January 04, 2011
Student’s film to premiere at Portage Theater
Matthew Helderman '11 directs his film "The Alumni Chapter."
Matthew Helderman hasn’t even graduated from college and he’s already written and directed his own full-length feature film. The Alumni Chapter will premiere at the Portage Theater in Chicago in February. Helderman is slated to graduate from Lake Forest College with a degree in philosophy and English in May 2011.
Helderman wrote the film in late 2009 when he was a junior in college. While reflecting on his own impending graduation, he wrote the script about four friends who struggle with moving on after they graduate from college. The characters come to terms with a strapped economy and the unraveling of their long-term friendships. Plagued by past events, the friends ultimately realize that growing up means letting go. Although each struggles with their problems differently, the uniting element is that all four are fighting the common issue of moving on. The deterioration of the friendships reveal the inevitable- they must move forward alone.
“Moving on is a much harder thing to do than moving forward, and this is the core of their struggle,” said Helderman. “I was 21 when I wrote this film and was overcome with the fear of what I was going to do with my life after graduation.”
He’s got a solid start.
The entire film cost $30,000 and was independently financed. The movie was filmed for 12 days in 10 locations in 2010, with a cast and crew of 100 people. Many scenes take place on the campus of Lake Forest College.
Helderman grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut, and says film has been a driving passion of his since a young age. He studied film while at Lake Forest College, writing two theses on Wes Anderson and Woody Allen films. Helderman said philosophy professor Abba Lessing was a great resource while making the film.
“Abba has a unique background in film, as his love for film mainly leans towards post modern and modern European art film, which has always had a big influence on me,” Helderman said.
Helderman also wrote and directed the short film “M. Vangard” in 2008.
The Alumni Chapter premieres on February 19, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. at the Portage Theater in Chicago (4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue). The film is for anyone who ever had a hard time landing a job or figuring out what to do after college, or had to face that difficult, but sometimes necessary evil of leaving loved ones behind to forage a new life on their own. Click here for more information.