Happy Holidays is the coming of age story of Clarissa Ryder, a young artist, who gets involved in a love triangle and realizes it's not a question of which guy she should be with, but if she can pursue her real love, painting, can she be with either?
This film is the age old story of a young girl struggling to take charge of her future. Talented painter, Clarissa Ryder (Mary Fae Smith), has dreamed of becoming a successful artist her entire life. Encouraged by her two good friends Margaret Lloiend and John Maher, she plans, upon graduating high school to move across country to pursue her dream.
However, close to departure, she falls in love with Thomas Levy (Jeff Whitlatch)an aspiring musician who becomes her muse. During her confusion at college of how to reconcile her passion for art and her love for Thomas, she meets Charles Edmund (Robert Walters), a strong unartistic pillar of support.
"Happy Holidays" chronicles the tumultuous and confusing relationships these five characters are faced with. Going through affairs, engagements, promises and heartbreak; Thomas, Charles, Margaret, John, and most of all, Clarissa must learn how to deal with the dreams of their past along with the realities of her future.
Directed by
S.Mohen
Written by
S.Mohen
Produced by
Matthew Stubstad
Production Company
SPIF Productions
Cast
Mary Fae Smith …Clarissa Ryder
Jeff Whitlatch …Thomas Levy
Robert Walters …Charles Edmund
Brigitte Ashley …Margaret Lloiend
Michael Sasso …John Maher
Katharine Stapleton …Veronica Ryder
Jake Lloyd …Devon Marcel Clark III
Kelly Miller …Melanie Leftick
Crew
S.Mohen …Writer/Director
Dillon Morris …Director of Photography
Stacey Kattman …Executive Producer
Matthew Stubstad …Producer
Carmen Ramos …Additional Ast Producer
Loren Lieberthal …Ast. Writer
Ross Mathy …Editor
Nate Orloff …Ast. Editor
Alex Oppenheimer …Color Correction
Wade Barnett …Sound Design
Ludwig Goransson …Composer
Director's Statement
How far would you go to make your dream come true? This is a question I asked myself every single day while making “Happy Holidays” For whatever crazy reason I decided to go broke at age 19 and make a feature film. Even my school thought it was a ridiculous notion and claimed it was “Too Ambitious”
Despite everyone telling me it was impossible, I decided to make the hugest bet of my life and focus all the time and attention I could into making the film. To be truthful I had no idea what I was doing for most of it. I was so nervous and awestruck the first day of set I forgot to call ‘action.’ But then, there was a great deal to be nervous and awestruck about. There in front of me was Clarissa and Thomas, just how I had envisioned when I wrote them, the set was what I imagined, and I was surrounded by dozens of other crew members willing to give me their free time for ‘Happy Holidays.” At this moment I knew I was doing something right, or absolutely insane (depending on who you talk to)
Just like Clarissa’s life, making the film was hard, it was so hard that it nearly fell apart dozens upon dozens of times, but the important thing is, it didn’t. And there is hope in that. If I can ask you to walk away with anything from this film, it would be the understanding that no matter how terrible everything gets, it will only fall apart as long as you let it.
Filmmaker Biography
S.Mohen (www.smohen.com) was born in New York on October 17, 1986.
In 1997, she was accepted into H-B Woodlawn; a small school for grades six through twelve. At HB, the individual takes precedent over the masses, and S. Mohen attributes much of her artistic drive to her small school experience. At twelve years old she was given the opportunity to be the assistant director of the high school musical, "The Music Man.," and continued to direct plays throughout high school, including: "Bell, Book and Candle," "The Diary of Anne Frank," "Moonchildren," and "Book of Days."
While directing plays, she also started working for KIDZ Online; an online news production company. At fifteen she wrote her first feature film titled, "Almost There," followed by "Everyone's Lie" and "Trying"
In addition to all of her film endeavors, she also organized and ran the HB Woodlawn Film Festival for two years.
Realizing the east. had little to offer a filmmaker, S. Mohen chose to move across country to Southern California. After her first year of attending Chapman University, she began to write a script called "Happy Holidays" during her free time. After another year of encouragement from her friends and family, S decided to take on the nearly impossible task of directing a feature film at age 19. Now completed, she is producing an online documentary called “On the Verge” (www.vergegirls.com) and prepping for her next feature “True Perfection,” a mockumentary about fashion and success in LA.