Production Information
There is nothing more overpowering,
reckless and all-consuming than the rush that accompanies first love…in all of
its intensity and obsession, possibility and promise. It is a timeless theme in modern storytelling,
dating back to Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, but one that remains urgently
current because it serves as a rite of passage for everyone in every
generation.
This Valentine’s Day, one young couple
will fight against all odds for love.
Endless
Love stars ALEX
PETTYFER (Magic Mike,
I Am Number Four) and GABRIELLA WILDE (The Three Musketeers, Carrie) in the story of Jade Butterfield and
David Elliot, a privileged girl and a charismatic boy whose instant desire
sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them
apart. Although separated by class boundaries, their gravitational pull
is undeniable and unstoppable.
During the months following their high school
graduation, Jade, a sheltered young woman with a limitless future, becomes enthralled
with David, a working-class boy with a troubled past who in turn falls head
over heels for her. Their romance
collides with Jade’s controlling father’s attempts to steer her clear of David,
while her mother encourages the relationship to thrive and his father advises
clear-eyed caution. Over the course of
one unforgettable summer, two young lovers will defy logic and allow their
all-consuming passion to determine their future together.
Directed by SHANA FESTE (Country Strong, The Greatest), the romantic drama
co-stars a cast of seasoned and up-and-coming performers, led by BRUCE
GREENWOOD (Star Trek, Flight) as Hugh, Jade’s overbearing
father who never lets her out of his sight; JOELY RICHARDSON (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Vampire Academy) as Anne, Jade’s romantic
and idealistic mother who has the heart of a poet; and ROBERT PATRICK (Safe House, upcoming Kill the Messenger) as David’s father, Harry,
a mechanic who wants his son to have the life he never did.
They are joined by young talents RHYS WAKEFIELD (The Purge, Sanctum) as Keith, Jade’s loving, yet rebellious, older brother;
DAYO OKENIYI (The Hunger Games, The Spectacular Now) as Mace, David’s fantastically
reckless best friend; and EMMA RIGBY (The
Counselor, television’s Once Upon a Time
in Wonderland) as Jenny, David’s formidable ex-girlfriend who refuses to
give up on him so easily.
To produce the film, SCOTT STUBER (Ted, Safe
House) of Bluegrass Films and producer PAMELA ABDY (Identity Thief, 47 Ronin) of New Regency are joined by
JOSH SCHWARTZ (TV’s Gossip Girl, The O.C.) and STEPHANIE SAVAGE (TV’s Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie) of
Fake Empire.
For Endless Love,
Feste commands a behind-the-scenes team that is led by director of photography
ANDREW DUNN (Precious, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), production
designer CLAY GRIFFITH (We Bought a Zoo,
Sweet Home Alabama), editor MARYANN
BRANDON (Star Trek, Super 8), costume designer STACEY
BATTAT (The Bling Ring,
The Disappearance
of Eleanor Rigby) and composer CHRISTOPHE BECK (The Hangover trilogy, The
Muppets).
Based on the book by SCOTT SPENCER, Endless Love is from a screenplay by Shana
Feste and JOSHUA SAFRAN (Gossip Girl).
J. MILES DALE (The Vow) and TRACY
FALCO (Lions for Lambs) serve as the
romantic drama’s executive producers.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Fight for Love:
The Production Begins
The idea to draw inspiration from Scott
Spencer’s 1979 best-selling novel about teenage lovers and bring those themes
to young moviegoers in the 21st century originated with Scott Stuber
and Pamela Abdy, who, early on, attracted a pair of ideal collaborators. Although this all-consuming territory has
been explored in films for much older audiences, they were interested in taking
an exploration of a love so intense that nothing will stand in its way and making
it relatable for a “PG-13” audience.
Abdy shares the film’s inception:
“When Scott and I talked about doing Endless
Love as a film, we thought it would be a good idea to approach Josh
Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who are the king and queen of the teen
genre. They have created such wonderful,
smart work that speaks to that generation: The
O.C. and Gossip Girl and now The Carrie Diaries. At that point, the development process began
and we worked to make the best, most contemporary version of a teenage
first-love story.”
Stuber shared his fellow producers’ interest in
developing the material. He notes: “I thought this was a great way to
explore two people who have the ups and downs of their first love. The
first time that you feel those emotions, there’s euphoria to them, and this
great love expands who you are. As well, there’s a great sadness when it
goes wrong. You feel it on such a level that you can’t again, as there is
only one first time.”
