SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE
Ari Frenkel and Amy DePaola
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LOGLINE
After the loss of his father, Noah is struggling to find solid ground, turning to his Jewish roots. But first he has to fulfill a promise: to find his Dad's High School sweetheart and tell her the bad news. Things get complicated when he can't find her and his own past love re-enters his life. A comedic exploration of the soul - Through grief, through prayer, and through romance.
SYNOPSIS
After the loss of his father, Noah Glazer must get back to his life but doesn't know where to begin. Over the last year and a half, his father had been dying of cancer and Noah abandoned his music career to help with his Dad's care and maintain the family business. Alongside his mother, Leah, and his sister, Sasha, the Glazer family are left to pick up the pieces and grieve, while finding out who they are and what they really want on the other side of their loss.
Noah struggles with his identity, both professionally and spiritually. He turns to his Rabbi, a stoic man who wants to help his new secular pupil reconnect with his Judaism while respecting the boundaries Noah seems to blur. The Rabbi tells Noah that it takes a year to properly grieve a loss and that in the interim, Noah can say the Kaddish prayer to help his father's soul get to the Garden of Eden. This will also coincide with a planned burial in his father's home country of Israel at the year's end.
Meanwhile, Noah is put to task in telling his father's ex-girlfriend, Aviva, the news about his father - but he can't find her. He had promised his father that he would not tell her when he was ill but would inform her of his passing. His mother implores him to keep looking and fulfill the promise to his father. She also insists that he continue to work for the family business.
As he navigates his grief and shifted paradigm, his own ex-girlfriend, Maya, comes back into his life. Maya jumpstarts Noah's personal comeback but blurs the lines of their new friendship in the process. As the two fall for each other again, the support unit around Noah struggles to keep him grounded and focused on what matters most - honoring his grief.
With the passage of time, the Glazers' grief begins to take a toll on their relationships. Noah's friends Brad and Live, once supportive, begin to resent the sadness of their friend's depression. The family business begins to unravel as the Glazer kids yearn to break free and restart their life despite the shame of leaving their mother to fend for herself. Even Noah's relationship with the Rabbi crosses the line after things hit a breaking point with Maya when she reveals some upsetting news. On top of all this - Noah still hasn't found Aviva.
As things become seemingly worse for Noah, will he rise past the despair and take the actions necessary to reclaim his life? Will he find Aviva and tell her the news? Will he reconcile things with Maya? And when he finally buries his father's ashes, will he feel that he has made his father proud?
The Why. Writer & Director Statement
After my father died, I consumed a lot of content on grief. It was not fun stuff. But Susan Cain's book "Bittersweet" resonated with this message: Whatever grief you can’t work through, make it your creative offering.
I took that to heart. As the year went on, I began to start my days and write a scene from my experience in what slowly, but organically, developed into a narrative. The experience allowed me to explore my relationships with my religion, my history, my past love, and, of course, with my father.
Most of this story is true. I believe its personal specificity will resonate with others’ experiences and maybe help them get through even just one day.
It is my reconnection of the soul - Through grief, through prayer, and through romance.
This film is my offering. A fun, lighter, sometimes sad, often funny, look at the all-too-familiar but often-avoided subject of grief.
LOOKBOOK
SIZZLE
Ari Frenkel. Filmmaker
Ari Frenkel is an award-winning actor, writer, and producer. Maybe you saw him in Amazon’s "I'm A Virgo," or in FX's "American Crime Story" or in HBO’s “Silicon Valley” or in "Sorry, Ari," his comedy digital series which he writes and stars in. With over 20 Million views, "Sorry, Ari" was named one of the Best Web Series by IndieWire and Best of the Web by Funny or Die. Originally from New Jersey, Ari earned his BFA in Acting from Montclair State University. During his time there he won the Kennedy Center Irene Ryan Acting Competition at the National level in Washington, DC.
Amy DePaola. Producer
At five-foot-one, Amy DePaola is a director, writer, producer, and executive with a tall personality. Her work tenderizes dark times and uncomfortable moments with humor and farce. Her directing career began when a real-life event inspired her self-titled short "AmyDee," which chronicled her journey into the sport of boxing.
