Creating Family On Set: The Story Behind "Continue" with Nadine Crocker

What drives a filmmaker to transform deeply personal pain into a powerful message for mental health awareness? Writer, director, producer, and lead actor Nadine Crocker opens up about her survival after a suicide attempt and how this harrowing experience led her to create the film Continue. Recorded live at the Mammoth Film Festival, this episode uncovers the heart and soul behind the project, showcasing the supportive environment Nadine cultivated on set and featuring an emotional story from Kat Foster about life-changing advice given to a former set PA.

Discover how every team member’s personal connection to mental health shaped the film, including insights from Rachel Bilson, Olivia Allen, and Shiloh Fernandez. Their involvement, along with Anthony Caravella’s contributions, emphasizes the vulnerability required to craft such an impactful narrative. Creating an independent film is no small feat, and Nadine, along with Anthony, shares the incredible journey behind Continue. Nadine’s unwavering authenticity and vision rallied a dedicated cast and crew, who often volunteered their time and talents, forming a familial bond throughout the process.

As we eagerly await the film's release, learn about the collaborative spirit that turned a deeply personal story into a cinematic experience poised to make a difference. Stay tuned for updates and join us in celebrating this extraordinary team effort.

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Visit wemakemovies.org/insurance and use code CFA23 on your intake form for 10% off your quote.

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Transcript

Creating Impactful Films

Speaker 1 0:00

It is so organic how everyone gets on the same page of this and the outcome is that these movies are deeply impactful to their audiences. These movies move people because everyone on set is themselves moved, like we're all moved. We're moved in this process, and so that's it, and it's because of Nadine, it's because of this, like she, just she creates this environment.

Speaker 2 0:31

This is the Cinematography for Actors podcast.

Speaker 3 0:34

More than a podcast. Cinematography for Actors is a vibrant community devoted to bridging the gap between talent and crew. Each week, our show offers transparent, insightful conversations with industry leaders. We unveil the magic behind the scenes, from candid discussions about unique filmmaking processes to in-depth technical exploration. Join us in unraveling the intricacies of filmmaking, one episode at a time. It's more than just cameras and lenses we aim to inspire, educate and empower as we peel back the curtain on the art of effective storytelling. Now on to the episode.

Speaker 3 1:08

Hi guys, welcome to another special short episode of Cinematography for Actors podcast. We are here on the couch at Mammoth Film Festival with the huge chunk of the working team from Continue. I have here Nadine Cro, crocker, writer, director, um, and then Rachel Bilson, olivia Allen, um, this is Shiloh Fernandez, um. Anthony Caravella and Kat Foster who, before we start, uh, our, our regular listeners know this story because I've talked about it a few times. Um, when I was a set PA, on the Rookie there was an actor who was on the first team who asked what I was doing and I said I want to be an actor.

Speaker 3 1:53

She pulled me aside and said you have to stop being a set PA and some other great advice, and it was Kat Foster who changed my life. So thank you so much. So this is a really cool full circle moment and I'm sorry to make you start crying this is gonna make me cry, really, because I was.

Speaker 1 2:09

I gotta tell you I was having a really hard day myself on set that day, and so the fact that, like you, this I was was able to offer anything that was of use to you in your life, uh, is so beautiful and thank you for letting me know.

Speaker 3 2:23

It was wonderful and I will never be a set PA again.

Speaker 6 2:28

And.

Speaker 3 2:28

I'm doing. This is a story of mental health and I think that, yeah, you having a hard day and maybe also noticing that in me is really cool. It's a cool way of.

Speaker 1 2:39

Well, also, by the way, I remember that you actually sought, like you were, like you sought it out, Like you sought that conversation out. So there was a part of you that knew like something needs to be different.

Speaker 3 2:52

Well, thank you so much, my pleasure, I really appreciate it. And then, nadine, can we get a little logline and tell us about your project?

Speaker 6 3:00

Yes, my project is Continue. Yes, my project is Continue. I'm writer, director, producer and one of the lead actors, and Continue is based on my true story of surviving a suicide attempt in my 20s and finding my way to health and showing the journey and the bumps along the way, and the entire mission for this film is to elevate mental health and suicide prevention and to hopefully save lives from suicide and to open a bigger conversation for mental health and continue to chip away at the stigma that I think can surround mental health and talking about how we're doing and how we're feeling, and being okay with saying I'm not okay.