For Schwartz, the challenge was to ensure that the film
would both honor the classic movie melodrama and feel like a current, relevant
romance. “Stephanie and I have worked
together for a long time, and we love classic teen drama,” he says. “When you’re telling a story about teenagers,
everything seems so heightened and feels like life and death. We wanted to create a modern-day epic love
story that still feels grounded, believable and has a bit of a ‘Romeo and
Juliet’ quality to it.”
With this telling of the classic story, the producers believed
that their Jade Butterfield and David Elliot should discover the beautiful
abandonment and repercussions of falling into your first love. They knew that the intended audience would
see and experience a great deal of their own first relationships in this
drama.
“I love romantic movies and love stories,” offers Savage,
“and something that is always a huge part in the TV shows that Josh and I do is
the theme of young people falling in love for the first time—losing themselves,
making good and bad decisions and going on a journey—which is relatable for
everybody. You’ve either been in love
and had your heart broken or you want to be in love. Even when you get older, you often think
about that teenage love and the first time that you fell.”
Schwartz and Savage developed the script for Endless Love with Joshua Safran, one of
the duo’s Gossip Girl writers, with
whom they had worked for years. Whereas
Spencer’s novel has somewhat more political and darker elements than this film,
the producers remain grateful for its inspiration and took liberties with his
characters and narrative. Commends
Savage: “Josh is smart and is a terrific emotional writer; we love his
voice. We knew he would understand the
elevated world of Jade’s family and bring to this original script the story of a
family that had suffered and hadn’t recovered from the loss of their son. As well, he could help the audience
understand how David, this scrappy kid from the other side of the tracks, comes
into their lives and ignites Jade’s heart.”
After organizing the core team and commissioning a draft,
the producers approached Country Strong’s
Shana Feste to direct. As Schwartz notes:
“Shana came in with such a great sensibility about the material. She has an acute understanding of character
and love stories. Most importantly, she
vividly remembers being a teenager and tapped into many of the things that
appealed to the rest of us about the story.”
Savage agrees with her fellow producer’s assessment: “Shana
had directed two previous movies that had amazing performances, especially from
young actors. We knew that if we could
get Shana to direct the movie it would feel authentic. Her belief in love and the theme of the movie
is imbued in every scene; lightness, warmth and hopefulness permeate through
everything.”
Once Feste signed on to the project, she tailored the
script to her sensibilities. Abdy
explains: “The life of each character is important to Shana, and she’s thought
through every stage—from working through the story and writing the script to
figuring out the characters’ relationships and how they were intertwined.”
The writers imagined Jade as a sheltered
and inexperienced high-school senior who falls for David, a dangerous young man
with a dark history. Her father strongly
objects to the passionate relationship that’s blossoming and the newfound
freedom that Jade’s discovering with a guy he is certain is wrong for her. There’s little he can do about her evolution
or David’s increasing presence and influence upon her. In fact, Jade’s intense feelings for David
are a constant, thorny reminder to both her father and mother of what has
slowly died in their marriage. As Jade
consciously says goodbye to her innocent past, she has an awakening that will
change both of them forever.
Stuber found soulfulness to Feste’s
approach to the material, one that echoed a classic fairy tale. He explains: “In the way that Jade is
articulated, she’s Rapunzel. She’s a
girl who had a brother who died of cancer, which inevitably made her mother and
father that much more of helicopter parents.
The loss of a child is the worst thing that could happen to anyone, and
that loss manifests itself in different ways.
In the case of Jade’s father, it turned him into an overbearing man who
has limited his daughter’s ability to be a real person in high school. She’s lost out on those years and is a girl
in a gilded cage until David breaks her out of it. He can see her for who she really is.”
Feste elaborates upon her interest in the
project: “I wanted to direct this film because I wanted to make a contemporary
love story. I was immediately drawn to
the idea of making a movie about falling in love and exploring themes that are
important to me—being brave and putting love first. To have that message reach hundreds of
thousands of people in this generation is an amazing opportunity.”
The writer/director aimed to create an experience that
would have the audience rooting for our couple.
