Three Milford Residents Win UConn College Movie Award; Headed to Hollywood

By Brian McCready, Patch Editor

The next Steven Spielberg could come from Milford.

Andrew Fowler, Aaron Gambardello, and Chris Davanzo, who are all Jonathan Law High School graduates and close friends, made a movie that recently won the University of Connecticut’s Campus MovieFest.

Out of 99 movies, theirs “Guitarman: The Uncanny Life of an Introvert” won the top prize and now they’re really going to Hollywood. (Watch the 5 minute award-winning movie below).

But if you’re expecting a movie with a Hollywood happy ending then this isn’t the film for you.

Idea behind “Guitarman”

“The idea for “Guitarman” came from observing a few of our friends who were about to graduate. They seemed down about the future, reclusive to some extent. This film is exploring their desire for an opportunity to come knocking and to fulfill their own dreams, career-wise. In this economy, especially for recent graduates, it’s hard for them to fulfill their dreams and even to get a job,” said Fowler.

Fowler said he and Gambardello wrote the film and the star of it was Davanzo.

For Fowler, the idea mirrored real life for him in some way.

“I always wanted to do a film about a person struggling to write a song because I write some, and it’s a struggle to put your emotions into words and music,” Fowler said. “But most of those movies that deal with that similar topic typically end on a happier note. This is trying to do the opposite. Playing with that happy-ending that audiences come to expect.

“I also wanted to have a movie where it seemed like the whole universe was teasing and toying with this one person, similar to how the universe in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” operate,” Fowler said.

Fowler and Gambardello worked collaboratively on the script.

“The original idea I had thought of was having our friend Chris Davanzo star in a black and white silent movie. This idea came from seeing my siblings’ black and white movies, and observing how the black and white added a cinematic quality to the films,” Gambardello said. “I also thought black and white would work well with the dullness of the main character’s life, and the silence would exemplify the distance he had created between him and other people.

“My ideas for the character’s persona came from thinking about the experience that friends of ours have had after graduating from college. They seemed to be trapped in jobs or situations that they did not want to be in, but could not leave because of societal pressures,” he added.

“I also thought it would be interesting if Chris was carrying around his guitar in this dull black and white world, as if music was his one love that he couldn’t pursue due to these pressures. Inspiration for this came from movies such as “The Graduate,” which explore the seduction of youth towards the middle class lives held by the generation above them.

“The character I envisioned was completely disgusted with the world around him, and was annoyed by even the smallest things. I wanted him to have a pretentious attitude towards others. That’s where the ideas for the small annoyances he experiences such as cutting himself while shaving and watching the color bars on television came from,” Gambardello said.

“I thought these types of situations would add a comedic aspect to the film, while also emphasizing a greater point. We had envisioned the movie exploring Chris’s loneliness through the cinematography of the film, which came to fruition in the scene where Chris goes to his friend’s place and ends up leaving for a long lonely walk down one of the icy UConn streets.”

The Not So Happy Hollywood Ending

“We had similar visions of the main character as someone struggling and wanting to live out his dreams. The ending I had thought of involved him having a moment where he broke free from his mundane life,” Gambardello said. “Andy proposed a brilliant alternative idea. This was that Chris would eventually have an idea for a song and race back to his room to write it. The ending truly fit the character, and provided a more cynical view to the world.

“The movie basically did a complete reversal of the standard Hollywood conventions which emphasize the fact that there is always justice in the world. This ending proposed that sometimes life is unfair. We had hoped the audience would assume his success in the end, and be shocked at the darkly comedic ending … The broken string sound effect alone was the most important factor in creating the darkly comedic ending that is seen in the final cut” Gambardello said.

The Star

The close friends knew Davanzo should star in the film.

“We only thought of one person who could play this role and that was my other great friend, Chris Davanzo. The main character is based off of him in more ways than one. His performance was perfect in my point of view. He is exactly how Aaron and I pictured this character. So really, without him in the main role, we wouldn’t have made this movie,” Fowler said.

“I’d also like to say that our film would be nothing without the performance of Chris Davanzo,” Gambardello said. “I had envisioned him as our actor because I knew he would give the subtle, yet charismatic performance that we needed for this character. Thankfully, his performance was acknowledged by the judges in the CMF competition.

Winning

Fowler and Gambardello are going out to Hollywood in mid-July to attend workshops and discussions through Campus Moviefest. “Guitarman” is competing in another film contest that will consist of representatives from other colleges and universities across the country.

Fowler said they never expected to win, and were not seeking any attention with their film.

The only goal was to make a movie and have it be “a simple, well-rounded movie,” he said.

“It’s pretty ironic though that our opportunity came knocking and we did well, while for our main character, he wasn’t as lucky,” Fowler said.

“And the opportunity to go to Hollywood, I’m still excited. I still can’t believe it,” Fowler said.

“I was extremely excited when we the award, but at the same time I had already been rewarded by the great experience that Andy, Chris and I had making the movie,” Gambardello said. “It was great fun improvising scenes on the spot and seeing the movie we planned in our heads come to life. The next step for us is to keep creating. This movie gives us an excuse to make more movies and keep collaborating together.”

Future

“I’m not sure what the future holds, but, due to the response from “Guitarman,” Aaron and I will definitely be working on more stories. In fact, even right now, Aaron came to me with a story idea and we’re planning on filming it in the summer. We’re working on the structure of the story,” Fowler said.

“As a kid, my dream job was to be a film director. I gave up on it in the past couple of years, but after this, it might have reinvigorated that desire to be one. But I’m not counting on it. I hope this opportunity knocking is not just the universe toying with me,” Fowler said.

Photo: Screenshot from Guitarman, pictured Chris Davanzo