In 'The Old Man at the Bar,' the wait staff remains available.

      Alexander Jeffery's short film “The Old Man at the Bar” was inspired by his grandfather, who journeyed around the globe, often alone, into his 80s. Reflecting on his grandfather's experiences allowed Jeffery to create his delightful film about the staff at a French bistro who agree to remain open for a tourist, leading to mutual benefits for everyone involved.

      Jeffery is an exceptionally prolific filmmaker and one of the most generous collaborators we’ve encountered during our travels with MovieMaker. Originally from Calgary and now residing in Shreveport, Louisiana, he has achieved a variety of accomplishments, including winning the Louisiana Film Prize, developing the independent TV pilot Fixation, and filming one of our favorite recent productions, the offbeat stalker musical Peeping Todd.

      Additionally, he co-owns the production company Bespoke Works and co-organizes the El Dorado Film Festival in Arkansas alongside Tamra Corley-Davis. He frequently meets filmmaking collaborators at the festival, including Abby Tozer, who stars in “The Old Man at the Bar” alongside Noah Silver and Stan Brown.

      The short film draws very loosely from Hemingway's short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and is influenced by Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. Just as Linklater did on last year’s Nouvelle Vague, Jeffery directed “The Old Man at the Bar” primarily in French, a language he has limited proficiency in.

      The film will be shown on Friday at the Waco Independent Film Festival, featured in the Crowd Pleasers block. We spoke with Jeffery about his Louisiana story, building a film community, and what he has come to appreciate about Waco Indie through his experience running a festival.

      Alexander Jeffery on ‘The Old Man at the Bar’

      Stan Brown, left, and Alexander Jeffery on the set of “The Old Man at the Bar”

      A prolific filmmaker, MovieMaker: You filmed this in the only American city that could resemble Paris — New Orleans. How did you manage it?

      Alexander Jeffery: My amazing producing partner, Brittany Fallow, resides in New Orleans and has a great network of talented individuals she collaborates with down there. We were very fortunate that, in recent years, Le Moyne Bistro opened, and the interior of that restaurant provided an almost ready-made solution for our set.

      I scouted the restaurant, adjusted the script slightly to align with the layout and outdoor scenes of the film, and they were kind enough to allow us to use their location for two overnight shoots.

      MovieMaker: The cast chemistry is outstanding. How did you assemble everyone?

      Alexander Jeffery: Stan Brown, who portrays the “old man” in the film, was wrapping up his Broadway debut in Water for Elephants when I first shared the script with him. Stan has been an incredibly generous mentor to me for many years; he was a highly impactful acting professor during my college years, and we had collaborated on another short film in 2015 called “The Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy,” which won the $50,000 Louisiana Film Prize.

      I felt a bit hesitant to send him this script, thinking, “Just so you know, I definitely don’t see you as an old man,” but he read it and quickly became the strongest advocate for getting this film made and even stepped in as a producer on the project.

      Abby Tozer and Noah Silver in “The Old Man at the Bar.”

      The next person I approached with the script was Abby Tozer, with whom I had just formed a friendship through the El Dorado Film Festival and who I knew was fluent in French. Spoiler alert: my entire draft of the script was in English and my French is… quite limited. Abby became another significant champion for the film. She assisted me in translating the script into French, helped me find Noah to play our other French waiter, and hosted a rehearsal at her home in Los Angeles when I was there for work.

      As for the chemistry, I can’t take credit for that… Abby and Noah are both exceptional actors who truly elevated the writing and flirtation aspects. We collaborated with a fantastic intimacy coordinator in New Orleans who ensured the actors felt comfortable and created an environment where that chemistry could flourish.

      MovieMaker: Can you elaborate on the unique challenges of directing scenes in French?

      Alexander Jeffery: Absolutely! As I previously mentioned, “I don’t speak French very well” (said with my thickest Southern accent). Directing the actors during the French-dialogue scenes transformed into an interesting exercise in directing physicality, encouraging me to focus less on the words and more on visual storytelling… on body language. It was an enjoyable and refreshing approach to the work.

      MovieMaker: You are known for working with other Film Prize and El Dorado veterans, which seems to serve as a model for anyone outside Hollywood. Am I overly romanticizing the idea of you and many other filmmakers, from Shreveport to El Dorado,