Her goal was to expose the intensity and passion of first love, and she
was determined to put that into each frame of the movie. The director shares: “I wanted a happy ending
for this story. I wanted our characters
to win, and I wanted love to win. That’s
the story that I wanted to tell: that real love, your first love, can be the
most powerful.”
She continues: “I thought a lot about ‘Romeo and Juliet’
when I was writing and was also inspired by the photography of Ryan
McGinley. The connection to teenagers in
his work feels inclusive, fun and young and sexy. I didn’t want the characters’ love to feel
portrayed from a distance. I wanted it
to feel like we were experiencing it.
McGinley’s photography lets you be in the world of his subjects, and
that’s how I wanted to feel when I was watching Jade and David. David is a brooding, yet charming, guy who
awakens this wonderful, ethereal girl for the first time.”
The self-described romantic admits that what also drew
her to the project was her personal experience of seeing a love story told on
screen for the first time. “I want what
I experienced when I saw my first love story,” she says. “I walked away from that theater thinking, ‘I
cannot wait to fall in love. I can’t
wait to meet that guy and have all of that.’
That’s what I want every girl in the audience to think when they watch
this movie.”
Abdy was moved by how Feste and Safran had so beautifully
captured the intimacy and explosiveness of first love. She offers: “The script gave us a Jade and
David who were feeling something they’ve never felt before: this love and
passion and desire to be happy. But
there are other people that don’t understand that feeling, who may have once
found that feeling with someone but have lost it now, so David and Jade have to
be brave and fight for it.” Agreeing
with her director’s sentiment, Abdy sums: “The movie is about embracing that
love again, believing that no matter what age you are, everyone can feel love
and passion.”
Instant Connection:
Casting the Drama
Finding talented young actors who could provide the
essential chemistry of David and Jade was the filmmakers’ top priority. They found the ideal performers in Alex
Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde. Shares
Schwartz: “In a love story, this is the whole ball game. The first time we saw Alex and Gabriella on
screen, everyone was very aware of their chemistry. You just felt it was there. Beyond the fact that they are both very
attractive people, you felt this real connection between them.”
Schwartz admired his director’s knack with the
talent. “Shana is wonderful working with
young actors and getting them to open up to one another and letting the
audience into that love story,” she says.
“She spent so much time in rehearsal with Alex and Gabriella helping
them forge that connection and open up not only to each other, but to the
camera as well. It’s such a challenge
for an actor to be exposed, and her patience and guidance have resulted in
terrific performances.”
As part of the rehearsal and
bonding process, Feste says Pettyfer and Wilde spent a good deal of time together
off set and did a lot of fun exercises, including dancing to loud music. As filming started, the director felt
inspired by the talent and commitment of her young actors. She shares: “They came to respect each other
so much. When you’re doing a love story,
you have to know that the other person has your back.”
When they meet, the temperaments of the soon-to-be young
lovers are as different as their cultural and economic status. Feste
praises her leading man, who plays David as a young man you root for: “Alex is
a total romantic. What struck me the
first time I met him is how open he was talking about the love he wants to
find. Most 23-year-old guys are not
talking openly about love! David
believes that he deserves love and Alex believes that he deserves love, and
that translates in the movie.”
Pettyfer discusses his director’s process: “We did some
interesting rehearsing, and that helped.
Shana guided us along the path.
She comes from such an interesting place of wanting people to relate and
connect. It’s not so much about a sole
performance; it’s about collaboration.
She’s given me a new look into how to connect with who I’m playing and
where I’m going in the story.”
Stuber adds that the care his director put into the
on-screen couple finding comfort in one another was one of the virtues of the production:
“There’s a complete and utter believability to all of their interactions. Gabriella and Alex are natural and organic;
they have chemistry and feel like people in love. That’s a testament to their work as actors,
as well as Shana and the time she put in so that they could talk through the
places that they were going to have to go with each other.”
When David connects with Jade, he finds a girl who has
suffered a loss in her family that has taken her out of the social world of
school. Even though she’s beautiful and
bright, she’s not outgoing and hasn’t become a part of the high school. While he encourages her to see that she is a
free spirit and that someone could fall in love with her, she gives him the
confidence to believe in himself.
The filmmakers
found that the British-born Wilde embodies many of Jade’s traits. Feste explains: “I pictured Jade as gorgeous, and Gabriella
definitely is that. But how Gabriella
wears her beauty is her strongest suit.
