Logline

Who is to blame and who pays the price when families fall apart?

Synopsis

A controlling single mother and her daughter meet their friends on the street. When they hear a fighting couple through an open window, the mother declares that the man must be to blame. As her friend struggles to convince her that there is always more to the story, a startling scene helps open her eyes.

Director: Henrik A. Meyer
Screenwriter: Henrik A. Meyer

Production Company: Henrik A. Meyer Productions

Film status: Post-production

Running Time: 5:50 minutes
Budget $8K
Year: January 2, 2022
Language: English
Format: 17:9, 5.7K

Director Statement

As with many of my other works, Stay is based on true events. In fact, this particular story has been stirring in the back of my mind since I witnessed an actual instance of a child collecting his father’s clothes on the street many years ago. That moment, hearing the child’s parents shouting, seeing the tears in the boy’s eyes, and feeling the realization that he would carry this memory forever all felt like a punch to the gut. I knew this story was happening in a similar way around the world, and I wanted to start the conversation about who pays the price when families shatter.

Over the years, I have had many such conversations with family and friends inspired by what I observed that day. These discussions often quickly became heated and passionate, as deeply held parenting values came up for debate and eyes were opened to the realities of children living out of their suitcases. Jen and Sofia each represent a combination of real-life opinions and perspectives that I have encountered in these experiences. The handheld style intends to place the viewer directly alongside the characters and let them experience the stress of the events as they unfold. The familiar and easy language between the two women emphasizes their long-term friendship while highlighting the discomfort of their disagreements. Finally, I intentionally set this film in a neighborhood with both an urban and suburban feel to emphasize that no matter the home, we never truly know what a family is going through behind closed doors.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

Jennifer - 38 years old, white, Mother of Cecilia, divorced, carrying mother. Everyone around Jen is doing things wrong.

Cecilia - 10 years old, white, curios, happy. Love both her parents. Daughter of Jennifer.

Sofia -37 years old, Hispanic female. Sofia is the mother of Jacob. Sofia was closed to be divorced but saved her marriage, realizing her faults.

Jacob - 10 years old, white/Hispanic, curious, happy. He likes Cecilia. on of Sofia.

Miles - 7 years old, Hispanic male. Miles, carrying, wants his parents to stay together more than ever.

DIRECTOR - SCREENWRITER - STORY

Henrik A. Meyer found himself drawn to the camera at the age of 10 when he first started taking pictures, which turned into a lifelong passion for photography. This passion has led him to a long career as a cinematographer, and both this wealth of experience and a lifelong love of telling stories have set the foundation for his foray into the role of Director.

Henrik’s interest in directing stems from his deep appreciation for all pieces of the cinematic process—he thrives on being involved in every aspect of the final product, but more importantly, on collaborating with the many artists he works alongside on each of his projects. His many world travels (over 40 countries!) have influenced his open-minded perspective toward his work, and he believes the best process involves the input and creative vision from every member of the team. His diverse travels and deep interest in each person’s unique story are the signature inspirations behind Henrik’s films, which are often based on true events but intentionally depicted through a universal lens.

A native of Denmark who spent 15 years in the Danish film industry, Henrik’s directorial journey was largely inspired by his colleagues Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Charlotte Sieling (Homeland, Lovecraft Country). A more recent and highly influential experience has been a series of screenwriting courses with John Warren (Young Screenwriters). He has had experience directing small commercial specs for brands like White Claw and Full Sail University, while also directing, writing, and producing his own short films, including The Blue Car (official selection of the Oxford and DC Shorts film festivals) and his newest work, Stay.

Henrik A. Meyer's showreel: www.henrikameyer.com

Henrik A. Meyer’s IMDb

PRODUCER - EDITOR

Gema is an independent film, TV, video producer and editor splitting her time between Los Angeles, California and New York City. She has produced award winning films and has worked with the production teams of shows distributed by studios and platforms like Netflix, NBC, FOX and ABC. As an editor, she has cut music documentaries, specials and other content that has aired on networks such as CBS, PBS, DisneyXD and TCM UK.

Gema is originally from Guatemala City, Guatemala; a nature rich country with social inequalities that has influenced her to work on projects following environmental, cultural and social issues.

