Somewhere in Los Angeles California, four good friends are battling in their professions, and all are on the edge of a midlife crisis. Case’s new music is disregarded over and around yet again, with no file label signing in sight regardless of his ideal attempts. Liana is trapped currently being a information anchor for less than highly regarded news outlets, which she is familiar with she should have still left at the rear of by now. Shani knows she is well worth more than she is remaining paid however is afraid to stand up for herself. Henry is in the dismal placement of knowing that he has simply selected the improper career. The people of Much better Than Your self, the most recent film by actor and Idea-Prime Productions producer Ben Stranahan, believe that the answers to their occupation troubles can be uncovered through a weekend getaway. What occurs, however, when everything they have ever wished for inexplicably will come correct?
“I chose to make Improved Than On your own in aspect mainly because its storyline is particularly relatable, and it was a pretty Covid-risk-free movie shot all in one particular spot. I was intrigued by it from the commencing,” claims Ben. “Some of the very best flicks out there commence with a premise that feels just one stage removed from our have life and then shake it up so that we, the audience, are immediately pulled into what could be. How lots of of us have ever wished we had diverse employment? All of us, proper?”
He laughs, then adds, “I do appreciate my have position, of course, but along the way I have had days just like absolutely everyone else. The position is this: with Much better Than Yourself, every person will be capable to relate to at the very least just one of the figures.”
Ben says the energy of the film lies in the relationships and the figures obtaining particularly what they wished for when they are at a mountain cabin. Why, specifically, is that taking place, and is it truly what they wanted soon after all?
“All of the characters undertake deep emotional journeys as they grapple with their lives and the mystery about them,” suggests Ben. “The film forces all 4 buddies to assume a lot more about when to be grateful for what they have and when to just take the accountability to look for a lot more for themselves.”
Ben and his cast members, who bundled Noah Baron, Anita Kalathara, Rob McGillivray, and Krystal M. Harris, expended a good deal of time in the mountains, performing jointly to deliver out the psychological and psychological complexities of the script. It was critical to the achievements of the motion picture that they seize the friendship of the figures, their interior turmoil about their professions, and their shock when all the things they had ever needed was abruptly in front of them.
“While we did a good deal of team do the job alongside one another, when the cameras weren’t rolling, you could frequently uncover each individual of us sitting less than a tree or together a river, likely about the script and receiving into the brain of the character we had been taking part in,” Ben remembers. “I was surrounded by genuine professionals who understood that they needed to provide their A-video game to each individual scene to make it plausible. It was a remarkable effort by all people, and I assume audiences are likely to be pulled into it and kept guessing about what is definitely taking place.”
Much better Than You is one particular of the initially significant-strategy mysteries that Ben has created and acted in. Considering the fact that graduating from the American Academy of Remarkable Arts in Los Angeles, he has built a sizable portfolio of award-successful movies and Tv series that incorporate Necessarily mean Dreams, which starred Monthly bill Paxton, Sophie Nélisse, Josh Wiggins, and Colm Feore and premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and as a Unique Presentation at TIFF. Imply Goals was finally offered in a lot more than fifty countries and introduced theatrically in about 10 countries. Ben is the producer of the psychological thriller Populace Zero and of Calibre, which was nominated for 4 BAFTAs and won for Greatest Actor for Jack Lowden. Ben is also the producer of The Midnight Anthology, starring Clancy Brown. Its pilot premiered at the New York Tv Pageant in 2015 and received the Artistic Accomplishment and Finest Director awards.
His most the latest operates include things like Castle in the Floor, starring Imogen Poots, and The Inventor, an animated feature about Leonardo da Vinci that was written and directed by Jim Capobianco and stars Marion Cotillard, Daisy Ridley, and Stephen Fry.
Ben is thankful that not like the figures in Greater Than Oneself, his individual career is likely just high-quality these days. “No weekend outings to the mountains for me anytime quickly!” he assures. “I surely discovered from their difficulties in the movie that it is very important to recognize what I should be grateful for. Often acquiring specifically what you want is not what you actually need to have to have come about. Rather, you should really be information with how your lifestyle is likely but constantly aiming to develop into your finest self.”