After a packed New England premiere in Newport this past January, Situations is returning to the Jane Pickens Theatre on September 30, this time as part of the film’s national theatrical roadshow.
The independent comedy, written, directed by and starring Greg Vrotsos, has spent the months since its Newport preview screening in theaters across the West Coast. Now making its way east, the film returns in its polished final cut to a community that supported the project early on.
Following the screening, Vrotsos will join Jack Galvin, founder of the 9 Central Film Festival, for an on-stage audience Q&A and conversation about independent filmmaking and their respective experiences in the industry. Galvin’s festival will take place just days later, October 2 and 3, at the Jane Pickens.
From Newport to a National Roadshow
When Situations screened at the Jane Pickens in January, Newport audiences were among the first on the East Coast to experience the film.
Since then, Vrotsos and his team have taken the project directly to audiences through a grassroots theatrical release, building momentum with screenings across the country. They’ve also seen some great press after being featured in Forbes, Deadline, and IndieWire just to name a few.
The September 30 event gives local audiences an opportunity to see how the film has evolved and hear directly from Vrotsos about the experience of independently producing, finishing and releasing a feature film.
A Film About Change, Connection and Vulnerability
Set against the creative chaos of Los Angeles, Situations follows a photographer three months removed from a painful breakup as he navigates friends, career pressures, fleeting relationships and the uncomfortable space between being alone and feeling lonely.
An unexpected connection eventually forces him to confront what he actually wants from love, his work and himself.
The 102-minute comedy stars Vrotsos alongside P.J. Byrne, Fiona Dourif, Melora Walters, Fernanda Andrade, Katie Parker and Gino Vento.
At its core, the film explores relationships, male friendship, dating later in life and the tension between career and personal fulfillment, while challenging some of the traditional ways vulnerability and masculinity are portrayed on screen.
“There’s still a narrow box for how men are supposed to feel or behave,” Vrotsos shared ahead of the film’s January screening. “This film is about opening that box and letting those conversations exist.”
Taking Creative Control
Situations marks Vrotsos’ feature directorial debut after nearly 15 years working as an actor in Los Angeles and New York.
His acting credits include Twin Peaks: The Return, Orange Is the New Black, Mayans M.C., Boston Strangler and HBO’s Vinyl. He is also set to appear in the upcoming television reboot of Prison Break.
After years working within the traditional entertainment industry, Situations became an opportunity to take ownership of the creative process. The film was made independently and on a limited budget with a close group of collaborators.
“No one’s going to call you,” Vrotsos told me in January. “If you want to make something, you have to initiate it. You’ll be surprised who shows up to help when you do.”
That self-starter mentality has carried through the film’s theatrical release.
A Conversation About Independent Film
The September screening will also broaden the conversation beyond Situations.
Joining Vrotsos on stage will be Galvin, whose 9 Central Film Festival arrives at the Jane Pickens two days later. Together, the two will discuss the realities of creating independent work, navigating the film industry and finding audiences outside of the traditional studio system.
The timing creates a fitting stretch of independent film programming at one of Newport’s most recognizable cultural venues.
“Supporting independent filmmakers is important,” Vrotsos said earlier this year, “but so is supporting theaters like this. They’re a dying breed, and they only survive if people keep showing up.”
For Vrotsos, who has longstanding ties to Newport, bringing the finished film back to the Jane Pickens carries additional significance.
When we spoke in January, he described Newport’s creative community as something increasingly difficult to find in larger cities.
“You leave looking for the things you left behind,” he said. “What I was missing in big cities was community. Newport has that.”
Newport showed up for Situations early in its journey. On September 30, Vrotsos returns with the finished film and a much bigger story to tell about where it has been since.
Situations screens September 30 at the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport. The film runs 102 minutes and will be followed by an audience Q&A with filmmaker and lead actor Greg Vrotsos and 9 Central Film Festival founder Jack Galvin.
Follow the film on Instagram at @situationsfilm.
