Steinert alumna Jessalyn Abbott has moved to Brooklyn, and is co-producing a film about social media.
Mercer County Community College students produce feature film about social media
By Sara Jerome
Do you behave the same way online as you do offline? Or are you a little meaner, a little more provocative behind the veil of Internet anonymity?
That’s one of the themes in Like Me, a film under development by two aspiring filmmakers from Mercer County.
Hamilton native Jessalyn Abbott, 21, and Rob Mockler, 27, of West Windsor, met at Mercer County Community College two years ago. Now they are working on a feature-length film exploring the peculiarities of communication and identity in the information age.
“It’s about a young woman, Kiya, who is exploiting people emotionally and documenting that to get attention, to get views, basically, on her campus,” said Mockler, who is writing, directing and producing the film.
His co-producer, Abbott, is working to make sure the film gets funded. They currently have a staff of six, including themselves, working on the film.
“I’m trying to figure out the correct way to pitch this to investors in the tech and film industries,” said Abbott, a 2010 graduate of Steinert High School.
Like Me is already getting some traction in industry publications. IndieWire chose it as the “project of the day” earlier in the year. Fittingly, social media promotion is helping, as well. The pair tweeted out a line about the film, and got a meeting with a successful producer.
“I threw out a blind tweet, trying to raise awareness. I just posted the log line of the film and put a link to the trailer, and he watched it,” Mockler said.
The pair has now entered their film in a program for aspiring independent filmmakers called Dogfish Accelerator. It is run by Dogfish Pictures, an independent film company responsible for films featuring such household names as Paul Rudd and Alicia Silverstone.
Participants receive seed funding, mentorship, perks and resources in exchange for promising the program a cut of the film proceeds. Dogfish Accelerator provides each team with $18,000 in seed financing in exchange for 8 percent of the team’s venture gross, according to its website.
Like Me delves into some provocative, and even disturbing, issues. Seeking fame through her Internet identity, Kiya begins committing crimes and filming them. Her videos go viral.
“She films the robbery of a convenience store, and it’s not really about what she can steal, it’s centered on making it look humiliating,” Mockler said. “She’s focused on making herself look cool.”
Kiya crosses the line over and over, but it is all staged, and she is carrying a fake weapon. Still, the emotional effects of her actions are real.
The pair has used various real-world situations as inspiration for the film. They pointed to instances when reality and the Internet world have collided in tragic ways.
For instance, this year a man allegedly killed his wife and posted a picture on Facebook. The incident made headlines across the country.
“It seems like it’s only getting worse,” Mockler said. “People are wiling to do anything to get [online] validation and attention. Then you put that in the hands of a teenager, you have this machine to give you immediate, positive feedback. It has an interesting effect on our psychology.”
In their own lives, both Mockler and Abbott are careful what they post online.
“I had never thought of social media in the way we’re treating it in the film. I’m still a huge fan of social media sites,” said Abbott, a devoted Instagram user.
Mockler is more reserved.
“I was a Facebook holdout for the longest time. I’m not as comfortable with sharing,” Mockler said. “I don’t think social media is evil or anything. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s really easy to get addicted to it.”
The filmmakers have cast actress Mitzi Peirone, as Kiya. They said it was like the character herself walked in the door when Peirone auditioned. She is helping them pitch to investors.
“Like Me is about vanity and loneliness,” Peirone said in a YouTube video promoting the film. “We constantly need immediate approval. That sensation is so consuming that it brings people to do crazy things.”
What does the future hold for these filmmakers? They live in Brooklyn now and plan to continue working in film.
“I want to find my footing and figure out where I belong in this industry,” Abbott said. “I love working with creative people, helping them mold their ideas and bring them to life.”
Abbott has maintained her Hamilton roots, though, as her family still lives in Groveville.
Mockler skipped film school in order to actually start practicing his art, and he hopes Like Me will launch his career. He said he is drawn to the independent filmmaking community “where you can make films that are more challenging.”
“This is a huge opportunity, and hopefully I can use this film to help establish myself in the Indie world,” he said.
For more information, go online to likemethefilm.com.