The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Date: May 2019
Your Vote
4/5
Overall Rating
3/5
Opps, please vote again
2 votes

The story being told by director Emily Elizabeth Thomas and TBWA\Chiat\Day New York for the Brooklyn Film Festival was inspired by true headlines of sexual misconduct in the entertainment capital.

The organizers of the 2019 Brooklyn Film Festival (31 May-9 June) are going beyond Brooklyn this year to tell the stories that Hollywood won’t tell with ‘The Gathering,’ which tells the tales of three Hollywood actors who never got the part, depicted during a chance encounter that reveals their shared experiences. The costumes, voice over, subtleties and symbolism scream in a way that Hollywood – and the world – will understand.

In the film, a woman dressed as a 40s-era spy sits at a table with a nun, who is praying to her rosary. A woman dressed as an elf comes over and sits with them. As the nun speaks, she states that all three “have a cross to bear.” She then says she was told that if she prayed hard enough and sacrificed she would “receive the call” and the role would be hers. The call never came. The other two recount their stories of harassment, all in character, so we come to realize that this kind of ‘casting couch’ behavior – made famous by the Harvey Weinstein allegations and the #MeToo movement – are all too familiar in Hollywood, but the issue still isn’t addressed in entertainment and is far from being solved and talked about openly.

The voice over at the end, by Ashley Judd – who famously helped kick off the #MeToo movement when she told The New York Times about being harassed by Weinstein – says “Every story matters. Even the ones Hollywood doesn’t tell.”

Credits

Channel Carol (The Nun)

Caroline Hewitt (The Spy)

Elizabeth Ward Land (The Elf Queen)

Chelsea Watts (The Waitress)

Directed by Emily Elizabeth Thomas of Derby Content

Produced by Derby Content

Executive Producer Rebecca Niles

In partnership with TBWA\Chiat\Day\New York