She has no idea how gorgeous she is.
As we were starting to rehearse, I saw Gabriella open up. She is close to the character of Jade: aware
of what people think of her and quite shy.
She’s an introvert, and I imagined that Jade would be an introvert. Seeing Gabriella as Jade let love change and
inspire her has been fun to watch. Her
arc is so strong in this movie, and that’s when you forget how beautiful
Gabriella is and just realize that she is an amazing actress.”
Wilde walks us through the story’s beats: “David awakens Jade to her own voice and to her youth. At the beginning, she’s quite serious and
burdened by a sense of guilt toward her family following the death of her
brother Chris. She’s someone who’s
trying to make it all okay all of the time, and this is where David gives her
license to be herself. She finds her
voice in the movie as she’s falling in love.
Jade goes from being suppressed to putting everything aside to fight for
love and what she believes in.”
Feste wasn’t the only one impressed with Wilde’s
demeanor. “Gabriella is amazing,”
praises Pettyfer. “She has this beauty
that takes you aback. She looks like a
supermodel, but she also is grounded and actually quite shy—the most beautiful
girl mixed with the quiet girl. She was
perfect for Jade.”
To play Jade’s parents, the production cast the
accomplished veteran actors Bruce Greenwood as Hugh Butterfield, a father whose
desire to protect his daughter leads to awful results, and Joely Richardson as
Anne Butterfield, Jade’s sympathetic mother who is just as romantic as her only
daughter.
Greenwood, an award-winning
actor who has starred in such acclaimed films as Star Trek Into Darkness and Flight, brings to life Jade’s
menacing, if well-meaning, father. Discussing
the part, the actor offers: “One of the foremost things that interested me about
the character was that he was a father learning to let go of a child that he
loves beyond all measure, after having lost a child. Trying to keep her from harm, but at the same
time guide her is a tremendous struggle for him; he begins to overreact and
becomes rigid in the way he looks at his daughter’s aspirations.”
Hugh is a successful surgeon in Atlanta who strongly objects to the
relationship that’s blossoming between Jade and David. It was important to Feste to have the
audience also see the warmth of his character, so as to not have Hugh appear as
a clichéd villain. His on-screen
daughter reflects on Greenwood’s talent.
“Bruce is a
brilliant actor,” lauds Wilde. “There’s
a danger that Hugh could have just been a villain, but Bruce has kept the
humanity in Hugh. While he is a
villain—what he does is frightening and wrong—you can understand where it all
comes from; he’s done that brilliantly.
Producer Schwartz was taken with Greenwood’s performance
and ability to bring an incredible humanity to stoic Hugh. Schwartz shares: “When you see Bruce on screen,
you sense a strength and integrity to him.
This makes the fact that he’s the antagonist of the movie very interesting. Hugh will go to great lengths to keep his
daughter from David in ways that the audience may not agree with, but can
always understand.”
Feste shares that they conceived of the parents by seeing
them in shades of gray. Both Hugh and
Harry protect their children the best way they can. The director explains: “Do either one of them
understand the love that David and Jade have?
I don’t think so. I think maybe
toward the end of the film they start to.
Are they afraid of it? Yes, sure,
because that intensity is frightening to see because it’s all-consuming. Anne is the one character who is not afraid
of that love, but is drawn to it and wants to celebrate it.”
Anne is a published
author who hasn’t written in years. Like
Hugh, she mourns the loss of their eldest child, but while her husband’s grief
pushes her away, she wants to hold on to their marriage. Stuber explains why this character is so
pivotal to Jade and David’s arc: “Anne has a husband who’s cheating on her, and
she’s aware of it. She’s living a
lie. But seeing this young man who’s
being honest with who he is and authentic in his love for her daughter…that’s a
big deal to Anne. That’s something she
respects to the point that she gives David information she likely
shouldn’t.”
For her part, Richardson was impressed with Feste’s directorial style, one that
allowed her to play Anne as a forgiving character who operates from a base of love
for others—as well as a woman who has lost herself to a controlling husband. Richardson shares: “Shana is precise, thinks
outside the box and knows exactly what she wants. As an actor, you can be used to
self-directing. With Shana, she thinks
of these imaginative scenarios to get you to do the scene the way she’d like.”
