When was the last time you saw a chick flick that was relatable? Never. Exactly. However, Anna Martemucci and her husband Victor Quinaz have set out to create one that is relatable. The two wrote, produced and even performed in their upcoming movie “Breakup at a Wedding,” which will screen this Saturday at the Marquee Theater.
Martemucci and Quinaz are no strangers to filmmaking. Martemucci studied film at New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. Quinaz, who also directed “Breakup at a Wedding” and is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama, had plenty of willing actor friends to supply the talent for the film as well as other endeavors with his wife. Before writing “Breakup at a Wedding,” the two worked on their video series, PERIODS. films. PERIODS. films is a web series where actors speak in modern slang, but they are filmed in period costumes. Their most-watched film is called “Pilgrims,” with more than 100,000 views, and features two young women gossiping about their love interest while dressed in traditional pilgrim garb. It’s highly entertaining and definitely worth checking out.
“Breakup at a Wedding” revolves around a bride and groom, Alison and Phil, played by Alison Fyhrie and Philip Quinaz (Victor’s brother).
The plot of the film, in Martemucci’s own words, is about “a couple who is getting married who’s having a tremendous amount of anxiety about their wedding and money, and it culminates into the bride freaking out, and feeling like she can’t go through with it, and breaking up with her fianc? the night of the rehearsal dinner.
“Then, she manages to convince him to go through with it because she is such a people pleaser,” Martemucci said. “And she is so freaked out by having to tell everyone that the wedding is off, and that after all of this planning … so she convinces him that it’s a better idea that they just go through with the wedding and don’t sign the contract.”
Inspiration for the movie comes out from the year Martemucci and her then-fianc?, Quinaz, spent engaged, she said. They wrote the script for the story while experiencing similar pre-wedding jitters.
Martemucci said she and Quinaz try to capture a familiar wedding experience with “Breakup at a Wedding.”
“We wanted to make a wedding movie that felt like a wedding we had been to,” Martemucci said, “Not like Kate Hudson getting married at the plaza and everybody is like a millionaire. I love those movies, but it’s a little unrealistic. So, that was one of our main goals: Let’s make a movie that looks like that wedding, you know, in the hotel by the highway.”
Martemucci says the film is relatable to all audiences, even those of not thinking about marriage, because it touches on topics most viewers have probably had to deal with: painful breakups, crazy families and lots of stress.
Both Martemucci and Quinaz’s mothers appear in the film, attesting to Martemucci’s idea of being surrounded by friends and family on the big day.
She also shared some advice for budding filmmakers.
“Find people who you like and respect and who are just as obsessed with [film] as you are,” Martemucci said. “And hold on to them, and make it work with them, and start making stuff.”
“Breakup at a Wedding,” is showing Saturday at The Marquee in Union South at 7 p.m. The title alone should make romantic comedy lovers want to buy tickets immediately, but even those not fond of the genre shouldn’t write the film off as an average chick flick.
