Today Phoenix, tomorrow the greater Glendale area just east ofRoute 60.
As much as I feel iffy about paraphrasing Hitler, consider me downright giddy that The Beneficiary has steamrolled its way into its eighth festival.
Since this seems to be a weekly occurrence (and now that I’ve mentioned this it won’t be), this time I'll change things up – jeté, if you will – and thank a few people who helped make the movie possible. You’ll see their names in the final credits:
Sharon the Dog Walker. It was her idea to bill herself that way. Sharon is my neighbor, and a super-cool chick who walked Petey dozens of times over the year-and-a-half we shot the film. And walking a Pit is no small task; trust me when I say that he and my nephew could have a serious pooh-off.
Michelle. I met Michelle several years ago at a party, and mentioned I was thinking about moving to LA. A few days later I bumped into her and told her I was packing and moving in three days. She told me later that she knew right then that when Matt Shevin sets his mind to something, he does it. Michelle sometimes splits time with Jenn in the psychoanalysis department, and does a bang-up job. I tried to return the favor last summer, when she spent several very difficult months putting her life on hold to take care of her dying mother. I called often, brought out the A material and made her laugh. She thanked me at her mom’s funeral, but she more than earned it.
Jenn. When it comes to earning the nickname “Slash,” Kordel Stewart’s got nothing on Jenn, who does qradruple duty as my lawyer/sounding board/amateur psychiatrist/stylist. Jenn also loaned me the Lexus that appears in the film. Her role as stylist mainly consists of her going shopping with me, suggesting shirts, me telling her I’m not cool enough to wear any of them, Jenn putting her foot down and forcing me to buy them, and me getting endless compliments when I do. Clothes make the bitchy man.
Thanks, ladies. Finishing a film is no easy task, and yet you helped make that happen.
