Film and an Escape: “Lemonhead” (2018)
Starring Grady Calder and Ian Dugan, Lemonhead (2018) is about a boy named Aidan and his strangely addictive lemonade. Created entirely in 24 hours, this was the film that got me into USC and turned me into an award-winning filmmaker. It is, by far, the most memorable film I have ever made, still being brought up in regular conversation despite being three years old now. But Lemonhead is not just one of the best films I have made thus far; it just so happens to be the first in a series of films that had me questioning my skills as a filmmaker.
On June 29, 2018, my father drove me over to my friend Austin’s house for the annual 24 hour film challenge we participated in every year, run by our extracurricular alma mater, NJ Film School. Austin Segal and I met at the Film School, along with our other longtime collaborator and friend, Logan Calder, who would prove to be a major contributor on Lemonhead. This particular year, I brought on Ian Dugan, who the three of us had met at a film festival a month prior, and Austin brought on Caroline Lidz, a friend from school that was interested in filmmaking. We were a team of five (eventually six as Grady Calder comes in around 10 AM or so), waiting patiently in Austin’s basement for our prompt at midnight.
June 30, 2018, 12 AM. Create a short that includes keys and the line “close your eyes.” Time to get to work.
Logan comes up with an idea around 12:30 AM. We’d been brainstorming for about half an hour trying to center our film around the object we’d been given, when Logan mutters something under his breath: “What about a kid running a successful lemonade stand who somehow ends up with car keys?” I thought it was brilliant and, as the director, I had everyone focus their attention to the lemonade kid. How could we expand this into a five minute film?
For five hours, we grappled with this idea, pulling it every direction possible. Maybe this was a kid who was raising money for a homeless shelter and somehow donates car keys that he bought with his profits? Maybe the kid needed to get away from an abusive father, and this was the only conceivable way he could do so? Maybe he wanted to give the keys to his non-abusive father? Logan and Austin always had a flair for the dramatic in their work, but since I was directing, I wanted to try something different. I don’t remember who came up with the idea of adding a drug that would turn someone into an addict to the point where they would give up their car in exchange for some lemonade, but that’s what it turned into. Somewhere along the way, we’d decided to contrast a bright summer day and parodied tropes with such a grim subject matter, turning Lemonhead into the first ever dark comedy created by yours truly.
Though I now look back on Lemonhead with fond memories of my friends and I goofing around for twenty-four hours, I actually did not quite care for it at first. After we submitted the film, Logan, Austin, and I reflected on the day we’d had, both of them stating that this film was one of the better ones the three of us made together. I did not think so, despite writing and directing the film. We hadn’t done very many successful comedies before, and I was afraid we missed the mark. Maybe I should have gone more serious with the story. Maybe I should have made something with a clearer message, something that meant something.
Why had I escaped to comedy? Why did I do something silly? Was I just afraid to fail at drama? How was anyone going to see me as a valid director? Student films often fail at comedy, so did I fall into that trap as well?
Over time, I’ve made peace with my decisions on that set. After all, we were shooting in 95 degree weather with hardly any sleep to get this film done in 24 hours. In such conditions, it’s hard to not do something fun, as going for the dramatic would have drained us dry. Why did I take comedy so seriously?
We ended up winning four awards for the challenge, namely Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Film. Seeing the judges’ and audience’s reaction to the film was incredible, yet I found myself wondering what other outcomes could have been had I not escaped myself and defaulted to making a joke out of the whole thing.
Lemonhead turned out to be one of the films I am most known for. Hell, it got me into USC! In a way, going down the dark comedy route in a student film (and doing so successfully?) made me stand out from the crowd.
But at what cost?
WORK CITED:
Diaz, Gabriella. “Lemonhead.” Youtube, uploaded by Segal Cinematics, 1 July 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watchv=rLMgkDfUbKo&list= PLVM1S4Gt49F5jWC0l-m9t2x8vpMgcBtwZ&index=13.
