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Greg Chwerchak Sends His Greetings From the Shore
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GC: Shooting on location was vital to the authenticity of the film. A number of people advised us to shoot in Malibu or Santa Monica or someplace easier for production, but it was never a consideration. If we couldn’t have shot at the shore, we would have told a totally different story. The character of the location plays into all of the subplots. It’s an actual island and each character is an “island.” It’s stormy one minute, radiant the next. And for an independent film, there could be nothing better than the natural textures of a real location—the boats in dock, the ferris wheel on the horizon, the old weathered piers, etc.
MM: Coming-of-age tales have been done again and again but there are still those like Greetings From the Shore that manage to keep the genre fresh. What did you do to make this film stand out from its predecessors?
GC: Gabrielle and I just tried to write an interesting story with interesting characters. We didn’t ascribe to the rules of any particular genre—coming-of-age, romantic comedy, drama, fairytale, etc.—and I think that helped us in telling the story that we wanted to tell, not a story whose plot was dictated by genre conventions. We had a safety net, too, because anytime we weren’t sure where the story should turn, we just turned to Gabrielle’s real-life experiences. I think that kept us grounded and it kept the emotion of the characters honest.
MM: You’ve had plenty of practice directing music videos and commercials as well as two short films, but Greetings From the Shore is your first feature. Besides the obvious (bigger scale and different subject matter), how was this experience different from your past projects? Do you plan on directing more full-length pieces in the future?
GC: Music videos, commercials and short films tend to succeed on the execution of one great idea. You can say “Just Do It” or the “Sabotage” video and it’s one great slogan or one great concept executed perfectly. I love those short forms, but it’s a totally different animal from constructing and executing a feature. Directing a feature was for me about maintaining tonal consistency. From working with the actors through working with the composer or the colorist, every stage of the process had to serve the same purpose; if one character was too slapstick or one was too maudlin, it could knock the viewer out of the story. It’s a very different challenge from executing “one great idea,” but it’s vastly more satisfying.
After Greetings opens, Gabrielle and I go straight into our next Jersey feature, Lucky Mucker. Mucker is set against the autumn leaves and slate mines of Western New Jersey. It’s a Romeo & Juliet comedy involving Revolutionary War re-enactors, Oktoberfests and the missing Lindbergh baby (or two). Lucky Mucker is our Western Jersey film as Greetings is our Jersey Shore film. We plan on shooting a number of Jersey films, each from a different perspective of the state.
MM: Greetings From the Shore has won numerous awards during its run on the festival circuit, including audience awards from the Garden State and Red Rock Film Festivals. How does it feel watching your film find success, especially success given by the viewers?
GC: A lot of people have contributed to this film since its inception, so it’s great to see everyone’s efforts rewarded with positive responses. The audience awards are fantastic because that means real people have connected to our work. We had a man come up to us after a screening in Montreal and thank us in very broken English for telling “his story.” I’d always been so focused on trying to tell our little Jersey story that I never thought about how people might relate it to their own experiences in places far away from New Jersey. It’s amazing. It reminds me of why people love films like Dirty Dancing. Most people haven’t been to the Catskills in the 60’s, yet they connect to the universality of that story. Similarly, I think Greetings inspires a certain nostalgia and people seem to enjoy taking a walk down memory lane—even if they’ve never been to the Jersey Shore. I’m very proud of that communal quality to the film; I think that’s one of the main reasons why we tell stories and make movies—for the shared experience.
MM: As co-writer and director, you must have been close to the film from the start. How did you get involved initially?
GC: Greetings grew out of a sunset in Malibu. Gabrielle and I were watching one of those stunning smog-diffused sunsets over the Pacific for which L.A. is famous and Gabrielle commented that as beautiful as it was, it was nothing compared to New Jersey. That might be a funny comment for most people, but I knew what she meant. L.A. has beauty, but there’s something about New Jersey that’s more than just “beauty.” New Jersey has history; it has a legacy of generations and generations of families, first-loves, coming-of-age summers, etc. She and I both knew that and it started a discussion of making a movie that showed other people that. We’ve joked since that we’re the unofficial ambassadors for the Garden State, but we’ve really enjoyed showing people the New Jersey that she and I know.
MM: Are you excited to see Greetings From the Shore released in theaters?
GC: I’m ecstatic. It’s been a long road since that sunset in Malibu and I can’t wait to share our film with the general public. At each step along the way—from writing the script to shooting in Lavallette to showing the film at festivals—we’ve met amazing people. We’ve shared in other people’s coming-of-age stories from Fargo to Anchorage to Fort Lauderdale to back in Jersey. It’s been incredible and I’m excited for the film’s future.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by greetingstoall on 9/16/08 at 7:59 am
I was able to see the movie in Philly this past weekend and loved it! Great interview!
- Comment by Boat Lights on 10/13/08 at 6:29 am
That’s what I was searching for, really good review.
thanks for sharing this out.- Comment by Word search maker on 10/14/08 at 8:10 am
Before the movie’s theatrical release Chwerchak spoke with MM about releasing his first feature and why he wants the world to know how beautiful New Jersey really is.
- Comment by web design uk on 10/29/08 at 11:11 pm
I think that, in a nutshell, is what makes directing actors in an independent feature different than anything else. No actor shows up to an indie film set for a paycheck; they’re there because they love it, because they relish working with other actors who live and breathe the process.
uk web design- Comment by Product Reviews on 12/09/08 at 10:50 am
Very cool. Looking forward to seeing this one.
- Comment by Jordan Release Dates on 12/16/08 at 7:03 pm
Glad I stumbled into this article! Finally, got what I was looking for to put on my school report… Thanks for sharing this :) Air Jordan Release Dates
- Comment by latest hindi movie reviews on 1/08/09 at 12:11 pm
thank got i found ur article on Greg..saved me so much time..
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