We had the pleasure of sharing the red carpet experience of the amazing short film MATURING YOUTH.
Written and directed by Divoni Simon, MATURING YOUTH is about an under-achieving, unemployed man named Roger (Sean. A Kaufman) who enjoys his freedom of non-responsibility through his vices certainly from strangers Mae (Darleen Rae Fontaine) and Maggie (Rae’l Ba). However, his life is thrown into a whirlwind when his ex-girlfriend Sadie (Kim Paris) interrupts his life with a surprise: their illegitimate toddler son Junior (Joshua St. Leger/Albee Castro). After she disappears, Junior falls ill and Roger calls Doctor Riccard (Terrence Keene) to come to his aid. Life, then, gives him the ultimatum to begrudgingly face fatherhood or to continue living a life void of responsibility.
Being afforded a life of independent means it can be a blessing in some regard, perhaps, but it can also be the definitive test of one’s character and certainly for the co-dependency on life itself with the excuse of entitlement for Roger. If one chooses to use such a situation toward altruistic ends, or at the very least, a venture that can provide some personal fulfillment, it says something about who a man is. On the other hand, if he squanders the opportunity on a totally self-absorbed, shallow existence, there’s not much to conceal about a man’s self-worth and dignity let alone the future for his abandoned son. And the decisions on taking the latter path may provide some interesting moments, its cosmetically created, external bubble that serves no other purpose than covering up an empty life, and sooner or later, the bubble is bound to burst.
Click to enlarge to see pictures from the red carpet and the captions.
This dramedy questions the responsibilities of our actions, the sorrow in our happiness, the joy in our pain and the ultimate test of character of becoming what we truly are deep down inside.
The World Premiere Red Carpet Event was held on October 21, 2018, in New York City. Maturing Youth was nominated for Best Film, Divoni Simon was nominated for Best Director, Sean A Kaufman was nominated for Best Actor, Kim Paris was nominated for Best Actress, Terrence Keene was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and Darleen Rae Fontaine was nominated and won Best Supporting Actress. A total of 6 nominations and 1 win.
Check out the red carpet interview with Award-nominated lead actor Sean A. Kaufman (Roger) and Award-nominated lead actress Kim Paris (Sadie). They talk about the film, burning questions audiences have been wanting to know about the film, their roles, and acting techniques, and unreleased behind the scenes material.
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“Video courtesy of R&F Entertainment”
R&F Entertainment went live on the films official social media pages, Facebook and Instagram, for the win of Darleen Rae Fontaine’s award for her performance in the film. Her speech can be found directly on Maturing Youth’s Facebook page.
www.facebook.com/maturingyouth/
www.instagram.com/maturingyouthfilm
R&F Entertainment hosted at the event sit down interviews with the stars discussing the film, their career, and their dreams and inspirations. Following the award ceremony at the film festival, the stars had individual standing interviews on the red carpet with TV host and interviewer, Award-nominated actress, producer, director, author, and entrepreneur Janet Miranda.
The event had over 120 attendees from family, friends, crew members, and the general public. Individuals attending the event flew in as far as Florida and the west coast. Some even traveled over 20 hours by vehicle to attend. The screening room was filled to capacity and was sold out.
The screening opened with a round of applause once the films production company’s logo [R&F Entertainment] appeared right at the start. Once the ending credits came up the second round of applause roared through the screening room. The audience laughed and enjoyed the special bloopers during the end credits and finally had a standing ovation at its completion. Following the first world screening of the film, the cast and director were on stage during an exclusive Q&A with the audience.
The film is currently going through the New York film festival circuits before making its Los Angeles premiere in Spring 2019. The film will make it overseas to its international film festival run in 2020 with a projected distribution deal to release the film to the public by the holidays in 2020.
Nominated for Best Supporting Actor Terrence Keene (Dr. Riccard) and multi-roled supporting actor Albee Castro (Adult Junior) sit down at the world premiere and discuss their challenging characters and what it took to bring them to life on the screen.
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“Video courtesy of R&F Entertainment”
Featured Image: L2R: Michael Paladine (VO Artist), Chase Michael Palante (Award Winning Producer), Rae’l Ba, Kim Paris (Nominated for Best Actress), Sean A Kaufman (Nominated for Best Actor), Brian Austin Padua (Assistant Script Supervisor), Divoni Simon (Nominated for Best Director), Darleen Rae Fontine (Won Best Supporting Actress), Terrence Keene (Nominated for Best Supporting Actor), Joshua St. Leger, Albee Castro – Photo Credit: R&F Entertainment
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