A Blue Bus & A Big Crowd: Maine-made "Childish Things" Comes Home
Maine-born filmmakers Nick and Cash Cassidy's latest feature is a deeply personal project, borne out of community and collaboration.
On Monday evening last week, I walked up to The Nickelodeon Cinema in Portland. Monday nights are generally pretty quiet for cinemas, but tonight something was different— throngs of moviegoers lined up in the lobby and clustered around the exterior, all paying close attention to the bus parked just next to the theater. The bus, named Brewtus, is electric blue with glimpses of silver insulating material peeking out from the edges of doors and windows, and is featured prominently on the poster of tonight’s main attraction: the Cassidy Brothers’ latest feature-length project, Childish Things.
The film, starring brothers Nick and Cash Cassidy and created alongside their third crew member (and Brewtus’ owner) Tyler Sebago, is a wonderful piece of indie cinema, and one I had not researched much before the ten minutes I had in my seat before the film started. “It’s a tough sell,” laughed Nick later, when I had a chance to sit down and catch up with the brothers. And, for me, it was—on paper, a plot summary of this mockumentary reads a bit like the greatest hits of indie film tropes: a freshly thirty-year-old musician travels from coast to coast in his school-bus-cum-motor-home to sell it, hoping to prove to his girlfriend that he’s serious about settling down at the cost of his creative aspirations. Oh, and? They never wrote a script. The entire picture is improvised.
But as the lights dimmed in The Nick’s Screen 1, any hesitancy I had quickly evaporated—Childish Things had me from the very first shot: Nick (a fictionalized version of the actor who plays him) plays his guitar and sings softly to himself in the back of his bus; we can only spy him through a half-ajar door, until without warning, the camera jolts shakingly to the side as Cash (playing himself as the mockumentarian on their cross-country journey) assumes his position behind the lens and enters into the room, greeted by his grinning older brother. It’s a well-framed and carefully composed shot, a skillful and genuine performance, and an altogether delightful and surprising introduction to the rough-and-ready, on-the-road style of Childish Things.
And, it’s a shot that didn’t originally exist in the movie. “That opening shot was something we added like a month after everything else, because we screened for some friends [and they] didn’t know he was a musician. We needed something to get us into this, so we added that [...] and thought it was a good way to kick it off,” Nick explains. “I think it really helped,” agrees Cash.
In so many ways, Childish Things is the product of the Cassidys’ community, both here in their home state and across the country. Before a screening for friends was ever close to a reality, equipment was borrowed from the University of Southern Maine, and locations were planned based on who they knew–and occasionally, who they didn’t. “People want to help you out! You just say ‘this is what we need, we’re in need of a location’, we walked into so many restaurants and diners [...] and people were so welcoming to us. You never know if you don’t ask,” says Nick. Some of the most vital support came free of charge from another artist, singer-songwriter Fairhazel, with whom Nick had gotten in contact after a gig they’d played years prior. “I just love movies that use the same artist throughout,” says Nick. “I’ve always thought his music would be perfect for an indie movie.” During the development of Childish Things, Nick reached back out to Fairhazel seeking collaboration, and was immediately granted free reign of his entire catalogue to use for the film. But Fairhazel’s involvement didn’t just end at providing the score–he wrote an original song featured in the movie, and even hinted he was interested in playing a part. “He got excited about it,” says Nick. And play a part he does–the second half of the plot hinges on a chance meeting between two characters at his apartment in Nashville.
The support that the Cassidys have had during production has only become stronger as the film screens. The crowds at the theater and around the bus were largely made up of Nick and Cash’s friends and family. Even as I sat with the brothers outside a cafe in South Portland, a group of Cash’s friends briefly crashed our interview to say hello–clearly, the Cassidys have support coming from all sides, and screenings like this make the work all the more important for them. “It’s about the communal experience!” insists Nick.
Monday night’s screening (the Maine premiere) was especially significant, since the Nick is the theater they would visit with their dad growing up. “To have this one go and be in a movie theater like any other movie where you have to go buy tickets, and where the Nickelodeon puts it on Fandango so you can Google ‘when is Childish Things playing?’ and it comes up with the screening1, and you see that like any other movie…I mean that’s–we’re doing it,” gushes Cash. “To be able to be in Maine too, where the movie starts, where our filmmaking journeys started…all this work was worth it,” Nick agrees.
Not that it’s easy to make films in Maine, as the brothers know well. ”It’s hard to produce bigger projects here–the tax incentive is terrible,” admits Cash. “It’s crazy, it doesn’t make any sense! It brings jobs, it’s great for the economy,” adds Nick. “And there’s so much that wants to be shot in Maine because Maine has so much set in it! [...] Maine could have such a vibrant film community,” Cash summarizes. “It’s really disheartening,” Nick says with a grim chuckle.
But they also recognize that the film community is present in Maine, albeit not with a large financial footprint. The reaction to the film at the Nick is evidence of that. “Its’ so great to see places that you recognize on screen and feel like you’re being seen–another reason to bring stuff here. Not just for the work, but for the audiences too,” says Nick. The impact that a Maine-made film can have cannot be underestimated–outside the cinemas after our screening, I watched attendees tour the interior of Brewtus, and flock around the merch table. At one point, I found myself talking to a couple who had seen the film while vacationing from Florida. They’d had no knowledge of the film prior, had seen the bus by the cinema, and had gone to purchase tickets–now, they were talking excitedly with other patrons, waiting to get the Cassidys’ signatures on the Childish Things poster; this was an audience excited to engage further with what they’d just watched.
Despite the challenges faced, the Cassidys and the community of actors, artists, musicians, and jacks-of-all-trades they’ve cultivated have created a poignant, funny, and frank film about the choices we make and the horizons we chase. If you missed the film at the Nick on the 11th, fear not–it will be appearing as part of the Vacationland Film Festival in Biddeford on August 21. Even more exciting? “With just how great our first two have been and how good Vacationland seems like it’s going to be, we’ve got two more screenings at The Nick coming up [...and] we have a screening at the Eveningstar”, says Cash. Times and dates will be announced soon. Later, in October, Brewtus the Bus heads west for the Santa Cruz Film Festival this fall, so opportunities for audiences to catch Childish Things still abound.
The best way to support the endeavors of these Maine-born artists? Simple, says Nick: “Buy the ticket– show up!”. For more information about the Cassidy Brothers’ screenings, visit www.cassidy.pictures and follow them on instagram @cassidy.pictures.
and soon you’ll be able to do just that on The Maine Playweek website!