with the Silver Lei Award for Filmmaking Excellence at the Honolulu International Film Festival (March 6-8). Visit www.april9entertainment.com for more information.

Photos courtesy of the filmmaker.