‘Syrup’ Spills Over Screen with Q&A

Last Sunday, the Middlebury Film Society hosted a screening of “Syrup,” an edgy comedy set in the cut-throat world of advertising, based off of the best-selling novel of the same name by Max Barry. The film was produced in part by Middlebury alumni Aaron Becker ’10, Shane Mandes ’10 and Baird Kellogg ’10. Current student Hunter Nolan ’13 also worked on the film as an associate producer and assistant editor. After the screening, Kellogg, Mandes, Becker and Nolan all sat down for a Q&A with the audience.

With loud music blaring over the speakers of Dana Auditorium and with a veritable entourage of the college alumni who worked on the film and their friends, the premiere was quite the event. Arriving 10 minutes before the show started, I was stuck sitting in some of the front row seats as excited students had already packed the auditorium for the film.

The film stars Shiloh Fernandez as Scat, a business school graduate who thinks he has the next great marketing idea. After being betrayed by his friend ‘Sneaky Pete’ at the beginning of the film, Scat teams up with ‘6’, his new boss at the Addy drink company to work his way to the top through an industry he soon finds to be riddled with deception. At first, I thought the running gag of the characters giving themselves unique names was a bit gimmicky, but as the film progressed, it tied in well with a running theme of self-reinvention and our attempts at hiding behind a false image we create for the world.

“It’s a dramedy — a dramatic comedy,” Becker said. “[It’s] a society piece and a bit of a satire.”

The acting was solid throughout the film. Fitting with the off-and-on lack of seriousness in the film, each actor was able to pin down a different trope for his or her character. The sexy and mysterious business woman, the ‘always thinks his idea is the next big thing’ idealist, the silent but deadly archenemy — all of the characters seemed to want to be a cliché, while still managing to be interesting with a sense of depth.
My only real issue with the film was the pacing. After only the first half-hour or so of the film, two or three conflicts had been established and resolved. At one point, the story seemed to rush by at break-neck speed, only to slow down for another 20 minutes without plot development.

While there were a lot of interesting and plot-moving scenes, the transitions sometimes felt rushed and fragmented. That being said, the story as a whole did manage to hold my attention throughout and even kept me guessing at points. And, as well as being compelling, the story presented a less-than-cliché love story. In fact, love story is a bit of a misnomer in this case and I enjoyed seeing the romantic tension culminate in a way I didn’t predict.
The filming process began three summers ago. Kellogg, Mandes and Becker spent many weeks travelling the country, trying to juggle commitments from actors and producers in a difficult balance that proves that there’s a lot more involved in a movie than filming.

“A script had been circulating in Los Angeles as an earlier adaptation of the story written by the author of the book and we were able to buy the rights from him and completely readapt it,” Becker said at the Q&A.
According to the three involved, they aren’t using the term ‘readapted’ conservatively, as the film really only takes the name and basic idea from the novel. It becomes a new work in and of itself.

“It was great to have the author so heavily involved,” Mandes said. “He took the characters, ideas and themes from the book and made a whole new story.”

The enthusiasm on the part of all four involved was incredibly evident during the Q&A. The effort that went into this film was clear both from their stories and in the final product. And their effort certainly did not go to waste; the film was released on iTunes last Friday and by the end of the week it was already the second most downloaded independent film on the site.

“You get really anxious the day it is released because you don’t know how people will receive it,” Becker said, “so seeing people get so excited about the movie was my favorite part of the whole process.”
The final question of the Q&A, asked by Nolan himself, directed to the other more experienced filmmakers touched upon the goals that many students at the College have; to take something they are truly passionate about, create a product they are proud of and go somewhere with. “What are some stepping stones,” he asked, “in getting to where you are?”

“The first and most basic thing,” Mandes said, “is just doing it … if you get thrown into the fire, you’ll figure it out. If someone has an idea and there’s an opportunity, just go for it and make something.”
Looking ahead to the future, the three Middlebury alumni hope to keep up their momentum from “Syrup.” This summer they will be in Chicago shooting a political thriller about a cyber-terrorist attack on the United States.

“Syrup” is currently On Demand and available for download on iTunes and is set for a theatrical release on June 7.