Zachary Ray Sherman, Director John-Michael Powell, and Producer Glenn Howerton recently spoke with MovieWeb about their psychological drama The Send-Off.
The official synopsis for The Send-Off reads as follows: when Emmy Award-winning actor, Dan Richards, throws an impromptu soirée at his Hollywood home, with only his closest friends in attendance, a fun evening devolves into something much darker after he makes an unexpected announcement to the group.
The Send-Off stars Zachary Ray Sherman (Under the Banner of Heaven, Cuck) as Dan Richards, Lena Drake (Kidding, The High Note) as Alexis Peroni, Sean Harrison Jones (The Papers, Drake & Josh) as Clayton Rhodes, Devere Rogers (My Spy, Will & Grace) as Niko Spivey, Rory Uphold (Bodied, This is Why We’re Single) as Tanya Hirsh, Ben York Jones (Like Crazy, Newness) as Arnie Ludlow, Michael Rishawn (Mama’s Boy, The Jump Off) as Craig O’Bannon, Rhian Rees (Halloween) as Mara Tremblay, Teresa Lee (I Think She Likes You, Take My Wife) as Micky Park, Scott Kuza (Young Hearts, Feed Your Muse) as Anthony ‘Jug’ Juggerson, Damian Gomez (La La Land, Home Economics) as Dean ‘Delano’ Alvarez, Rosie Kreider (The Papers) as Kimberly Slater, Brayden Dalmazzone (Ding Dong I’m Gay, Girl Falling) as Lee ‘Cry Baby’ Younger, Ryan Stone (West Virginia Stories, Marvin’s Lament) as Rudie Rocket, Angela K. Thomas (96 souls, Criminal Minds) as Harriet Gabriel, and Brad Barnes (Sex Guaranteed, The Locksmith) as Colin Smith.
John-Michael Powell on Making His Directorial Debut
Having been involved in developing several award-winning feature films, commercials, and music videos during his career, The Send-Off serves as John-Michael Powell’s first feature film.
“Well, it feels great. In some way, it doesn’t feel like my first. I’ve been editing movies for a very long time. I’ve been making movies, so it just in some ways feels like it was only a matter of time. I’ve learned so much from doing all the films that I’ve done in the past that doing my first feature, it feels like kind of halfway to my first feature. I’m certainly very, very proud of the movie, and I’m very proud that you saw the film with Zack, who is amazing in the film, and I think the whole cast is really, really strong. And I think we made something that has a lot to say about a pretty touchy topic, and I think a smart kind of leftist in our own way. So, I’m really proud of what we were able to accomplish.”
Producer Glenn Howerton on His Personal Connection to The Send-Off
“Zack and I, and John Michael, have known each other for, I don’t know, 10 years or so. And you know, we’ve worked on various things together. Short films and things like that. And we’ve always enjoyed working together. So, it’s been really fun helping out with this project. There’s the personal connection, the friendship connection, but then it also covers the subject matter that I personally find interesting. I really find the whole idea of like, not that it’s necessarily about celebrity worship or anything, but that there are elements sort of the way you’re treated when you are a celebrity versus just a regular person. What you start to feel like you can get away with. I’ve always been fascinated by this idea that, if you’re a massive celebrity, you have to be really careful not to surround yourself with a bunch of people who just say yes to everything you say and laugh at every single one of your jokes.” He continues
“I can’t tell you the number of celebrities that I’ve met where they say jokes and everybody else laughs, and I’m like, “what the fuck is going on?” It’s almost like it’s to the detriment of the actual person. It’s like they don’t even know what they’re saying makes sense or is funny anymore because no matter what they say, people will laugh at it. And there’s something really kind of dark and lonely about that too. And this film just touches on some of that stuff. And I certainly can connect to that as an actor.”
The Send-Off Star Zachary Ray Sherman on Inspiration
“John-Michael and I were talking about this the other day, and somebody asked the same question. I talked about being shy when I was little, and I think that’s a lot of it. It led to communicating what I was feeling and just became this big, glorious thing of storytelling. I think that’s it; it came from a place of being shy and finding a good way to share myself that didn’t freak me out. Even though it should freak me out.”
The Send-Off already ran virtually online through Cinequest’s New Vision program from April 1-17. The film will premiere in-person in San Jose, CA starting from August 16-29. The film was lensed by Elijah Guess and edited by Mark Gasparo. Key Art was designed by Nic Ferrari. The Send-Off was filmed over the span of 12 days.
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