By Jeffrey Bruckner
Purple and pink stage lights flood the room of a dingy North Jersey dive bar as a shaggy haired singer/songwriter takes the stage. A catchy intro-lick layered with keys and guitar wails over a simple drum beat as our star shakes the hair off his eyes and sings with ease, “Be there, boy you’d better be there, hey no need to feel scared, what could go wrong...”
If you closed your eyes, you’d think it was after 10 PM and a few rounds in, as the bar is full of attentive onlookers and the floor full of denim, piercings, and black t-shirts - all mesmerized by the hook of this tune and the charisma of the performer.
“Cut! Check the gate!” yells a commanding voice from the side of the bar.
The music comes to a screeching halt. Tattooed arms check a body-sized steadicam rig and small talk at the bar commences.
We aren’t at a rock show. This is a film shoot. And it isn’t 10 PM. It’s mid afternoon on a hot, late May day, a result of five months of preparation and years of non-stop hustle.
“Humor and heart.” Producer/Director/Co-writer Matthew Mahoney '13 penned these words as he sat across the table from fellow class of 2013 alumnus and actor/co-writer Nick Horn the day after Christmas 2022 at Saxbys coffee shop in Haddonfield, NJ. Little did they know at the time that this brainstorming session would trigger weekly FaceTimes spanning several months all the while writing, planning, and prepping a passion project - a project that would be as rewarding as it would be challenging to make.
Inspired by real events, Mahoney and Horn created “Be There,” a short film about a singer/songwriter, played by Horn, who must transport his recently deceased grandmother’s ashes while touring. Once Horn shared about the true-to-life experience of driving his grandmother’s ashes to South Carolina from New Jersey, they knew it would be the perfect premise for a short film centered on Horn which could also serve as a promotional vehicle for Horn’s newly Charleston-recorded pop/rock songs.
A bit of an odd couple (Horn, laid back; Mahoney, structured), these friends from Camden Catholic partnered with other creatives that Mahoney had met through his years working on set in the television industry to make this vision a reality. But no creative endeavor comes easily.
“So many things fell into place,” Mahoney told me on a conference call. Leading up to their first day of shooting, Mahoney and Horn talked more than they had in their entire lives. As the script went through 12 drafts and their director of photography quit two weeks before filming, co-writer/key grip Matt Christie and co-producer Matt Goetz met Horn for the first time in real life (outside of FaceTimes) at a performance at The Mercury Lounge in the East Village, New York on May 24, 2023. Two days later they would be in a small apartment surrounded by 15 crew members, all staring at Horn as he made his acting debut. “Those first two hours, that was the most challenging part,” Horn admitted.
Filmed over six days, Mahoney and Horn experienced all the problems that go into producing a short film on a budget: Casting issues, location challenges, and crew changes, to name a few. With their own money invested, these friends persevered through restless nights and a marathon shooting schedule, though a little luck did come into play.
“I knew we were really lucky when we were at Two Tone Brewery and the place next door caught on fire and exploded.” Christie’s van, a main character in this road-trip dramedy, was in the parking lot and survived the nearby explosion. No matter the conflict, Mahoney was “always putting out fires” though he left the actual explosions to the authorities and repeatedly explained how he felt like they “pulled off the perfect robbery.”
It’s no accident that Mahoney and Horn continue to build their friendship and create despite the challenges that go along with taking their creative lives into their own hands. They built their community in the halls of Camden Catholic and encourage current students to keep moving forward when experiencing failure. Mahoney emphasized, “Everyone fails. We failed by experiencing ‘no, no, no’ but the support of my friends at CCHS has kept me going through the highs and the lows in this crazy career that I chose.” Horn added, “Get out of your own way,” and “put your heart and soul into whatever your project is.”
“Be There” is slated to be completed by Fall 2023. Look for updates on the official Instagram for the film: @Betherefilm2023.