Drama from afar

Filmmaker Michael Bekemeyer discusses a scene with actors Andrea Jordan and Jose Miguel Vasquez.

— An independent movie shot at Axum Coffee in downtown Winter Garden is making its debut at a local film festival.

IF YOU GO

“Impasse,” by Winter Garden filmmaker Michael Bekemeyer, will be shown at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, at Cobb Plaza Cinema Café, 155 S. Orange Ave., in downtown Orlando.

WINTER GARDEN — There are two morals to this story: If you and your significant other have a fight in public, you could be the subject of someone’s movie. And, if you are a writer, you can find inspiration anywhere, even if you are enjoying a cup of java near the window of your local coffee shop.

Michael Bekemeyer, an independent filmmaker from Winter Garden, and his collaborative partner, writer Jeanne Veillette Bowerman, have created a movie that was accepted for this week’s Orlando Film Festival — and it is based on a simple scene Bowerman witnessed and live tweeted about two years ago.

“I feel like, if you’re paying attention, the next great story can come from anywhere,” Bekemeyer said. “I’m very happy that Jeanne was paying attention that day and we got a great idea for a film out of it. It makes life a lot more interesting when you are always looking for little Easter eggs hidden in the mundane in-and-out of the daily grind.”

SOCIAL SETTING

Bowerman watched with fascination as a couple stood in the freezing rain, having some kind of lover’s quarrel. She wondered what they were fighting about and found herself giving a play-by-play on Twitter.

“She actually live-tweeted the entire thing, her thoughts and interpretations,” Bekemeyer said. “Her imagination wondering what they might be fighting about actually made me realize that her interpretation about what might be happening said more about her own self and was most likely way more interesting than the truth of the situation.”

The film, “Impasse,” was the result of this public argument, Bowerman’s curiosity and Bekemeyer’s vision. It’s the story of a distraught woman named Alice, who spends the day in a coffee shop watching the couple’s spat, which forces her to consider the miserable state of her own relationship. 

Bowerman was at a Starbucks to do some writing, but it was impossible to do with this fascinating scene taking place outside. Her Twitter feed started like this: 

jeannevb: this couple has been standing outside Starbucks for 20 min arguing & its freezing out there. I want to go finish the fight for them

jeannevb: it’s calm fight. They are upset but intently listening. I think this is the end for them & they know it

jeannevb: They must really love each other to have such an artful argument

jeannevb: now his hands in his pockets, her arms crossed. They are both staring into parking lot. Silent.

jeannevb: I shld feel guilty about invading their privacy, but u guys are mostly writers. Thought you’d enjoy this slice of reality for char research

jeannevb: this would make a great short film #AreYouReadyToRummmmmble

jeannevb: His shoulders are slumping as he leans against the cold, wet rail. Her stance defeated. 

jeannevb: He steps closer to her. She steps back. He retreats and puts his hood back up. She then takes one step toward him. 

jeannevb: He’s talking, shrugging and nodding. Is it resignation… defeat… admission of guilt? 

jeannevb Her arms are crossed. Now she goes to the rail. Touches it. Steps back. Her head bobbing as she talks… in a scolding manner. 

jeannevb: She said something. He nodded and said okay. 

jeannevb: They are walking to the parking lot…next to each other… but far away 

jeannevb: He walked her to her car. A long, tender embrace…. long embrace

jeannevb They pull apart… and keep talking. Now standing in the rain (in 28 degrees I may add).

jeannevb: listen guy, kiss her already! No woman stands in the rain for a man she doesnt love!

jeannevb: She opened her door. He stepped one small step closer. …

jeannevb: She got in and shut the door.

jeannevb: He’s standing alone. Looking at her inside the car.

jeannevb: He lets out a huge sigh… and walked away

jeannevb: He’s at his SUV… opens the door and gets in. They’re both sitting in their cars. I can see the smoke coming from the exhaust.

jeannevb: She pulls out. He sits.

jeannevb: I can see her tail lights through the cold rain. I can feel his heart pounding as he sits motionless. 

jeannevb: I really have nothing to say now. Wow. That was wild. Sad. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. Wish you could have seen their faces.

jeannevb [to Michael Bekemeyer]: this could be our short film, sir :)”

INSPIRATION STRIKES

“If you read all the way down to the end, you can read where Jeanne and I are talking and she says, ‘This could be our short film,’” Bekemeyer said. “It happened right there, in the public timeline, in real time.

“The film was born from my own want to work with some of the people I know from Twitter, around the country — really talented people that the only thing keeping us from working together was the proximity to one another,” Bekemeyer said. “We set out with the idea that we would make something together.”

He ran a Kickstarter campaign online and raised nearly $16,000 for the project, enough to fly in the two main actors from Los Angeles and Bowerman and a cinematographer from New York. The group rented a house in Orlando for a week, and the film was made.

“It has honestly been the most rewarding creative process I have ever been involved with, and we are all thrilled our little film is going to be premiering at the Orlando Film Festival,” Bekemeyer said.

He enjoyed collaborating on the project, he said.

“Writing a script can be a solitary process,” he said. “It’s very much sitting alone in a room, trying to figure out what should happen next; what should this character say, what should that other character do? And then by the time I get in the set with people, I find myself craving the partnership that comes from being around really smart and talented people.”

Bekemeyer graduated from West Orange High School in 1991 and was originally a music major in college. But, he caught what he calls the filmmaking bug when he visited the set of a friend who was studying film at Full Sail University, in Winter Park.

“I subsequently dropped my major and started making really bad, worse-than-student films,” he said.

He studied TV and film production at Orlando Tech but ultimately decided the best education was to make one himself.

So he did, and this is what he’s been doing for 20 years. He spent most of that time as a video editor/cameraman, but he now teaches TV production at Lake Minneola High School.

West Orange County residents might be familiar with the filmmaker’s family. His parents, Fred and Gwen, are Lakeview High School graduates, and his mother was a teacher at Dillard Street Elementary School. His grandfather, Fred, was postmaster and lived in Winter Garden for many years with his wife, Mildred. Another grandmother, Lanelle Lasseter, still lives there.