Gema Interiano’s website

Gema Interiano’s IMDb

EDITING CONSULTANT

Lars Wissing is a Copenhagen based editor with more than 15 years of experience.

Lars has edited several feature films, as well as award winning short films - including the Academy Award winner Helium.

His work includes award winning television series The Killing and The Protectors.

He is currently editing the feature film I Kill Giants starring Madison Wolfe and Zoe Saldana.

Lars Wissing IMDb link.

COMPOSER

From my early memories as a child, I remember myself composing "music for imaginary films". In 2001 I had my initiative entering professionally to the film industry as a film composer. In the meantime, I was studying Computer Sciences at the Aberdeen Dundee University and after my Bachelors in 2004 I devoted myself to composing music through virtual instruments.

Since then I have worked as a musician as well as a post-producer for numerous projects, collaborating with many film directors in Greece, Germany, U.S.A. for short and feature films as well as documentaries theatrical plays, even productions for Astrophysics Societies since my passion and hobby for Cosmology counts more than 2 decades.

Collaborating with creative studios in advertising as a 3D animator and visual effects compositor gave me enough creative tools and experience to start working as an Art Director at the Hellenic World Foundation. In the milestone year of 2009, I started working as a filmmaker directing video dance projects with music I had already conducted. Since then I directed and produce short films, video dances, and video art projects many of them being competed and awarded to festivals throughout the world.

In 2014 my first short movie “Firefly” got accepted to the Drama International Film Festival and later on in more than 30 other festivals around the world. The film won the Dionysus award at the London Greek film festival for best female performance.

In 2018 I got awarded the first prize in film scoring at the International Film Scoring Festival held in Megaron – Athens Concert Hall for the short movie “El Empleo”.

In 2019 at the Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival (TISFF) my short movie “Opposites Attract” got the 2019 Cinematic Achievement Award.

The 2020 pandemic found me at my studio, in a remote location outside the city of Thessaloniki finishing the production of the dance project “Tormented Hope”. Surprisingly the lockdown and the crisis in the ARTS & MEDIA department did not lead me to slumber. On the contrary, gave me plenty of time to reflect, study, discuss, and welcome new ideas for future projects with my wonderful colleagues and fellow musicians.

Georgios Soumelidis’s website

Role: Jennifer

Ashley Morgan Bloom is the Lead Actress in the New York Times Top Ten Show ‘Basetrack Live,’ a multi-media theatrical piece that explores the impact of the war in Afghanistan to the men who fight it and the families they return to.
Playing Melissa Czubai, a Marine Wife, The New York Times says “Ms. Bloom gives engaging, natural performances.” Performing at BAM in 2014, ‘Basetrack Live’ toured the country in 2014 and again in the fall of 2016, completing a 40 city tour.
Ashley Morgan Bloom plays Gina, a hoodlum teenager, in the independent short film ‘Gun’, a 2013 Sundance Official Selection.
One of Ashley’s favorite roles is Amanda Joyner in the feature film ‘Love Isn’t Enough.’ Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com calls it “the ‘Blue Valentine’ of sorts of the Black Lives Matter discourse.”
In August 2016, ‘Love Isn’t Enough’ premiered at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago as an Official Selection of the Black Harvest Film Festival; read a review of the film here. Between 2016-2017, ‘Love Isn’t Enough’ was accepted into six film festivals and is currently available to watch on Amazon Prime.
Also on Amazon Prime, Ashley plays a villain in the superhero feature film ‘And There Were 4.’ In 2018, ‘And There Were 4’ was accepted into seven film festivals throughout the United States and Canada.
In the summer of 2019, Ashley played the lead female in Director Erin Ryan’s short film, ‘Alex, Stop.’ The two-minute cut competed in Kate Bosworth, Women in Film, and Chloe Wine Collection’s first annual She Directed competition and finished in the top twenty films.
Don’t miss Ashley’s co-star debut in Law & Order SVU, Season 21, Episode 14: ‘I Deserve Some Loving Too.’ You can also see Ashley in the feature film ‘The Next Step,’ which was released on Amazon in November of 2020.
Most recently, Ashley can be seen playing Mindy in the feature, ‘The In-Law Gang,’ starring Clifton Powell. Lastly, Ashley just wrapped playing Jennifer in the short film “Stay,” directed by Danish Director Henrik A. Meyer. Stay tuned for film festival updates!