Speaker 3 3:44

So this is a very vulnerable story that you're sharing. How did you find people who you trusted enough to collaborate on this with you?

Speaker 6 3:53

The universe. That was really like I had been such a fan of Shiloh and Kat and, honestly, they took a chance on me. You know I I was a person wearing a thousand hats on this film trying to just make it possible. You know I had heard a lot along the way that no one wanted to talk about mental health and it's a taboo subject and um, and I break a lot of rules in my film, especially with the ending and and a lot of like the journey along the way, and everyone told me I could not do that and people would hate that, and I think that's the coolest part about the film, like honestly. So I'm so glad that I didn't listen to those people and I stuck with my guns of what I know was important.

Speaker 6 4:39

But, yeah, and my husband and I produced this and invested every dime we had at the time and raised every dime of the financing, and so it was definitely a group effort, with our producing partner, Jay Seals as well that couldn't be here because of the blizzard.

Speaker 6 4:56

He was going to try and come up and then he was like, ok, so I can't come. Some of our other cast also were due to come in today and we were like you're not coming in, I would like you to be safe. But, honestly, everyone here who came on to this film took a shot on me and believed in what we were going to do, and almost everyone attached to this film has a connection to mental health and knew how important it was to mental health and knew how important it was and it was honestly. I'll you know, I've directed other films now since and I'm part of a lot of other projects, but nothing will ever feel like continue again.

Speaker 6 5:32

It was just like the most vulnerable family dynamic and, like you know, I probably shouldn't say this, but like even Shiloh would be like do you need help? Let me help you carry something Like, let me. There was no, like we were all in it together, you know, and and that's why it's like the right person comes to the right project, and so I just feel like it was the universe being like here's a gift. These people are going to be in your life forever and they they both are in my second film as well. So you know.

Speaker 3 6:01

So actually, maybe everyone can take a turn speaking to this. Something that we talk a lot about is the importance of knowing that you're working as a team between all departments, bridging that gap, not keeping things separate between you know talent and crew, or from department.

Speaker 5 6:16

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Speaker 2 6:48

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Speaker 3 7:09

The department, because sometimes that can cause a breakdown and the story suffers. So how do you feel that in this project that was handled, was that taken care of? Well, it sounds like something that was probably a priority.

Speaker 1 7:26

So here's what's so amazing about being in a movie that Nadine has written and directed or just directed her last movie she just directed and she's so like on the ground, in the like, in every she's not like sitting at Village, know she's in there. She's in there with us the whole time. And and also her passion for the material, her clarity about what the story is that we're telling and why we're telling it is so clear that it instantly, spontaneously enrolls the entire crew, the entire cast, the entire production team. It is so organic how everyone gets on the same page of this and the outcome is that these movies are deeply impactful to their audiences. These movies move people because everyone on set is themselves moved, like we're all moved, we're moved in this process and so that's it and it's because of Nadine, it's because of this like she, just she creates this environment.

Speaker 3 8:35

She's a very powerful gma Shiloh, would you like to speak to that as well?

Speaker 7 8:40

uh, sure, yeah, I think, um, I really think it's an interesting thing that you're talking about in this podcast or whatever we're doing here the interview thing Because I know that just separately. You know, I didn't go to acting school or to theater school and so I really did learn how to sort of act on set, meaning that I sort of did get an understanding of each sort of department and how important that was. With this movie. Nadine was all of those departments in a large sense and I think her really like her from her deck to sort of meeting her. There was this understanding.

Commitment and Collaboration in Filmmaking

Speaker 7 9:14

I think that for me, when I a lot of movies that I see, the sort of tone is wrong with actors, especially right Like people feel like they're in different movies in some way, and that's one of my biggest sort of hangups when I watch things or when you know and I think that's really hard for especially young or newer directors to grab a hold of You're nervous to talk to this actor, whatever. So with this it was really special because she came in exactly knowing what she was making, what it was going to be, and I think that the really beautiful thing was sort of having yes, there's a message that sort of ultimately comes out. But that wasn't, it wasn't just a message movie, right, there's, there's, so it's cinematic and there's a lot of, I don't know, beautiful, dramatic, sort of elevated moments, and and so you know, know, the thing is is, like Kat said, she is so inspiring that of course you want to do whatever you can to help her, and the fact that they're laying their whole lives on the line for this movie, you know, is so just incredible. Uh, how could you not applaud that and sort of want to help, however you could? So, um, yeah, and it, you know, I mean it was, it was not a huge movie, I mean budget wise. So that means that you do have to sort of get along and everybody really does have to work together and those that doesn't always happen, but with this movie, because of Nadine being the leader and Anthony, you know, sort of supporting her in that incredible way, sort of just blown away, and you can't help but want to be a part of it and help where you can.