While Greenwood’s Hugh feels immediate disdain for
David, Richardson’s Anne feels drawn to the young man’s spirit from the
beginning. Richardson explains: “She has
that mother’s instinct that picks up that he’s a good guy. But the big thing that wins her over is that
David has this enormous love for her daughter, and that melts her heart.”
Savage compares the
character of Anne to Richardson’s real-life persona, a woman inspired by love. She notes: “Joely is elegance
personified. Anne is a character who is
very observant. She is the glue that
holds her family together and Joely is great at playing all those small
moments, the looks, the gestures. She’s
always taking care of her family, concerned about where everybody is
emotionally and how to keep them together.
Joely is tuned into that in a great way.”
On
the other side of the tracks, David’s father Harry, an automotive mechanic who
works in the shop he owns, hasn’t considered love in a long time. His wife walked out on him a few years
earlier, and he’s closed his heart. Unlike
his co-stars (Pettyfer, Wilde, Richardson) who are British and Canadian
(Greenwood), veteran actor Robert Patrick is from Georgia. “With his Southern roots,” says Savage,
“Robert brings texture and a completely different flavor. The Butterfields are a very refined family,
and Harry represents this whole other aspect of David’s world.”
Patrick sheds some light on the background of his
character: “Harry is raising his son the best way he knows how. It’s a loving environment. When you meet Harry, you know that he’s a
good, salt-of-the-earth guy. He’s a
man’s man who is used to getting dirty, and he’s raised his son that way—to
stand up for himself and be who he is.”
The actor recalls his first meeting with his new son:
“When I met Alex, it just felt great; we had an instantaneous chemistry. He even looks like my son, which was funny to
me, Alex and my son. They’re so similar
that we actually used pictures of my little boy as David when he was younger.”
The energy and versatility that Patrick brought to the
story and his role was put to good use. Pettyfer
felt that in spades: “It was so crazy. Robert
came on set, I hadn’t met him yet, and I wanted to seem very professional and
I’m nervous: ‘I’m...I’m Alex. Very nice
to meet you. I play your son.’ And he gives me a massive hug and says, ‘This
is my son, everybody.’ It was exciting
to work with him.”
After assembling the two leads
and their parents, the team got to work building a stellar up-and-coming
supporting cast. As there is darkness in
Jade’s past and David’s background, there was a potential of making the film
too serious. The talented young actors brought
humor and liveliness to the project.
Filmmakers encouraged the entire cast to hang out and get
to know each other off camera, which helped to enhance each relationship on camera. Abdy offers: “In rehearsals, they got to know
one another, become friends and learn to tell truths about each other so that
you feel that there’s a life behind the movie.
We encouraged them to go do fun things by themselves. Shana brought all that to the table as a
director who is very character-driven. Because
she’s a writer, too, she’s very much into the context and the life of each
character.”
Australian Rhys Wakefield plays Keith, Jade’s flippant, charming and
protective older brother. “What I like about Keith,” says Wakefield, “is that he
has this deep-seated pain within him. There’s
this history of a father-son relationship gone awry. His
purpose in this film is to help Jade along in her journey and to welcome David
into the household, acting as a bridge between the parent and this
outsider. David represents healing to
Keith as well, coming in as he does and mixing things up, which is something
that the whole family is in great need of.”
It was
important to Feste that Keith and Jade’s relationship was based on support for each other. She shares: “Rhys is an
incredible actor. He’s mischievous and
has this wonderful smile. The minute
Rhys and Gabriella got together, I knew they would be perfect because they
genuinely support each other as actors.
I feel incredibly lucky to have cast Rhys because he adds so much to
Keith that the audience will be celebrating when he embraces this message to be
brave and fight for love.”
David’s best friend, Mace, is played by Nigerian-born Dayo
Okeniyi, who is best known for his role in The
Hunger Games. “Dayo is incredibly
charismatic,” says Feste. “Mace
represents David’s old world—peaking in high school. Dayo is one of those actors who brings such a
fresh, fun energy to the film. Most of
what he does is all improvised. I love
his improvisation—he’s so clever and so funny.”
Okeniyi shares what drew him to the role of Mace: “Before Endless Love, I’d come off projects where I was sci-fi intense, with a lot of
death and destruction, and for the first time, a character came my way that was
down to earth, if a bit on the wild side.
