The ones who hurt us most are often those we hold close under the sheets, as evident by the recently re- leased film, “Spooner.”
The locally shot, short motion picture starred New Paltz graduate and current Adjunct Professor in the Department of Music, Sara Jecko, and was directed by filmmaker Jon Russel Cring.
Jecko plays the role of June, a musician in a three-piece band who, caught in a loveless relation- ship and professional slump, finds her life going no- where.
The story, which takes place in a single day, follows June facing a barrage of tribulations that culminate into personal revelations she forms by way of song. These songs in the film slowly build piece by piece as the film itself progresses.
“She seems pretty helpless – needy, very depen- dent. It’s not abnormal for her to wake up hungover and she uses her neediness to act as a martyr,” Jecko said. “But throughout the film things change and she realizes she can do things on her own.”
Jecko herself composed the song that premieres at the end of the film which serves to symbolize the over- all message of the film, what Jecko describes to be “a phoenix effect” — a new life after hardship.
Jecko explained that the title “Spooner” came from the intimate and sometimes vulnerable nature of the in- teractions that occur in the bedroom.
“When you’re sleeping beside someone, it’s that feeling, that stretch of comfort that can be fake even if it’s honest for that moment — it doesn’t last. And you don’t know who is the spooner or the spoonee,” Jecko said.
The script was penned by Daniel Scot Kadin, Jecko’s friend who’s based in New York City, who
wrote the story specifically for her. Jecko said June’s character was one she was ex-
cited to play because her darker disposition was some- thing that is “a part of all of us.”
“Daniel sent me the script and I told him I was freaked out because some of the lines had come straight from my mouth,” Jecko said. “I was like ‘Oh God’ — it was a nice mirror into yourself to be like ‘this happens to me too.’”
After receiving the script, Jecko sought out Cring to direct it.
Jecko and Cring had worked together previously on Cring’s feature film “Little Bi Peep,” released in 2013, which won awards for Best Director, Best Com- edy, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor at the Atlan- tic City Film Festival.
Jecko said the quiet isolation of New Paltz fit well thematically with the film, as the two days comprised of filming took place during the mid-February blizzard, even further reinforcing the notion of isolation.
“New Paltz has a lot of character and because of the college, also represents a period of transition for a lot of people,” Jecko said. “Shooting in the city just wouldn’t make sense.”
Cring and his wife are currently in the process of editing the film which will run from 15 to 20 minutes, according to Jecko. When it is finished, the crew hopes to host screenings beginning in the local circuit of the- aters and playhouses, and possibly incorporating local showings at bars in New Paltz.
Jecko said the experience producing “Spooner” has shown her that she has the capabilities to come up with and manage future creative projects.
“As an actor or whatever you are, you don’t have to wait for someone to tell you that you can do some- thing,” Jecko said. “If you want to make something, just make it happen.”