Amy is a 2023 Blackmagic Collective Future Women of TV Directing Fellow, 2023 Yes And Laughter Lab Finalist, a 2023 Screencraft and Shore Scripts Comedy TV Pilot semifinalist, and a Stowe Lab Alum. She is a producing member of the Television Academy and has the accounting skills to prove it. Her credits include working with Participant Media, Picturestart, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Marlboro Road Gang, and The CW, to name a few. She has an MFA in Film from Emerson College and studied with The Groundlings. Ask her about her integral role in Joe Jonas’ first-ever stand-up comedy show.
A Jersey native residing in Los Angeles with her husband and ever-demanding puppy, Amy travels often for work. She produces bold, colorful comedy films and podcasts under her production company and creative label, Pink Among Men.
Cailin Yatsko. Cinematographer
Cailin Yatsko (she/her) originally from Arkansas, is a New York City-based narrative and commercial cinematographer. In 2011, she partnered with director Ani Simon-Kennedy to form Bicephaly Pictures, one of just a few female production companies in NYC - producing narrative films, music videos, web series, and commercials.
Her commercial cinematography includes award-winning branded and editorial content for clients such as Google, Intel, Condé Nast, Colgate, The New Yorker, The Fader, Vice, and many others.
With director Ani Simon-Kennedy, they have collaborated on two narrative features: Days of Gray and The Short History of the Long Road, which premiered in US Narrative Competition at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and released by FilmRise. She also shot with director Cynthia Lowen for the feature documentary Netizens, exposing the proliferation of cyber harassment facing women (2018 Tribeca Film Festival).
Cailin is a member of CinematographersXX and the International Collective of Female Cinematographers as well as ARRAY Crew and Free The Work. Featured as a panelist at the American Society of Cinematographers "Day of Inspiration" in New York City.
Adam Gold. Producer
Adam Gold is a comedy producer + talent manager based in NYC. Since 2021, Adam has produced 75+ live comedy shows including co-producing Mike Birbiglia’s Broadway Show The Old Man & The Pool. He co-wrote and executive produced the Adult Swim series “Indolent Allen.”
In 2017, Adam moved to New York without a job and began waiting tables at Caroline's on Broadway, taking the subway home at 2am on weeknights to live and breathe comedy. After working for the New York Comedy Festival, he landed a job at CollegeHumor as an executive assistant and climbed the ranks to production coordinator where he booked talent and produced CollegeHumor Live. From 2020-2023, he worked at Rizzle, a short video app often referred to as the "TikTok of India" as a Talent & Development Manager. In that role, he greenlit 5,000+ vertical scripted & unscripted series from video creators all over the US.
Adam is a talent manager with AGI Entertainment, where he takes tremendous pride in managing 20+ comedians, writers, actors, video creators, and animators. Adam's work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, VICE, Vulture, and The New York Post.
Daryl Eisenberg. Casting Director
Daryl Eisenberg (she/her) is a Casting Director and Owner of Eisenberg Casting. Daryl has owned and operated her own casting office since 2004. As a casting associate and assistant, Daryl has worked in the offices of some of the greats in NY casting. Daryl is the chair of the Somerset County Film Commission and is a former Watchung Borough Councilmember.
She was awarded the 2021 Eleanor Roosevelt Volunteer Service Award by the Somerset County Federation of Democratic Women. Daryl was listed in the Insider 100: Millennial Power List and is a recipient of the Somerset County Business Partnership Top 40 Under 40 Award. Daryl has taught at schools and institutions around the country.
She holds a BFA from Tisch School of The Arts/New York University and Playwrights Horizons Theater School. Member of Casting Society of America.
Roman Molino Dunn. Composer
Roman Molino Dunn (a.k.a Electropoint) is an American Billboard and iTunes charting music producer and award-winning film composer who has produced music for indie and Grammy-winning artists alike ,as well as composing for feature films, television, and commercials (Tom Ford, Paypal, Clinique, Michael Kors, Burger King, Honeywell, Vibram, Marriott, and Maserati).
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