www.stairwaytothestarsfilm.com
“ STAIRWAY TO THE STARS “
a narrative short film by
Lorenzo DeStefano
TIME – The Present
starring
SEAN YOUNG
as “Lavergne”
Westshire Films is extremely pleased to announce that SEAN YOUNG is attached to play LAVERGNE in “STAIRWAY TO THE STARS“, a new narrative short film from award-winning writer/director Lorenzo DeStefano (“Talmage Farlow”, “Los Zafiros-Music From The Edge of Time”, “Hearing is Believing”, “Shipment Day”, “The Diarist”).
Best known for her performances in Stripes (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Dune (1984), No Way Out (1987), Wall Street (1987), Cousins (1989), Fatal Instinct (1993), and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Sean is the ideal choice to bring the complex character of Lavergne to life. An actress on the verge of physical and mental collapse, her love hate relationship with TONY, a young gay man of blind ambition & ample proportions who has vowed to save her life, is the central theme of the film.
Filming in Fall 2021 in Los Angeles, “STAIRWAY TO THE STARS” takes place on an absurdly steep flight of stairs in the Hollywood Hills.
Goaded on by Tony to get her life together and restore what’s left of her failing health, Lavergne and Tony’s complex relationship, humorous, tragic and deeply touching, gradually reveals itself between the bottom of the stairs and the top.
Based on a real incident witnessed by DeStefano when he first moved to Hollywood, and later adapted and performed as a One-Act play, “STAIRWAY TO THE STARS” explores the love-hate relationship between these friends who are enemies and enemies who are friends, mined by the filmmakers for its maximum serio-comic potential.
The short is a tribute to Nathanael West’s “Day of the Locust”, the plays of Samuel Beckett,
and to the countless two-reel comedies shot in these very hills over 100 years ago.
Additional casting & crew announcements to follow.
Visit www.stairwaytothestarsfilm.com for more project information.
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Lavergne & Tony
Friends & Enemies
Until the Very End
TIME – The Present
PLACE – The Hollywood Hills
CAST
LAVERGNE, a Woman of a Certain Age
TONY, a Heavy-Set Young Man
One hot, smoggy afternoon, LAVERGNE,
an aging actress on the verge of physical and mental collapse,
attempts to climb an absurdly steep flight of stairs in the Hollywood Hills,
goaded on by TONY, a young gay man of blind ambition & ample proportions,
who has vowed to save her life.
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“ STAIRWAY TO THE STARS “
THE FILM
Writer/Director Lorenzo DeStefano and his filmmaking team are currently in pre-production
on a short film adaptation, to be filmed on the same Hollywood Hills locations
where the original incident took place.
When Lorenzo first moved to L.A. he lived in an attic apartment in Beachwood Canyon,
in the shadow of the fabled Hollywood sign.
There was an incredibly steep flight of stairs next to the house,
one of many still existing in the movie capital of old.
One afternoon Lorenzo heard, through an adjacent window,
an elderly woman and a very large young man berating each other as they climbed.
As writers do Lorenzo eavesdropped on this highly-charged exchange.
When the two were out of range Lorenzo hurried to his desk and wrote it all down.
In doing so he captured their complex relationship, humorous, tragic and deeply touching,
as it gradually reveals itself between the bottom of the stairs and the top.
In the tradition of the countless two-reel comedies shot in these very hills over 100 years ago,
“Stairway to the Stars” explores the love-hate relationship between friends who are enemies and enemies who are friends,
mined by the filmmakers for its maximum serio-comic potential.
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“ STAIRWAY TO THE STARS “
THE PLAY
(Tevin Reger as Tony, Kati Kuroda as Lavergne
PlayBuilders of Hawaii – April 2019)
“Stairway to the Stars”
was first produced as a One-Act play in 2019 at PlayBuilders of Hawai’i.
PLAYBUILDERS OF HAWAII PLAY VIDEO – April 2019 (19:45)
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