Ask a college student and they’ll tell you that everything feels super dramatic when you’re in your early 20s, especially when it comes to romantic relationships and close friendships.
Virginia Commonwealth University alum Lindsey Paulette was inspired by a combination of her own and her friends’ relationships throughout their time as college students to make her new film, “The Trip,” which is set to premiere at the Byrd Theatre during a matinee screening on Saturday, Feb. 3.
As director, she set out to capture that feeling she and her friends had when actively living through that transformative period of college. “I experienced and witnessed a lot of the incredibly happy moments that come with being young and in love, but also the really sad moments when you learn that those relationships don’t always last forever,” Paulette explains. “When they don’t, it often comes with a lot of devastation and heartbreak for both parties, as well as the people around them that loved them as a couple.”
The shoot lasted a total of 20 days, nine of which were filmed in a cabin in Wintergreen. The cast and crew shot and lived together, an experience Paulette characterizes as like being at summer camp, except there was film gear everywhere and there was nowhere to get a moment alone except for the bathroom. And even that wasn’t guaranteed.
Primary photography took place in Richmond and Midlothian, including at local businesses such Sefton Coffee Co, Sydnor’s General Store, True Timber Arborists, and Advanced Allergy and Asthma of Virginia. “We experienced a lot of generosity and excitement for our project from various location owners,” Paulette says. “It was incredibly motivating and a reminder as to why filmmaking in Virginia is so special.”
As with many first-time feature filmmakers, financing was a creative endeavor. They ended up making the film for around $10,000, with only about $2,500 of that coming from a crowdfunding campaign launched at the start of 2022. Much time and effort were put into marketing the project with limited results. Eventually, they got a handful of personal donations from private donors and business sponsorships. “The rest of it was paid for by my credit card,” Paulette says. “It wasn’t the most ideal way to fund it, but it’s how so many other indie filmmakers have made their projects, and I don’t regret it at all.”
Her biggest goal with the film was to prove to herself that she was capable of making a movie of this scale. She’d written and directed numerous short films before “The Trip” and felt like it was time to try her hand at a feature-length project. The undertaking was massive, and it took three years and a lot of work from the entire team to make it happen. “We’re thrilled with how it turned out and I’m very proud of what we’ve created,” she says. “Hopefully, now people will know what we’re capable of and we’ll be able to secure better financing for future projects because we certainly have more things we’d like to make.”
Paulette began her career as a playwright, director and crew hand before transitioning to film, mainly because filmmaking is both creative and collaborative and she didn’t feel she would get to have both when working in other art forms. She acknowledges that, while parts of the filmmaking process can be taken on solo, the end product is ultimately a result of many talented and creative people working together to make something they all can feel proud of.
“While I consider myself a multidisciplinary artist who also loves to create things that are entirely my own, nothing beats the joy of bringing an idea to a group of fellow minded individuals and banding together to create something new and unique,” she says. “Filmmaking is a team sport and over the years I’ve met the best team I could ask for.”
Paulette sees the local Byrd Theatre premiere as a celebration of finally reaching the finish line of the three-year process, as well as an opportunity to bring the cast, crew, and their friends and family together to watch the film on the big screen for the first time. She says one of the greatest parts of making a movie is the opportunity to show it to a public audience. “We’re also hoping to show people that Virginia is an ever-growing film state and it’s totally possible to be a filmmaker here,” she says. “Our Virginia film deserves a Virginia premiere in a historic place with a Virginia audience. That’s what we’re hoping to see in February; a celebration of independent filmmaking in Virginia, backed by members of our amazingly creative community.”
“The Trip” has been submitted to the Richmond International Film Festival and plans are to submit to a few of the bigger international film festivals such as Tribeca, TIFF, and Sundance. “We figured that if we put three years of our lives into this film we might as well try our hand, even if we don’t have the biggest hopes of getting accepted,” she says, adding that they’ll be submitting to smaller festivals in hopes of screening the film in a few cities outside of Virginia to expand their audience.
Because it was Paulette and her crew’s first feature-length film, there was a lot of learning happening throughout with cast and crew still figuring things out. With so many moving parts to filmmaking, her job was to keep up without allowing herself to get overwhelmed and too caught up in the details. “Trust plays a big part in it because there’s no way you can do every little thing yourself, so you have to surround yourself with people that are good at what they do,” she says. “People say you shouldn’t work with your friends, but I did and it ended up making the experience all the better.”
The premiere screening of “The Trip” takes place on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m., Byrd Theatre, 2908 W. Cary Street. Go here for Tickets.
