I Wrote a Movie About Old People

And kids are still watching it today...

I didn’t realize it at the time, but writing the film script for and acting in the movie The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club, may turn out to be one of the best things I ever do in my life.

My brother (Justin Barber) and I were in our twenties, sharing an apartment in little old St. Joseph, MI while we worked and waited for our prospective spouses to make an appearance in our lives. We were freshly inspired by the independent film, Fireproof, to go plunging head first into movie making. We had no money, no crew to speak of, and no experience. But we did have this great friend named Seth Haley who was really good with a camera. (He’s even better now. Like, really good.)

So, we decided to make a movie.

I, as the writer of the three, was charged with writing the movie script. Now, when I say I had no experience, I mean that my experience writing movie scripts was zilch. I had completed many stories and a novel. But this is a very different kind of writing. I had no idea, for instance, how to format a film script so that each page equaled roughly one minute of screen time. Kind of important. More on that later.

Me being the timid soul that I was, I could not dwell on the technical aspects of screenwriting. I just had to start writing before I completely lost my nerve. So, that’s what I did. I wrote my humble and incorrect conception of a film script and poured my heart and soul into what I do best…creating imaginary people that you, the reader, can see and hear and practically feel. I created three old farts who make logistical headaches for a young waitress and worm their sly old selves into her affections. And I created them based on old farts I had known and loved, including my dear old departed Sicilian grandpa. And it wasn’t really that hard to create them. I do so love old farts. Old people are my speciality. They are delightfully dear and intensely funny and immensely frustrating in equal parts. Just a rip roaring good time, all around.

We had 2,000 dollars to get the thing filmed. Almost all of that came from my brother’s nursing salary. I certainly didn’t have any extra money to contribute, and Seth had just got married and was trying to make his way in the world, so he didn’t have much either.

Justin went to work finding locations in St. Joseph for a song and a prayer. Thornton’s Hometown Cafe seemed like the ticket. A cute little diner in a cute little town with its own many “breakfast clubs” already attending that the owner, Kathy Thornton, and the staff knew and loved well. They were so kind to allow us to film there without charging us a dime. I think it was because they really loved the film concept. After all, the story was about them and every other little hole-in-the-wall, homegrown cafe across the country.

In the end, all the locations were given to us free of charge, including a hospital room in an under renovation wing of the hospital where Justin worked. So many kind people in St. Joseph, MI gave us young upstarts a chance with the film. It warms my heart thinking about it.

We had to work around the cafe’s hours and film after they had closed and cleaned up for the day. Consequently, it took us most of the summer to film the thing. It was a long, crazy summer and we worked our butts off, but I have many fond memories of filming.

Due to improper film script formatting which I mentioned earlier, our film landed in an awkward time slot—about 45 minutes. Oops. This became a bit of a challenge when submitting the film to film festivals.

After wrapping up the filming, Justin went to work on post production, and there was music to think about. My dad, a composer by trade, had already been enlisted to write the film score, and we debated how to produce it. We really wanted a live orchestra, but that would require more money. So, we did a Kickstarter campaign and raised 5,000. It just so happened that I was playing for the Kalamazoo Philharmonia at the time and the conductor of the orchestra, Andrew Koehler, agreed to lead the recording session. I was tasked with rounding up any musicians available, which included myself, a handful of musicians I scrounged from the St. Joseph area, and members of the orchestra. And we did it. It was quite a slog as none of us had ever played or recorded a movie film score before, but we did it!

Sound design after the fact cost 1,000. All told, we spent no more than 8,000 on the film.

And if you watched the film today, you could easily tell that it was a low-budget, indie film. Most of the actors, including myself, had never acted before. Seth had never filmed a movie before. I had never written a film script before. It was a first experience all around.

Due to that fact, I know I have, at times, looked back on the film with a tinge of embarrassment mixed with pride. Some of the flubs were rookie mistakes, a little on the nose.

And yet…so many people love it.

By some miracle we got distribution, and because of that, you can watch it today on Amazon Prime for free if you want. As with most films on Amazon, it cycles from free to rented from time to time, but last I checked it was free. People are still watching it over ten years later. At least a couple times a year now, people go way out of their way to track me down online, just so they can tell me that they just watched the film, how much they loved it, and what it meant to them.

