The Serendipity of Art
A Peak into the upcoming film When Unfettered

Art is reflexive of society. Many artists release their emotions through their work, and if society is traumatic, their art will be a representation of that. That’s why film, TV, even commercials seem to represent change as it's happening. 2020 was a year of transitions, but it started way before then if you were paying attention. 

The need for compassion and love has been building for many years, and Austin writer-director Derek Franzese seems to always be ahead of the curve with his stories. What started as a desire to create a syfy film not based on spectacle, morphed into a film that represents the hope our world needs in order to heal from last year. His new short film, When Unfettered, revolves around a humanoid who encounters the best things in life, the diversity in our human population.

“People can be scared and uncomfortable around people they don’t understand, especially people who have learning differences or disabilities,” Franzese explains. “But they are so valuable, they have so much to offer, and they can teach us. We’re just not paying enough attention.”

This is not the first time that Franzese has approached a film with empathy. In 2015, his film Into Memory took an intimate look at the life of a group of friends who are presented with the inevitable death of a dear friend. The way the film honors our legacy and how we affect the people around us was breathtaking, so it’s no shock that Franzese’s next film would tackle the sentiment of humanity in a unique way.

“I like making stories about the appreciation of moments,” Franzese reveals. “There is a lot of humanization behind what I want to do. I hope we can connect to it. There is so much love and value in [underdogs], we don’t pay enough attention to these types of people.”

While When Unfettered deals with a community of special needs children, the elderly, and stray animals, Franzese’s intent goes beyond just inclusion. It’s about letting his audience, and hopefully the world, into an unknown world full of wonderful people. With a little time and energy, we can learn more and celebrate the undervalued. However, whenever you showcase a marginal group of people, there is always the worry that the focus could slip into the unintended realm of exploitation. Franzese and his team spent a lot of time making sure that didn’t happen, talking to the parents, and making sure they were comfortable with the way everything was presented.

“That’s the thing, trying to stay open-minded, and talking to the parents who are submitting. You have to sit back and learn. What do the parents have to say, what do the kids have to say?” Franzese adds.

This opened up to a very unique casting experience. Not only are we still navigating a Covid world, but a lot of these kids are immuno-compromised. Their safety was of the highest importance to the team behind When Unfettered, which led to a lot of Zoom auditions. But in the end, this means that the project will be a work in progress, allowing for the joys of chemistry and creativity to come together when they are finally interacting with each other on set.

Casting for When Unfettered may present some unique challenges, it also opens doors that highlight unexpected personal emotions. When casting for one of the adult roles, the question of accents and nationality came to the forefront. This question opened up a door into Franzese’s heritage, and allowed him to address his family’s immigrant story.

“What if she was an immigrant? We’ve done that in our country forever, the next generation of immigrants was just as hard on the new immigrants or even harder.” Franzese illustrates. “There is this thinking about how is this going to be portrayed or how are people going to feel about this, which is good and bad. It’s interesting, immigrants, or their children, can sometimes have this feeling of ‘if I can get through it, anyone can.’ Or if my parents could do it, anyone can. And then there’s less empathy for what the next generation of immigrants goes through. It’s a cycle that needs to be broken.” 

Instead of erasing the idea of immigrants, Franzese embraced it and its impact on our country as a whole. Proving once again that we can learn so much from those around us if we're willing to see beyond our self-imposed boundaries.

The sentiment behind When Unfettered is important, but there is a specific desire in producing a film that relies heavily on children and animals, two of the most notoriously difficult casting decisions. It was a conscious choice because they may both be undervalued, but they also both represent an avenue for understanding.

“Nothing humanizes an android, this synthetic human, more than a dog who can sense good. Kids represent hope, they have the whole world ahead of them.” Franzese clarifies. “It reminds us jaded adults that there are these people who have so many odds against them, and they smile and they are so happy and enjoy life. It’s gorgeous.”

In order to bring this narrative to life, the When Unfettered team is running a Kickstarter campaign. This has become a necessity in recent decades to get more personal projects produced, but that doesn’t mean Franzese made the decision lightly. The Covid Pandemic decimated a variety of professions, including the film industry. Projects were shut down and livelihoods were lost, ironically in a year where art saved a lot of us mentally. The industry is rising from the ashes, and Franzese wants to make sure his film can aid his fellow crew members. When a film centers on the importance of those around us, it’s only fitting that the cast and crew are compensated for their participation in this project.

“I want to give these people some money because they are turning down other jobs to help with this vision because they believe in the project, or somehow believe in me,” Franzese adds.

In a year that’s been proclaimed the “Comeback Year,” belief in others is exactly what we need. 2020 was full of unrest, loss, uncertainty, and what we are searching for ways to heal. I’m intrigued that Franzese wrote this short film before the pandemic, but is being produced when its message of compassion is what many of us are seeking after a year of solitude. The Universe, or fate, has a way of presenting situations and people in our path exactly at the right moment, and for our world, that is When Unfettered.

“All that happened with Covid reminds you that life is fleeting. We’re taught to attain things, your value is based on what your output is. You sit back and realize it doesn’t matter,” Franzese adds. “I don’t remember things, but I remember the experiences I’ve had. I hope my movies, these moments, these experiences, these interactions, represent that.”

Franzese and his team are powering towards the finish line, finalizing the last few details, from casting to secure locations. These significant concepts will unite during the week of May 19-21 when Unfettered goes into production. No matter what happens with this project after its creation, it was born from love and understanding about our fellow man, and that above anything else will live on.

“If we continue to give different cultures or people representation, people that deserve to have entertainment. If we start engaging with them, we can start changing some things,” Franzese concludes. “If you can empathize with different cultures and different things people go through, we can make stories that matter.”

To support this project and to find out more information about When Unfettered, please head over to the film's Kickstarter campaign.

Written by Lisa M Mejia
Images provided by Derek Franzese