First-Time Filmmaker Chris Lowell Gets Help From Friend Emma Stone
It seems Emma Stone, 25, learns from her films, giving her "The Help" co-star, Chris Lowell, a helping hand on his directorial debut.
Lowell is trying his hand at film-making for the first time and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2? star was quick to lend her support. When it came time for the first table read a couple of years ago for his movie, "Beside Still Waters," Stone took a trip to Atlanta to join in on the read and give her input, which "meant the world" to Lowell.
"I recruited all of my actor friends, Beck [Bennett] being one of them. Emma Stone came in," Lowell, 29, told ABC News. "I mean, literally, they all flew to Atlanta and drove up to the lake house in rural Georgia to do this read, which meant the world to me."
" Beside Still Waters" was inspired by a lake house Lowell and his friends would go to on the weekends as kids and "served as the anchor to our childhood, our youth and our friendship" because it acted as a central place they could all go back to. In 2011, his parents sold the house and Lowell "completely lost my mind," which encouraged him to write this movie.
Since the table read a little ways back, the film has completed its filming and is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign, finishing up May 1, to fund its distribution. Lowell also starred in the third season of "Veronica Mars" and its movie counterpart, which raised millions of dollars with its own Kickstarter campaign in 2013.
With his Kickstarter campaign being so successful, Lowell said he's aiming to release the movie in the fall. Originally, he told his film backers that the movie would be released around December, but he has his heart set on the fall.
"I think we're aiming for a fall release," Lowell said. "I think that would be a good fit for this movie."
He continued: "It feels kind of like the end of summer, a saying goodbye to summer element to it. There's a real nostalgia to it. Autumn always equates with nostalgia in my head."
Although it was "terrifying" for Lowell to direct his first movie, he said he had a clear view on what he wanted from the film. After the filming ended and the movie was edited, Lowell finds that it "really succeeds at doing exactly" what he wanted it to.
"I don't think it tries to be a bigger film than it is or smaller film than it is," the "Enlisted" star said. "I think we landed the ending really well."
He added: "I love it. I really feel like I got to stretch my leg at film-making in this and I wouldn't have it any other way."