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LostSoul
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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot
LostSoul
Live each day as if it were your last; and one day, you'll be right.
| Pipsqueak's Music Videos |
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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot
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Amber takes a Chance
Amber Benson’s got an exciting new project - a new movie called ‘Chance’ - and Abbie Bernstein found out all about it at a special screening in Los Angeles.
‘Chance’ is a terrifically entertaining movie - funny, philosophical and sneakily romantic - and it all just happens to have been written, directed and produced by one Amber Benson, known to ‘Buffy’ fans as Tara Maclay.
So what’s it all about? Well, Amber plays the title role, a young woman who is trying to figure out how to enjoy life. Current complications included a body (Tressa DiFiglia, real-life wife of Nicholas Brendon) in Chance’s bed, the impending arrival of Chance’s neurotic mother (Christine Estabrook), who is fleeing Chance’s unfaithful father (Jeff Ricketts, who appeared on ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’ as one of the Watchers pursuing rogue Faith) and Chance’s own wry view of the universe. Chance’s unemployed live-in best friend (James Marsters) quietly adores her, but she has a crush on a good-natured lounge singer (Andy Hallett, a.k.a. ‘Angel’s The Host.) Chance’s voiceover observations are joined by those of a guitar-wielding troubadour (Grant Langston), who makes musical comments with some startlingly frank lyrics.
“When I heard ‘independent movie’”, Andy says, “my first thought was ‘Oh, it’s a little tiny video camera and a couple of us messing around.’ Well, I was completely mistaken. This was the real deal. [Amber] had a hugely professional crew and all the huge equipment. It went like clockwork.”
Filming took place over a series of five weekends during the latter days of shooting on ‘Buffy’ season five. Locations included the condo Amber and her mother owned at the time, a boat owned by one of the cast members, and what looks like a park. “The park bench was actually out in the back yard of the condo,” Amber reveals. “It turned out much better than I thought. I was afraid everyone was going to go, ‘That’s a back yard!’”
Andy and James’ characters have a scene of opening up to each other on the bench. The two had sung together at the famed gatherings at Joss’ house (where Andy first met and became friends with Amber), so acting together came easily. “It got quite difficult,” Andy recalls, “because there were planes going over us every second. You would have thought we were on a tarmac. It got to the point where I was cracking up because of the planes.”
Andy also has a nightclub scene, which was shot on the ‘Buffy’ Bronze set. “Isn’t that funny?”, he muses. “Now I can say I’ve sort of been on ‘Buffy’.” Amber composed the song Andy sings, accompanied by Grant. “I’m used to more instrumentation,” Andy observes. “It was really nice with just an acoustic guitar.”
“I thought he was great,” James Marsters says of his character. “[Simon] was in love with a good person who was not really ready to appreciate the importance of a real relationship. There’s a beautiful scene where her mother comes over and he’s there for [Chance] in a great way.” Indeed, Simon shows his support with an unusual wardrobe choice. “That’s always an interesting day, when you perform in a dress!”
“Poor James,” Amber laughs, “he was so good about all of it. He really stepped up to the plate. It was a labour of love, all the way around.” Other ‘Buffy’ personnel involved include Joss Whedon, who contributed a song, and David Fury, who cameos as a pizza delivery man.
Amber pitched in everywhere she was needed, including as one of ‘Chance’s sound editors. Sound editor Tami Treadwell, who’s worked on ‘Chance’, ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’, offers high praise. “Amber’s got a great career in sound-editing if the film-making thing doesn’t work out!” However, everybody seems to agree that “the film-making thing” is going just great. “A wonderful experience and a wonderful film,” James sums it up.
Amber encouraged everyone in the company to make suggestions. One result is a scene of Chance’s parents wooing each other by quoting Shakespeare. “Jeff Ricketts and Christine Estabrook came up with that together,” Amber relates. “Boy, were they on the money - it was a very human moment.”
‘Chance’ has its share of family and geographical connections. Amber’s mother Elizabeth ‘Diane’ Benson and sister Danielle Benson are both producers on the film; Danielle also painted artwork that appears in the sets and designed the poster. Actor Jeff originally met Amer when they acted in the feature film ‘The Prime Gig’, which Jeff’s wife Mary Brezovich also worked on. Mary, another of ‘Chance’s producers, hails from Amber’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, where ‘Chance’ won the Audience Award at the 2002 Sidewalk Film Festival. “People were howling,” Mary reports. “The response seemed pretty unanimous.”
“They [the Sidewalk Festival] were trying to bring independent film to Birmingham, and I really was glad to be a part of that,” Amber says. “It was so nice to be able to bring my film to my hometown and have fans there and old friends and family. I can’t think of a better way to premiere a film.”
Amber and Diane are weighing distribution offers; ‘Chance’ should be available to the public later in 2003. Meanwhile, Amber hopes she’ll continue to balance acting with film-making: “I don’t want to lose the acting, because I really enjoy it, but the directing is such fun and such stimulation. You’re always problem-solving and the writing is testing your mental powers, getting out the story that you have in your head. I had a wonderful time making [‘Chance’]. I think that anybody out there who has the passion for film-making should just go and make their own film.”
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LostSoul
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"She had tasted Willow on her tongue, and she had worn Willow on her skin. There wasn't a shower in the world that could have washed that away." (Terra Firma, by Tulipp)
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"Your shirt!!!! Ooops! If my arterial blood flows onto your shirt I'm so sorry, I'll get the dry-cleaning bill for that." - Amber Benson
"I say fight for your right for NIPPLES!!!" - The OO
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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson
"You are Willow Rosenberg, vixen-y lighter of the flame and keeper of my heart."
(Camp Flutie by Rane)
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"You're right. [Spike's] evil. ... But you should see him naked. I mean, really!"
~ The Mutant Enemy manifesto, explained by the Buffybot
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"Your shirt!!!! Ooops! If my arterial blood flows onto your shirt I'm so sorry, I'll get the dry-cleaning bill for that." - Amber Benson
"Henceforth, my minions will be known as Nipplets! We'll spread the gosple of Nippliture throughout the land of Nippledom!" - The OO
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