Speaker 3 10:44

Right, great Anthony, I would like to know from you about how this process worked out from pre-production to now.

Speaker 8 10:53

Yeah, I'll just say this. The entire process was so scary because at every turn we were learning as we went. Like I would literally go to work and come back to the office and my wife's like, and we hired, um, a production designer and the next day there'd be a production designer in the office and it was like every day this family was growing and it felt like a family like I. I would show up to set every morning with her and she would already have been there, um, because our dp and her carpooled every day and they would go over their shot list and what they were going to do that day. And then you get to set and you'd see people like kat and shiloh and all the other actors there and they're like moving chairs, they're like passing out water bottles someday, like it was so someday like it was so cool and humbling to see everybody show up for this movie, the way they did. And it all really does go back to my wife.

Speaker 8 11:56

Nadine is one of the most authentic people ever, ever and she's so vulnerable and honest with who she is and how she lives that people meet that and honest with who she is and how she lives, that people meet that and they can't help but be like. I want to help shine that light that you are and I want to help illuminate the talent that you are. And we had the best cast, the best crew. Everybody went so far above and beyond what they were paid to do that we would leave every day with not just a sense of gratitude, but it was more a sense of how fortunate we are to have found such incredible collaborators in the ultimate collaborative medium and I just want to say too and I, like my crew and my dp cy turnbull, um, he worked for like a year and a half with me for free.

Speaker 6 12:50

We lived on, both lived on Beachwood Canyon and he'd walk up to my house and we would just work and work and he'd be doing commercial shoots in between and we shot lists of this entire movie and like did all of this when there was no money, like we were. It was the dream of like okay, these are the dates we're going to try and hit and we're not going to stop until those happen. And we were doing everything possible to hit those dates and everyone was there showing up while there wasn't a paycheck to receive, really yet they just really believed in what we were doing and, I guess, believed that we were crazy, we would make it happen. Like we were crazy, we would make it happen. Like we were gonna do it and like it's such long hours on low, like indie, lower budget films, it is relentless work.

Speaker 6 13:36

Like my production designer, monique is, was just like her and her team worked tirelessly. I mean, there was one day like I I almost feel bad for saying this, but like because they were shopping at night and having to take down the place from the day before, and like she was like, can I? I'm just going to rest my eyes for like two seconds and I'm like, please, just go. Like you know, it's just like everyone was so tired and like you didn't feel that you felt like how much everybody wanted this to happen. Like they it didn't matter what it was gonna take, like it was, we were all working for something bigger than ourselves, for the story, for what we wanted to do, what we thought we could create together.

Speaker 6 14:14

And like also the way that I even work as like an actor. So, across from Shiloh, I'd be like all right, these are the parameters. I won't hurt you, I won't hit you with this bottle, but I'm just gonna go apeshit and are you in? And? And he's like okay, yeah, just don't hit. Like he's like I was like, is there anything I'm not okay to do? He's like, please, just don't hit me with the bottle, please don't break my nose with that whiskey bottle.

Speaker 3 14:36

And I'm like exactly Wonderful when you find the project and the people and the energy brings you with it, almost um. Unfortunately, I feel like that's happening right now. But I have to wrap this up because I promised you guys 10 minutes and it's not enough time. I want to talk to you for an hour, um, but thank you so much for being here with us. Continue. If we can't find it here at mammoth, if we're not here at mammoth, where can we watch? Continue?

Speaker 6 15:01

um, it is coming out later this year. We're waiting for our release date from our distributor. But you can go to continue the filmcom. You can go to continue the film on social media. You can go to any of our accounts. We're always posting about it at Nadine Crocker. And then we also have a nonprofit we created, continue on. That is launching with the film. You can get updates on continue there, continue on.

Speaker 3 15:25

So it's yeah, so cool. Thank you so much for sitting here with me today, guys.

Speaker 1 15:29

Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 15:30

And thanks for listening and watching.

Speaker 4 15:32

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