How We Created Loves Company: Being Astoundingly Delusional Is Beneficial

      Jason Laurits is the director of Loves Company, featuring Rachel Dratch, which premieres this month at Dances With Films. In the following piece, he explains how delusion supported him as a filmmaker.—M.M.

      Although I was quite the outsider in the film industry, I still naively embarked on the journey of creating my first feature, Loves Company (a blend of Misery and Ruthless People, reminding us not to meet our heroes). I had no clear plan on how to accomplish it. I just went along with the delusion that I might be able to make it happen. By this point in my artistic career, I had learned that starting off with delusions was part of the process. That was okay.

      Within six months, I found myself "scouting locations" in Florida and Louisiana and meeting with line producers. Had I secured funding? No. I wasn't even certain how much I needed. I was advised to create a budget. Fine. Then a pitch deck. Sure. A proof of concept teaser. What? Now I need a lawyer? Oh, great.

      Yet, I somehow managed to navigate it all, keeping all rational thoughts at bay while making my deluded decisions. I set a production date for later that October in Louisiana and just pressed on. At times, it felt like I was running a Ponzi scheme.

      Yes, we’ll be shooting in October 2024!

      Shooting what? How? I wasn't entirely sure, but I kept repeating it until I convinced myself. I had saved a modest amount of money, just enough for possibly catering and porta-potties, but it fell well short of what Loves Company required as a low-budget indie. I started a crowdfunding campaign and found myself approaching everyone I had ever known, asking them for $50 in exchange for a video of me in a gator costume thanking them for their support.

      What had I become?

      Somehow, I reached the crowdfunding goal. People were incredibly generous, but it was still insufficient for making the film.

      October!

      The fragile structure I had built began to feel precarious. Having crowdfunded, I had exposed myself to everyone. People from high school, filmmakers I had met at a festival, friends' parents who were curious about my life choices. How would it look if I accepted all their generous (but tax-deductible!) contributions and failed to complete the project? For the first time, I began to emerge from my delusion and panicked.

      But then, just like the universe that had embraced this crazy idea a year earlier, it opened up and sent me an incredible ally. A wonderful person I had known for years in my writing group, our executive producer, Sarah Davie. She had been involved with the script from the very start and now wanted to assist with financing Loves Company. This was enough to greenlight the project. My delusion was becoming a tangible reality.

      Recruiting Rachel Dratch for Loves Company

      Photo 2 – Rachel Dratch (Antoinette) and Jack Plotnick (Blake) in Loves Company. Courtesy of Glue Productions

      Now I was energized. October was truly approaching (and fast). I reached out to one of my few Hollywood contacts and got in touch with a good casting agent (Josh Ropiequet). We created a casting wishlist. Then I used one of my limited New York connections to get my script to someone on that list, Rachel Dratch. Before I knew it, I was zooming with Rachel!

      Yeah, it looks like October, Rachel. Are you in or out? (OK, I wasn’t that smooth).

      I guess I just manifested everything again into the universe because, before long, Rachel agreed, and we assembled a fantastic cast, including Jack Plotnick, Sarah Baker, Dustin Ingram, Bryan Batt, Tristen J. Winger, and Rex Wheeler (aka Lady Camden). Now we were just weeks away from October!

      I selected a cinematographer (Joshua Bagnall), an art director (Sara Nyquist), and an assistant director (Liana Cockfield). Our amazing producer, Laura Singleterry, organized travel for the talent, booked the crew, and secured SAG approval. The primary interior set began to take shape on a soundstage at New Orleans’ Fishpot Studios. I had a prop person (Kaley Daniel) who could accommodate my every request (Can I get a toilet seat with stirrups, please?).

      Securing exterior locations proved to be more challenging. We struggled to find an old, creepy house set on a lot of land on the outskirts of New Orleans, as most had been rebuilt post-Hurricane Katrina. I did find one that was perfect… right next to a busy train track. I was so enamored with it that I was willing to risk stopping production for a 50-car train to pass.

      Thankfully, I was dissuaded from that choice. We also needed to find a Walmart-like store.