When I was testing for the role, Shana said that he should be the light
of the movie. Whenever Mace comes on
screen, he should just be that breath of fresh air, the reaffirming
friend. At the same time, she didn’t
want him to be a caricature.”
When David meets Jade, he has just broken up with his
girlfriend, Jenny, played by British actress Emma Rigby in her first American feature-film
role. Jenny and Jade are complete
opposites: she’s overtly sexual and flirtatious with David, which makes us
understand why Jade feels threatened. As
David and Jade’s relationship develops, Jenny refuses to watch passively. Her act of revenge succeeds in separating
them—possibly forever.
Feste wanted to
explore the character of Jade by contrasting her with Jenny, while also making
sure that there was a genuine relationship between Jenny and David. “Emma has a tough role,” says the director, “because Jenny is
the girl that you want to hate. Still, there
were takes where I said, ‘Emma, it’s just making me too sad, you are too good
right now; just do less, because I’m feeling too much for you. You look too heartbroken that David has
chosen someone else and we always have to be thinking that Jade and David have
the strongest bond.’ But Emma is such a
strong actress that sometimes you can’t help but have your heart go out to
her.”
Capturing the Passion:
Design and Locations
The paths of David and Jade’s story are reflected in the design
of the film. Feste assembled a stellar
behind-the-scenes team—led by cinematographer Andrew Dunn, production designer
Clay Griffith and costume designer Stacey Battat—to bring her vision from
script to screen. For Griffith, the
inspiration for the colors of the production began by sitting down with Dunn,
Battat and Feste, and pulling photographs that would reflect their shared,
desired palette. Griffith recalls: “It’s
not often that the director, director of photography, costume designer and
production designer sit down and conjure up the look of the film. But we did, and it was fantastic.”
Because they were on location in Atlanta for 34 of the 37
shooting days, and not on a soundstage, the color palette was more difficult to
control. But Griffith worked with
costume designer Battat to create the film’s signature look. The costume designer describes the style
evolution of Jade’s character progressing from girl to woman: “We wanted Jade
to be more of a little girl at the beginning and then progress into being a
woman. The fact that she’s still a kid
means she might want to wear her dresses with Converse high-tops. Jade’s color scheme is what I like to call a ‘1920s
color palette’—soft, muted pale pinks, peaches and minty greens with occasional
reds when she’s being defiant of her father.
When she chooses David, she’s in red.”
On the opposite end, it was important that David’s
wardrobe reflect his demeanor of little change.
Shares Battat: “David
is a stable force in the movie, so his wardrobe always remains constant; his
look remains consistent, like a James Dean-type character.”
One of Feste’s priorities was to find a romantic to shoot
the film. Enter BAFTA Award-winning director
of photography Andrew Dunn, who allowed for specific spacing of the characters
to reflect Feste’s vision. “We initially
created a tightness of space around Jade,” notes Dunn. “As she becomes a woman, develops her own
point of view and finds her place in life and in love, we created more freedom
of space around her. She becomes more
the mistress of her environment and her space becomes freer.”
Something of critical importance to Feste was having a
team that was very open to love. Reflecting
on Dunn, she compliments: “He is so incredibly generous and calm and his spirit
is so giving that I knew he would be perfect to shoot a love story. It’s great that he’s so open and not
cynical. When I explained what I wanted
in a scene or how I wanted a kiss to go and he said, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful,’ I knew
that he meant it. On top of that, he’s
made the actors feel so free with their emotions.”
The camaraderie was felt between Dunn and Feste. “Working
with Shana was an energizing and uplifting experience for me. She has such a special view,” notes Dunn. “She is wonderful with the actors,
understands the story so well—and it all comes from her heart. Shana is very inspiring. She’s a writer, she understands her subjects
and what she is trying to get from the story, which has inspired me to go on a
journey with her and draw out that story through the images, through the lighting,
camera placement, movement that we created together.”
Endless Love’s set was located almost entirely
in and around Atlanta, from May to July 2013.
“Josh and I had never shot in Georgia before,” says Savage, “so this was
our first time here. There are so many
different places to shoot—from the beautiful Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead,
where the Butterfield house is, to the more urban spot where we found an
amazing old garage for Harry’s place, to the gorgeous lake house on Lake
Jackson outside of the city. From the
diversity of looks, the great local crews and the good restaurants—we really
enjoyed our time here.”
