"HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY MET
THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE?"
A lonely web designer. A cynical photographer. A suave ladykiller. A restless young wife. An infatuated private detective. They all cross paths in The Overlookers, an anthology of five stories connected by fate, voyeurism, chance encounters, unrequited love, and a mysterious company called Attractions, Inc.
Praised by Now Magazine's Wendy Banks for its "solid performances and elegantly loopy plot twists," this intriguing comic drama marks the promising feature debut of Canadian writer-director Christopher Warre Smets.
Inspired by every D.I.Y. filmmaking tradition imaginable, from the French New Wave and '50s "B" noir films to John Cassavetes and Dogme 95, The Overlookers was shot guerilla-style in New York City in the summer of 2003, on the street and in parks, in restaurants and bars and in the apartments of friends. Produced on a shoestring budget, the film was a labour of love for all involved, with each and every actor - including Clint Eastwood favourite Arlen Dean Snyder - taking a deferred salary, and almost the entire crew working completely for free.
Antelope Valley-based producer Stennar Strom teamed with New York producers Damon Middleton, Jenna Ricker, and New Jersey-based Matthew Penn to help realize this ambitious project. Though shot on the East Coast, the film's production company and offices are based in the Valley, and the extended schedule (including over a year of post-production, most of which was handled exclusively by Penn and Strom) involved an incredible amount of co-ordination between all four players, each of whom brought a unique set of skills and experience to help realize the specific vision of director Smets.
A true North American film in every sense of the word, the hard work paid off when The Overlookers debuted to sold-out crowds, enthusiastic reviews, and the top award for Best Feature at the 2005 Canadian Filmmakers Festival.
The themes of the completed film ultimately reflect the passion and discovery involved in its creation. By turns both funny and tragic, The Overlookers is about our pursuit of happiness and the unexpected things we sometimes find along the way.
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