SYNOPSIS

A bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of mental illness.

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SYNOPSIS

Recently-widowed Dawn experiences growing anxiety as her daughter Melanie plans to move away for college. An altercation with a hostile new neighbor aggravates Dawn’s mental condition and she begins to show signs of paranoid delusions. Melanie attempts a series of interventions to help her mom, but Dawn’s paranoia spirals out of control. Challenging Dawn’s reality of persecution ultimately destroys their loving relationship. Melanie is forced to make tough choices as she struggles to keep her mother afloat. A bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of mental illness.

CAST AND CREW

Cast Lili Taylor, Stefania LaVie Owen (Netflix suspense thriller Messiah), Peyton

List, Ian Nelson (The Hunger Games), David Rasche (Sledge Hammer, United

93, Men in Black 3, Veep), Max Casella, Michael Cyril Creighton, Tom Papa

(The Marriage Ref)

Crew Director Inon Shampanier

Screenwritters Inon Shampanier & Natalie Shampanier

Director of Photography Zach Kuperstein

Production Designer Bryan Wolcik

Editor Joe Murphy

Costume Designer Gina Ruiz

Music Ariel Blumenthal

Music Supervisor Melany Mitchell

Producers Anne Clements (Quincenera, Stage Mother), Ash Christian

(1985, Coyote Lake)

Executive Producer Barry Shy

Production companies Idiot Savant Pictures, Cranium Entertainment

US Copyright Law Paper Spiders, LLC

TECHNICAL INFO

Original Title Paper Spiders

Country USA

Language English

Subtitles avail English

Genre Drama, coming of age

Tags

Length 109'

Format DCP I Color I 5.1

Year 2020

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

Coming soon

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

Paper spiders is a bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of mental illness. The film is a journey from comedy to tragedy — much like the life of its main characters, and the personal lives of my co-writer and wife Natalie, her mother, and myself, over the past decade.

Natalie’s mother passed away four years ago, but in a way we lost her years before. She was a loving mother, a sweet and funny woman with a quirky sense of humor -and a victim of persecutory delusional disorder. Like others afflicted with paranoia, she was extremely resistant to treatment. As a therapist, Natalie explored all strategies to help her mom, but to no avail. Challenging her reality provoked hostility, and threatened their loving relationship.

In telling a story inspired by our experiences, we wish to shed light on the unexplored subject of delusional disorder, and the pain mental illness inflicts on individuals and family members. The tonal shift from comedy to tragedy reflects the manner in which quirky neurosis can develop into full-fledged psychosis, and a loving relationship can deteriorate into catastrophe and heartbreak.

Films can play a meaningful role in deepening public understanding of mental health issues, and overcoming the shame that is attached to discussing them. Supporting people who struggle with mental illness requires growing in empathy - as individual sand as a society. Our hope is that the film will be able to contribute to personal and public conversations about this issue.

The film features outstanding performances from Lili Taylor and Stefania LaVie Owen as well as our terrific supporting cast, including Peyton List, Ian Nelson, David Rasche, Max Casella, Michael Cyril Creighton and Tom Papa. It was a true labor of love for the cast and crew, for our wonderful producers Anne Clements and Ash Christian, and the extremely supportive community of Syracuse NY where the film was shot.

PHOTO GALLERY

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POSTERS GALLERY

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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Inon Shampanier's directorial debut THE MILLIONAIRE TOUR was produced by Michael Eisner’s Vuguru, and starred Dominic Monaghan, Agnes Bruckner, Jordan Belfi and Rick Gomez. Inon and Natalie also wrote BEAUTIFUL & TWISTED starring Robe Lowe, Paz Vega and Candice Bergen. Inon and Natalie live in Los Angeles with their three children.