Beyond the Oscar glare of Adrien Brody and the controversy of Michael Jackson, the Palm Beach International Film Festival featured a film by Isabel Rose, an actress, writer, director, singer and dancer who was inspired by watching movie musicals in her basement throughout her childhood.
Rose wrote Standard Time (soon to be Anything But Love) after the idea popped into her head while she was riding in a taxi on her way to see an Eartha Kitt cabaret performance.
“I grew up with images of Marilyn Monroe on my wall,” explained Rose. “I wanted to make a movie about the importance of image in creating an identity for yourself.”
In the film, mediocre cabaret performer/waitress Billie Golden (Rose) lives in a Technicolor dream world and refuses to face the reality of her life. Her father died when she was young and her mother is a pill-popping drunk. She reunites with a crush from her high school days only to fall in love with a struggling piano player/teacher. She has to decide whether to stay with her stable fiancí© or take the plunge with the piano teacher she really loves. The plot is set on a backdrop of vintage costumes, vibrant screen colors, and music from the grand days of movie musicals like Funny Face and Singin’ In The Rain.
“I tried to take an old prototype and reintroduce it to a contemporary audience,” Rose said. “A girl can achieve happiness with her career first and then get the man she wants.”
To get her message out and promote the movie, Rose visited Prof. Mary Wiles’ Film and Gender class on FAU’s Boca Raton campus to talk with students and answer any questions they had about the film.
Rose chatted with students about behind-the-scenes tidbits that occurred while filming in New York in 2001, like possible endings and guerrilla shoots because of lack of funding.
Jason Priestley was originally slated to play the part of Billie’s high school crush/fiancí© Greg, but he was injured while racing cars. Fellow former “Beverly Hills 90210” cast member Cameron Bancroft stepped into the role while Pretty in Pink star Andrew McCarthy played piano teacher Elliot Shepard.
Rose also announced that the film has recently been picked up by Samuel Goldwyn to be distributed in the fall. “Standard Time will hopefully be this year’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding for MGM,” she said.
Incidentally, 17 film festivals previously rejected Standard Time, but Rose never thought about giving up on her dream.
“There is a sort of world of ‘cool’ that people are looking for, and they didn’t look at my movie for what it was,” she said. “I grew up watching movie musicals with a message of hope, unlike today’s movies of despair.”
After class, Rose signed autographs for students who felt she was on her way to stardom.
“I liked her film because the character of Billie was very different from other characters in movies today,” remarked student Heather McDonald. “Standard Time was just entertaining and that’s nice to have in the world today.”
Some students asked Rose for advice on making films. “Don’t give up, be in tune with your own voice, and feel free to email me if you ever have any questions,” Rose replied.
For more information about Standard Time visit: www.standardtime.net.