Ashley Morgan Bloom’s website

Role: Sofia

Alexandra C. Echavarri Lecaroz is an Actress, VO Actress, Comic and Singer born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is the daughter of Puertorican Landscaping Architect, named National Forest Advisor, Rosario Lecároz, and Cuban father Christian Echavarri who is head of a known Law Firm in Puerto Rico. She attended Savannah College of Art and Design where she studied Media and Performing Arts and Music. She studied Sketch Comedy/IMPROV at The Groundlings School, The PIT, UCB, and studied the Meisner Technique at Terry Knickerbocker. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 23 to follow her dreams. In Los Angeles, she got her first agent, worked in production, and landed her first commercial job with Payless Shoes in which she became their spokesperson for a span of 10yrs and during that time she still shot several other commercials for known brands such as Nissan. A couple of years later she moved to NYC got signed with CESD for both OC and VO. She then landed several commercial VO's and stared on several Sketch Comedy shows/comedy musicals in big venues across NYC.
At the moment (01/12/2021), Alexandra is featured in "Attraction to Paris" a film that is out in Cinemas and Amazon in which she interprets the role of Carmen, an undercover agent for Interpol. She has a featured role in a film being featured in the film festival circuit interpreting a Drill Nurse in a Short Film about the "Comfort Women" during WWII called "Breaking the Silence”.
In more recent news, this year she has starred in a feature film called “Chona 2: La Puerca Asesina” and a short film named “Stay”, both airing next year. She has also worked on several Voice Over gigs for known brands on Radio and TV, ADR works for an HBO show called “BETTY” and narrative work for GeoAmbiente del Caribe (National Geographic).
Alexandra has now signed with A3 Artists Agency, BMG Talent, and Encore Talent agency. Thanks to her amazing agents and her hard work she has recorded several Voice Overs, Commercials, Films and has done many Sketch Comedy shows across NYC at The Pit, Broadway Comedy Club, UCB, and The Magnet.
Alexandra's passion for the arts does not stop there. She has a passion for music and singing and has been training hard for Broadway and in the process recorded a couple of original songs and performed said songs throughout NYC. She has recently finished shooting her first music video for her single "Round and Round" which is on all streaming platforms and local radio since February 11, 2021. At the moment she is in Puerto Rico writing, acting, and producing an original comedy web series that has recently been officially selected for the Official Latino Film and Arts Festival”.

Alexandra C. Echavarri’s website

Role: Cecilia

Greta Rebecca, age 10, loved playing the role of Cecilia in the short film, Stay. Director Henrik Meyer and the entire cast and crew were amazing to work with. She also recently worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda for the movie Tick, Tick Boom! Greta played the lead role in another short film, Smudge. She was Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, The Littlest Girl in Jack and the Beanstalk, and one of the Chief Ancestors in Moana Jr. Greta Rebecca is represented by Stewart Talent and managed by Lisa Calli in NYC.

Role: Jacob

Nicolas Calero (9 years old) is a first-generation American actor, model, singer, and dancer born and based in New York City. He is of Puerto Rican and Russian descent. His acting career began at age 8, when he appeared in the educational video series, “Get Ready”. Since then, Nicolas has had the opportunity to act in a number of different roles in several different genres, including feature films, TV series, commercials, Web series, and voice-over projects. Nicolas is a member of SAG-AFTRA. His latest role is a Guest Star on the “Law and Order” SVU episode #23010, which is set to air on January 6, 2022. In his spare time, Nicolas continues his vocal and dance training at his family’s Dance studio in New York City and runs his own gaming YouTube channel. He enjoys spending time with his dog Lucy, playing video games, and hosting karaoke parties at home.

Role: Miles

Angel Ledesma IV was born on May 15, 2013, is an American actor. His ancestry is Honduran (mother) and Puerto Rican (father). Angel's work includes short films such as Super Hero Mom, and voice-over for Sesame Street, and a commercial for Wired. Angel enjoys acting and singing and other hobby's include playing soccer, drawing, and painting. Angel is currently homeschooled and loves learning all things art and being adventurous. Angel started singing at a local church in Perth Amboy at the age of 3 and since then has grown a heart for the arts.