Last week, I got an email from another one. This one almost made me cry.

Hello Amanda!

I just wanted to let you know that your movie (Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club) was a big hit at Sunday school! Our usual Sunday School teacher had to leave right before class a few weeks [ago] (she went into labor early but she and her baby are doing great) and I ended up filling in on short notice. I ended up filling in again this weekend and one of the kids happened to be talking about some stories her great grandfather had about his time in Vietnam. I will be filling in for a while during her maternity leave.

It was totally random but I'm glad it worked out the way it did. She mentioned that both her Great Uncle and Great Aunt had passed away while her great grandpa was overseas. She had written a short story (after finding out that you wrote short stories. Her Mother texted me today saying they spent some time looking you up and reading everything on your website haha) about her Great Grandfather's experiences and how hard it was for his family to keep their small farm up and running. Anyway, this reminded me of your film so I played it for the class. I put together a small worksheet and the kids absolutely loved the movie. (It just happens to be the perfect length for Sunday School too!)

It inspired a few of the kids to ask their grandparents/older relatives or friends about their experiences growing up. When I gave the Sunday School teacher a "debrief" about the class she was delighted to find out the kids (10-13 year olds) were able to enjoy the film. We're taking a trip to the retirement home I volunteer at in a few weeks and the kids are really excited. We were inspired by your writing/film so I just wanted to send you a quick message to let you know your writing has spread a very positive message and experience for a random group of people in WNY.

Hearing that ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen-year-olds loved the movie and were inspired to write stories about their elderly relatives and ask them questions about their childhoods was music to my soul. First, because we are often told that kids these days don’t like simple, sweet, and slow. They want fast paced action! Romance! Super heroes! And second, because…well, that was the point of the movie. The effect the movie is having right now on those kids is exactly what we hoped to accomplish. And it’s nice to know that what we did, in spite of its quirkiness, worked.

Two of our breakfast club gentlemen who acted in the film are now with the Lord. And so is my dad, who wrote the film score.

As I write, I’m just a few days away from the anniversary of my dad’s death. Our brains do funny things around dates like this. Memories have surfaced about the last few months of his life. He spent long months in the hospital trying to recover from heart surgery before finally being released only to pass about a month later. In April that year, my brother told me I’d better get myself to Colorado to see Dad because it wasn’t looking good. So, I flew out there in a hurry and he rallied shortly after I arrived. (I like to joke that it was because his favorite daughter came to see him.) Anyway, I’m glad I got to see him conscious one last time. I had several opportunities to sit with him in the hospital during that visit.

As night fell, he would often become anxious and restless, because he knew that the hospital wouldn’t allow us to stay with him through the night. He’d always been a bad sleeper, and it was hard for him to face a long night all alone. It was the time of Covid, however, and hospital policy wouldn’t budge. (I will reserve my outrage at the way patients in hospitals and nursing homes were made to endure isolation and that CEOs and bureaucrats made these policies and not doctors and nurses…for another time. At least they allowed him limited visitors during the day. Sick patients in other states were not so fortunate.)

At any rate, he noticeably calmed when listening to Scripture, hearing Justin’s original songs on a loop, and watching The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club.

So, on this particular day I visited him, I asked him what he would like to do for fun as the light began to fade, just to help distract him. And sure enough, he wanted to watch the movie again. The memory of holding Dad’s hand while we watched the movie together is one that I treasure. It was the last time I saw him in person, still conscious, before he declined and had to go back on the ventilator. He was so proud that his kids made a movie, and so glad that he had a part in its production.

If you want to watch the film, you can find it on Amazon here: The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club

You can also watch the entire film for free on YouTube here: The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club

I hope it means as much to you as it has meant to the many who’ve already seen it and loved it.

That’s all for now. Until next time, folks…

P.S. If you enjoy reading the things I write every week, please consider upgrading your subscription from free to paid. It would truly help me carve out the time I need to write throughout the week and also help me in my quest to get my two novels published. Thanks, everyone.