If Rhythm Was a Berry it Would be a Jazzberry
From the writers who did NOT bring you Cats is…Jazzberry! We invite you to take a moment to bask in the wonderful world of Jazzberry! In her first leading role since The Love Witch, Samantha Robinson is back as JAZZBERRY, an anthropomorphic female cat; part woman, part leopard, 100% ferocious vixen. Set in the highly stylized, highly sexualized town of BEEFTOWN, Jazzberry must stop a villainous crow from turning all of her muscle-bound lovers into birds. Joining her in this horny romp is Oliver Cooper (Project X, Mindhunter) as CROWE, a villain determined to ruin the town and control Jazzberry. And Lorin Doctor as BRANDYWINE, Jazzberry’s best friend and chocolatier extraordinaire.
Written by Maxwell Nalevansky, Max Gottlieb, and Harrison Nalevansky; produced by Anne Alexander and Sohaib Ali, and directed by Maxwell Nalevansky (Beans, A Chest of Drawers, With Pleasure). Galore is glad to share with you all the Premiere of Jazzberry! We promise you haven’t seen anything like this. To watch, please click here!
FEATURE INTERVIEW
What is the inspiration behind the equally hilarious, quirky, and horny storyline?
Well to speak on behalf of the Jazzberry team, I’d say that if a film isnt horny it just isnt worth a damn. The story came really naturally to me a few years ago through what can only be described as post coital song. I thought of this melody and line “If Rhythm was a Berry it woudbe a Jazzberry”, and started drawing some Jazzberry cartoon ideas. A few years later I revisited the idea and got together with my best friend Max Gottlieb and brother Harrison Nalevansky to build the Jazzberry universe. We pulled a lot of inspiration from Ralph Bakshi, Tom of Finland, Russ Meyer, John Waters, David Lynch, and Hannah Barbera cartoons alike.
What kind of equipment did you use? Why did you decide to film in black & white?
Our cinematographer Conor Murphy shot on his Alexa mini using Cooke Pachros lenses to give a less contemporary look. We self financed this film ourselves so shooting on 16mm was too costly and not time effective, we tried to match that look in post production. I wanted the film to be in black and white because everything else about this story was so loud and colorful, making it black and white could ground the story a bit. Shooting in B&W is a super intentional choice, I wanted everything about Jazzberry to feel intentional and timeless but I do often wonder what it would have been like in color. Of course, the animation, done by the amazing Sadie Amelia, was the only part we wanted in color and I love how the animation popped against the black and white.
What was the process like to produce a project of this caliber (i.e. writing, casting, set design, costumes, filming and editing)?
It was absolutely insane. Things just kept getting bigger and bigger; more birds, more beef, more producers, more writers, more bones, more editors, more Danish fudge. Making a film with so much world building for essentially no money is a horrible idea but our producers Anne Alexander and Sohaib Ali made it all possible.
We shot the film in the town of Solvang, California which is this funky Danish style town full of chocolatiers and wineries alike and well.. when our Beef-boys arrived on set that day in this family-friendly vacation town some of the store owners were quite upset. People thought we were shooting a porn, groups of foreign tourists were taking photos, one passerby took his shirt off and tried joining the scene. We got really lucky because our dream actor to play Jazzberry, Samantha Robinson, signed on immediately so after that everything seemed possible. Samantha made everything so easy, she was a joy to work with. Also, we lucked out to work with Oliver Cooper who played Crowe. Lorin Doctor, who played Brandywine, was also one of the executive producers on the film. Everything was so budget we had to get as crafty as possible, with many people filling multiple roles. Production designers Sadie Amelia and Anthony Taylor didn’t sleep for a week as they drew up signs, painted and constructed cat shaped televisions and bedframes meanwhile our costumer Natalie Nicholas poured their sweat into a pile of black scrap fabric until magically villainous crow costumes appeared, I give those three so much credit.
What other film adaptations do you aim to work on?
I recently finished a short film titled With Pleasure which we are working on turning into a feature later this year. Its a very gothic and romantic horror film about a pair of couples who accidentally get stuck in purgatory. I promise its a lot funnier than my grim description, hornier too.
To watch, please click here!
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