Sounds of Romance:
Building the Soundtrack
Little is more important in
a romantic drama about the fight to keep the one you love than the music that
encapsulates those intense emotions. To
create a soundtrack that incorporated each mood experienced by Jade and David,
Feste worked closely with producer Schwartz.
She shares: “Josh and I wanted a young, fun soundtrack for this film,
but it was also important to utilize music that takes us through the ups and
downs of David and Jade’s relationship and their intense growth.”
To compose the film, Feste
sought out award-winning artist Christophe Beck, who has scored such beloved
teen movies as Pitch Perfect and Crazy, Stupid, Love., not to mention
drafted the signature sounds for the teen series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Of
his interest in the project, Beck shares: “What made Endless Love fun was the challenge of scale. Young love isn’t
a soaring, operatic adventure; it’s a much more intimate experience. So
in approaching the music, Shana and I had to find balance between keeping the
size of the musical ideas appropriate for the self-discovery and introspection
that are central to the story, but still evoke the timelessness that people
feel when they reflect on their earliest experiences of falling in love.”
Brought aboard to perform
the film’s theme was a beloved duo. Over
the past 13 years, twin sisters TEGAN and SARA QUIN have built an avid global
fan base with songs such as “Walking With a Ghost” and “Alligator.” The duo’s hit singles have been covered by
the likes of The White Stripes and Passion Pit.
Intimately familiar with teenage angst and the power of falling in love
for the first time, Tegan and Sara have appeared on The CW’s 90210.
Schwartz, however, became a big fan of the duo after seeing them perform
at Coachella in 2005.
Discussing the filmmakers’
choice, Schwartz enthuses: “Coming from Gossip
Girl and The O.C., I knew the
importance of courting musicians that speak intimately to our core audience. Tegan and Sara understood the tone we were
going for with the music and delivered in a manner that knocked us out.”
In addition to the contributions
of Beck and Tegan and Sara, the soundtrack—brought together by accomplished music
supervisor RANDALL POSTER—features fun-loving songs including FRANZ FERDINAND’s
“Right Action,” NONONO’s “Pumpin Blood (The Jane Doze Remix)” and CULT’s “Go
Outside,” and such romantic ballads as LORD HURON’s “Ends of the Earth,” ECHOSMITH’s
“Surround You” and THE BIRD AND THE BEE’s “All Our Endless Love,” featuring MATT
BERNINGER.
Feste sums up the
contributions of the multiple artists who brought to life Endless Love’s soundtrack and themes: “Our goal with this movie was
to seamlessly merge David and Jade’s feelings for one another into a cohesive soundtrack. From the incredible talents of Randall and
Christophe to Tegan and Sara’s recording of our theme song, ‘Don’t Find Another
Love,’ I know that we have taken the audience along the gamut of the emotions
felt by our hero and heroine, especially faith, hope and love.”
****
With production wrapped, the cast and crew reflect on
lessons learned from the shoot.
Concludes Stuber: “In the film, there’s a beginning love story between
Jade and David, who are figuring out who they’re going to be in the world. Then there is this decaying love story
between Jade’s parents, and we wonder if they can possibly figure it out. Love is a complex thing; it’s a muscle that
has to be worked out. Shana has shared
so much of the complexity of love in this film.
It’s not just about the people you meet here….it’s about love in its
broadest terms.”
****
Universal Pictures presents a Bluegrass Films/Fake Empire
production: Endless Love, starring
Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde, Bruce Greenwood, Joely Richardson and Robert
Patrick. The film’s music is by
Christophe Beck, and the music supervisor is Randall Poster. The costumes are designed by Stacey
Battat. Endless Love is edited by Maryann Brandon, ACE, and the production
designer is Clay Griffith. The film’s
director of photography is Andrew Dunn, BSC.
The executive producers are J. Miles Dale, Tracy Falco. The romantic drama is produced by Scott
Stuber, p.g.a., Pamela Abdy, p.g.a., Josh Schwartz, p.g.a., Stephanie Savage,
p.g.a. Endless Love is based on the book by Scott Spencer, and its
screenplay is by Shana Feste and Joshua Safran.
The film is directed by Shana Feste.
©2014 Universal Pictures. www.endlesslovemovie.com
—endless love—
from The Web Magazine