Staff Pick Premiere: "Charlotte" by Zach Dorn |

This episode of the Staff Pick Premiere, forgotten folk musician Lena Black discovers her fifty-year-old song "Charlotte" was remade to become a popular pop tune. Set in the aftermath of the release of the track the director Zach Dorn explores how the legacy of the song impacts Lena as well as her daughter Diane as well as her 11-year-old grandchild, Eli.

In a letter to the popular singer, Lena writes: "There is a far greater danger than simply forgetting, and that is not being understood." The basic idea is echoed throughout all of the film's scenes when the singer's newfound success uncovers the past injuries. Through a string of almost-all-but-one conversation - including Lena's letter Lena Diane's call, and Eli's tape Dorn creates a touching portrait of a family that begins to talk to one another over the sound of music.

If asked about his distinctive style for the film Dorn stated: "I loved the conceit that we are exploring these connections, yet never see the family members interact. In presenting the narrative through individual monologues, I wanted it to appear as though the characters had each created their own versions of the same song. There's these emotional, physical and geographic differences, but hopefully something at the heart of their struggles ends up converging into the same song."

The tune may be familiar to anyone who has witnessed their families break up however "Charlotte" is different from any other family drama that we've seen on the . Using hand-made puppets and stop-motion animation, Dorn takes us inside their memories, lives and imaginations for an emotionally powerful adventure.

     In advance of the release We reached out to Dorn to find out more about his inspiration as well as his method of design and process. Get more information about "Charlotte. "

The film's origins:

"In 2019 I created a puppet show featuring the world's largest sponge, as well as the hit TV show Gilmore Girls. Just a few days ago, as I was searching for tiny items in the faux-floral aisle in an Michael's Craft store, Carly Rae Jepsen's rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" heard on the speakers. The cover is incredibly upbeat as well as a delightful sparkling pop track that's somewhat odd given that the song's original version is complicated and difficult to comprehend. The experience was so uplifting that I enjoyed the Carly Rae cover so much. Personally, I felt the version with pop lyrics even though it wasn't as polished but still had all the passion of Joni Mitchell's original. I felt a little embarrassed and a bit irritated by this idea however, I continued to think of Carly Rae Jepsen's performance as well as Joni Mitchell's versions of "Both Sides Now" when we were having a conversation. This conversation eventually became the basis for "Charlotte ."

In making the script

"I wrote the initial version of "Charlotte" as an audio play that was akin to the style of a Joe Frank voyeuristic drama, using miniatures of scenes without the use of puppets. I composed the story from the viewpoints of eight characters who have a distinct personal or professional relationship which was based on the theme of "Charlotte." When I took the time to get acquainted with these characters, Diane and Eli felt to be the most intriguing, so I kept their stories on the same level with Lena and the pop star T.Y.M. When I realized this and was able to understand the plot, I had to spend lots of hours trying to find out what I could do to help them make their tales interspersed."

HTML1 On the music collaboration:

"When I was writing "Charlotte," I always imagined the musician Jenna Caravello in mind. While I was writing the story, I was able to send an imaginary Rolling Stone interviews with Lena Black and some of faux-diary entries. From this, Jenna wrote the folk music.

     Jenna's track was sent to Zhenya Golikova, whom I had met on the internet. It was in the year 2020 that Zhenya recorded these voice memo tunes I wrote to a friend, silly and silly songs about marshmallows and cats in addition to the longing for someone else, and then Zhenya altered my lyrics to create stunning ballads. The music she created has that old Magnetic Fields feel, as if that it was composed at ocean by sea-going sea mongoose.. I showed her Jenna's track and she got the pop version a few days after . "

On the talk-show segment:

"So many female folk musicians in the 60s and 70s were largely ignored. Folk artists such as Vashti Bunyan Karen Dalton, Linda Perrhacs along with The Roches, were overlooked or pushed aside into categories like "freak folk" but were never treated as seriously as their male counterparts. There's fascinating contradiction in the fact that folk music is seen as a progressive art form, while still bogged by a particular kind of misogyny, which is unspoken.

     As I listened to these musicians I was imagining Lena in the current moment of her career. In order to keep her status quo, her work would mean participating in the 1970s Laurel Canyon lifestyle, party with the correct kind of individuals, and also take an appropriate substance - all in a society created and governed by men. But I don't believe she'd feel up to it. Perhaps it was due to her motherhood perhaps, or she might be able to see all the details. It's difficult to know. She was simply grieving that lasted the span of a lifetime, mourning for an entire career. What is she going to do with the frustration? What happens when she is angry? out to her daughter? In thinking about these concerns I attempted to compose the interaction between Lena and Sam in the context of the relationship she has to her child. "

On developing his unique visual style:

     "In my 20s and early 20s, I played the role of an actor however I was never any skilled at it. I am missing an eighth of my brain, and I believe it has resulted in a complete lack of spatial perception. The idea of manipulating or making things with three dimensions was completely out of the question. It was a good thing I stumbled upon Toy Theater, a type of puppetry that was widespread in late 19th century England. I started building tiny dioramas out of Acrylics and matte boards similar to pop-up books. I experimented with live-projecting cameras in of them while I told stories of my landlord or deceased dog.

     I am obsessed with the specifics of every single thing, regardless of the barcode on a Doritos bag or the shape of an McDonald's Happy Meal box. Because of my numb brain, I'm not able to create straight lines or design things with a real-world look. Therefore, I'm like a mashup of an object that's crumbling and obsessed.

To create the characters, I collaborated together with stop-motion animators Oliver Levine and Lily Windsor to create a slightly gritty and textural look that matched the movie's hand-painted environment. As I wrote the script during the lockdown period and censorship, we traveled on a long-distance basis, Lily being from Chicago, mailing tiny boxes of llamas and Oliver leaving head sculpts at my doorway in Burbank . ">

The next step:

     "Currently I'm working on a short documentary about Livia Soprano, the CGI Livia Soprano from the third season of The Sopranos, as well as the genetic disorder called BRCA2. My family was an Italian American family filled with diverse personalities and eccentricities, however, by my 20s, BRCA2 caused a ripple effect on the familial connections through the premature deaths of family members.

     In the year 2020, I viewed The Sopranos for the first time. Each show felt as if I had a conversation with my family again. Today I'm creating a film on this event that will recreate my home movies with slow-motion footage, and look at Livia's posthumous performance in relation to my personal grieving experience. . "

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