Staff Pick Premiere: "Charlotte" by Zach Dorn |

In this Week's Staff Pick Premiere, forgotten folk musician Lena Black discovers her fifty-year-old song "Charlotte" is being reconstructed to become a hit pop song. The film is set in the wake of the song's release, filmmaker Zach Dorn explores how the impact of the song's original affects Lena along with her daughter Diane and her grandchild of eleven years, Eli.

In her note to her pop idol, Lena writes: "There is more to this than forgetting in the first instance, and that is unnoticed." The central idea is woven throughout the movie as rising popularity of the pop star reveals old hurts. Through the collection of fragmented conversation , including the letters of Lena as well as Diane's phone call, and the recording of Eli's cassette - Dorn creates a touching depiction of a group of people who begin to connect with each other via the sound of music.

When asked about the distinctive style of the film Dorn explained: "I loved the conceit of exploring these connections but never seeing the families interact. By presenting the story in isolated monologues I wanted the film to seem like the family was creating each their own versions of the same tune. The story is divided into generations, geography as well as emotional distance, however, I hope there is something that lies at the heart of their worries will eventually bring them to the same music."

It's a tune that may be familiar to people who've seen their families drift apart However "Charlotte" differs from other drama about families that has been seen on . Making use of hand-crafted puppets as well as stop-motion animation, Dorn invites us to take part in their tales, experiences, and imaginations in order to make an emotional journey.

     In advance of the official release the release, we reached out Dorn to learn more about his inspiration, process, and style. Read on to hear more about "Charlotte. "

The film's source of inspiration:

"In 2019, I made a puppet show about world's largest sponge and the TV series Gilmore Girls. Just a few days ago, as I was buying small craft supplies in the faux flower aisle at the Michael's Craft Store the Carly Rae jepsen rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" was heard through the speaker. The song is extremely upbeat an excellent bubbly pop track which is somewhat odd considering the original song is rather complex and mournful. The feeling was awe-inspiring, because I was awed by the Carly Rae cover so much. For me, the one that included pop-oriented lyrics, even though it wasn't as polished nonetheless had the same emotions of Joni Mitchell's first. I felt embarrassed and uneasy about this, but could imagine Carly Rae jepsen and Joni Mitchell's version of "Both Sides Now" as they conversed. That conversation later became the script to "Charlotte ."

 In the process of creating this script

"I imagined the original rendition of "Charlotte" in the form of a radio show, a sort of Joe Frank voyeuristic drama, that took place in miniature worlds, without puppets. I wrote the lyrics through the perspectives of eight characters that all experienced a romantic or professional relationship that revolved around the song "Charlotte." After spending in a period of getting to know the characters Diane and Eli were deemed to be fascinating which is why I kept them in the mix along with Lena as well as pop superstar T.Y.M. After I had figured out that, it was now time to invest a lot of time working out ways to get the stories of these characters interspersed."

 On the music collaboration:

"When I was writing "Charlotte," I always thought of the singer Jenna Caravello in mind. When I wrote the song, I recorded her fictional Rolling Stone interviews with Lena Black and some of fake diary entries. Based on this information, Jenna wrote the folk tune.

     Jenna's track was sent to Zhenya Golikova who I connected with online. In 2020, Zhenya covered these voice notes I had written for my girlfriend. These were hilarious and funny songs about cats and marshmallows and missing someone in another country. The following one year Zhenya turned my lyrics into amazing ballads. The songs she composed have the early Magnetic Fields vibe, like songs written under the sea by wild marine mammals.. Jenna's track was sent to her , and she had her own take on the track a week later. . "

on the talk-show program:

"So many female folk artists during the 1960s and 1970s were generally ignored. Artists such as Vashti Bunyan Karen Dalton, Linda Perrhacs, and The Roches were either marginalized or ignored in terms like "freak folk," and never taken with the same respect as male counterparts. It's a fascinating paradox the fact that folk music is seen as a modernist art form, but it is entangled in a particular type of misogyny regarding gender that's not spoken about.

     In the mind of these musicians I could imagine Lena to be at this point in her career, where in order to stay relevant, she'd have take part in the 1970s Laurel Canyon lifestyle, party with the right crowd, take the proper drugs , and be a part of a society created and governed by men. But I don't believe she'd ever want to live that way. Perhaps because of her motherhood and maybe she was able to see Through It All. I'm not certain. Perhaps it was her sadness that lasted for a long time mourning the loss of a job. What is she going to do with the anger? What do she do about her grief? to her child? In thinking about these concerns and the possibility of a future for her daughter, I wrote Lena's interaction with Sam as a prelude to the relationship she has with her daughter. "

On developing his unique visual style:

     "In my 20s and early twenties I began my training as a puppeteer. Yet, I never was proficient at it. There's an 8th part missing from my brain. I think it has led to a absence of spatial awareness. It was a thought that building or manipulating something in three dimensions wasn't practical. This is why I could get involved with Toy Theater, a type of two-dimensional puppetry once used in the 19th century England. I started building small dioramas using Acrylics and matte boards, like pop-up books, and I played with live-projecting digital cameras within them while telling stories about my landlord, or my dog that had passed away.

     I get obsessed by the small details of everything, no matter the bar code of an Doritos bag or the design of an McDonald's Happy Meal box. Perhaps because I don't have a brain, I'm incapable of drawing clear lines or design something realistically. I'm a bit of a that's like a mix-up of pieces of something that are falling apart, and obsessed.

     To create the puppets, I collaborated with stop-motion animators Oliver Levine and Lily Windsor to create a somewhat grotesque and poetic style fitting for the film's hand-painted universe. Because I created the film in the lockdown the time of the lockdown, we collaborated with a long distance basis. Lily from Chicago and Lily from Chicago, sending tiny boxes of llamas, as well as Oliver leaving head-sculptures at my front door in Burbank . "

The next step is:

     "Currently I'm creating a short documentary about CGI Livia Soprano from the third season of The Sopranos, as well as this genetic defect known as BRCA2. I grew up in an Italian American family filled with many eccentric customs and personalities however, in my late 20s, I was diagnosed with BRCA2. It caused the break-up of these families by leading to the deaths of relatives.

     In the year 2020, I saw The Sopranos for the first time. Each show felt as if I was having a conversation with my family. Today, I'm creating the movie that recreates family movies with stop-motion footage and look at Livia Soprano's posthumous performances in the context of my personal experience of grief . "

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