Philadelphia is the setting for out writer/director Doug Spearman’s forthcoming romance, “From Zero to I Love You.” The film depicts the relationship that develops between Jack Dickinson (Scott Bailey), a married-with-kids publishing executive in Haverford, and Peter Logdsdon (Darryl Stephens), a gay advertising copywriter who lives in the city.
The filmmaker, who is based in Los Angeles, has completed 75 percent of the film, but he needs funding to shoot Philadelphia-area exteriors, commuter trains and even the narrow windows and doors of rooms, because — despite movie magic — the proportions of Philadelphia townhouses can’t be faked in Hollywood.
“I want as much authenticity as possible,” Spearman said via Skype from California, noting he hopes to bring the actors back east in December to finish shooting. “When you walk down the Philly streets, it informs their characters.”
He explained that he originally hoped to make “From Zero to I Love You” in Boston, as the film was based on his life in that city. However, he said the local film office was very “anti-low-budget indie film. They told me to go to Lowell, Ma., to shoot.”
Two weeks later, he was attending QFlix with his directorial debut, “Hot Guys with Guns,” and was smitten with the City of Brotherly Love.
“I saw how amazing and charming the city was. I love the area by Penn’s Landing, and I think Philly is more photogenic and more ‘old East Coast’ than Boston. There’s more to shoot here.”
After a meeting with Sharon Pinkenson in the Philadelphia Film Office, Spearman began work preparing to shoot. He did some research, included local angles — such as having the lead characters be Temple and Penn alums — and scouted locations around Independence Hall.
“The Philadelphia backdrop adds value,” Spearman acknowledged. “It becomes a character. It’s a quintessential American city, and it made sense to shoot here. Jack is a descendant of John Dickinson, who is one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Another character, Tracey Thayer, is named after Tracey from ‘The Philadelphia Story,’ and John Borland Thayer, who was the second vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad.”
“From Zero to I Love You” is a change of pace for Spearman after the warmly received comic mystery, “Hot Guys with Guns.” The filmmaker took what he learned from directing his last film and used it as he focused on creating a romance that harkens back to those classic late 1950s/early 1960s love stories, albeit with a queer twist. He explained how he approached this new film.
“I wanted to try a different genre. The costumes and the lighting to the smoothness of the camera movements — I love those things — and I had to learn how to be more restrained as a filmmaker to capture them with the right tone and feel.”
He continued, “Shooting in Philly, I had to learn how to see things cinematically. Because it is a city, there are lots of wide shots. I took more creative chances with this film because of what I learned making ‘Hot Guys with Guns.’ I learned to open up after my first movie. I was more relaxed. Shooting it, you appreciate the place.”
As such, scenes of lovers walking down cobblestone streets, or characters meeting in Love Park, or outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art provide nice Philadelphia flavor.
Still, one of the issues in making “From Zero to I Love You” is getting the funds to complete it. Spearman observes that one of the most difficult things about making an independent gay movie is “overcoming people’s mindset about how hard it is. Or that audiences have changed because of streaming. If you make a good film, people will want to see it and it will get distributed.”
A seven-minute clip from the production is available on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81IstsESfPs] and Spearman said, based on initial response, there clearly is an audience for a film like this — and it is not just gay men. Spearman believes women whose husbands are gay are going to look at this film for identification, answers and representation.
Right now, the filmmaker would like Philadelphians to support his efforts.
“I would love to find investors in Philly. The one I had moved to L.A. We have a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.com/fromzerotoIloveyou. It’s important to me to come back to Philly, and not finish this in Los Angeles. There’s more color and depth I can add by walking down the streets of Philadelphia. I want this to be a film Philly can be proud of. We’re shooting this to show the city off.
“People need to understand how hard it is to make and distribute a gay film. If an audience doesn’t participate up front, films don’t get made. It’s too hard to talk to mainstream production companies. We have to come together as audiences and artists. These are our stories. It’s our art.”