In the Lyons Den: Screenplay and Auditions
Part One
It’s 11:55 a.m., five minutes before auditions begin, and John C. Lyons is talking to a pair of women at a registration table behind the locked doors of the Erie Playhouse Rehearsal Hall, 919 State Street. Outside, where I’m at, 15 or so hopefuls have been waiting, some since 11:30 a.m., to get their shot at a role in Lyons’ first feature film Schism.
Dancers. Kids. Older men. Young adults. The crowd is diverse enough, but it’ll get bigger before the day is through. When I leave after watching five auditions, there are 25 people waiting outside the 2nd floor audition space. More actors are downstairs registering and having their photo taken as I exit the building. The auditions will go long with nearly 75 aspiring actors, young and old, auditioning until 6 p.m., long past the scheduled 4 p.m. end.
It’s not surprising that Lyons could get actors to come out for his auditions. His last effort, a 40-minute short titled Hunting Camp, showed that Lyons has the aptitude and the vision to make substantial works. Hunting Camp’s Best of the Fest Award from the Rochester International Film Festival reaffirms that sentiment.
On August 26, though, Lyons had in front of him a nine-year-old girl reading with a 58-year-old man. That meant work on his biggest project yet was just beginning.
From Screenplay to the Auditions
A casting person sits next to Lyons at a table in the front of the room. The camera is rolling, capturing Lyons’ technical advisor Ross Polizzi act out a scene with a woman who is reading the lines of the main character, Neil’s nurse. The actress stops in mid-sentence saying, “This doesn’t sound right.”
It wouldn’t be the only time someone would say that during the audition, but Lyons said he is pretty open when it comes to making changes to his screenplay. The line that everyone was stumbling over is an example of the flexibility Lyons has to have after seeing people audition. But there’s also refining that occurs once the casting begins.
“If someone brings a character trait or an idea, then I can add something to the personality of the character,” said Lyons.
Even if those changes do come into effect later, Lyons’ main idea detailed in the screenplay has already been set by the audition date. The themes aren’t going to shift from his what he already has written in the script. In fact, he’s already gone much further than developing the themes.
When Lyons wrote the first draft, Polizzi, an occupational therapist at an assisted living facility, came on to help him make the screenplay more accurate and realistic to the nursing home world where the film takes place. He also did some polishing with local author, William R. Vitanyi, Jr. With only some tweaking still left to complete, the screenplay has its first chance to become alive in the auditions.
The Story
“All of us, make the most of life because time is going to catch up with you,” said Lyons. “At a certain point we are all going to get there.”
That’s what Lyons hopes people take from Schism, a film about man who is in the final stages of dementia. He says it isn’t going to be an exposé of assisted living facilities, but rather a film that focuses on the world of seniors and the staffs that help them.
Lyons noted that in his preparations for Schism that there was a dearth of films about people in assisted living facilities.
“Most films were like The Notebook, where half an hour or twenty minutes took place inside a nursing home and nothing else,” said Lyons. He was set on making something where the focus was on those characters inside the walls of the facility.
Anytime he mentioned what exactly he was going to be doing with this film, people’s responses were encouraging.
“The story I’m finding is one that a lot of people are going through,” said Lyons. “‘My mom was like this’ or ‘my grandfather was like this.’”
For Lyons, too, the story is personal.
“Growing up the two strongest figures in my life were father and grandfather,” said Lyons. “The main characters are made up of or are a tribute to my family.”
What’s Next
Lyons is currently looking for the main location for his film, but is prepared to go into production this month without one.
“I’ll start shooting what I can because the scene opens with Neil the main character in his house,” said Lyons. “That’s when he falls and breaks his hip and that’s how he ends up being in the facility.”
And that’s just one of the scenes that can be shot before the main location is utilized. Scenes of his family packing up the house and some of Neil’s hallucinations, according to Lyons, can also be shot at different locations around the area.
In the mean time, there are other things that can keep Lyons and company busy. Another audition date is scheduled for Saturday, again at the Erie Playhouse Rehearsal Hall. While that is happening Lyons is meeting with crewmembers, including his director of photography Jason McCann, to discuss their role in the production.
Lyons is also meeting with other crewmembers, some of whom he met through the online networking website MySpace. Most of those people, according to Lyons, are in the same position he’s in when it comes to an indie production like Schism.
“They’re just looking to get their feet wet,” said Lyons.
After Hunting Camp, though, some people would say that this project isn’t simply another chance to wade in the waters; Lyons is finally going to do some laps in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
This article is part one in a series about John C. Lyons upcoming Erie-produced feature “Schism.” More articles will follow as the production progresses. For more information on “Schism” visit www.SchismMovie.com.
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