Donna: Stronger Than Pretty is a romantic tragedy, an un-love
story that spans three decades in the life of a gentle young woman, Donna,
as she tries to live up to the traditions and expectations of her Italian
roots and of the “American Dream”. That dream becomes a living nightmare
and nearly breaks her until she finds the silent force of her inner voice
and breaks free from a husband who refuses to be responsible to her,
himself, their family, or even his own dreams.
Actor, writer, filmmaker and producer Jaret Martino talks about
his latest film, Donna: Stranger Than Pretty, available now on Digital in North America (UK/ROI release TBA), as
well as his other new and upcoming projects.
You’re a triple threat. Has Covid affected your career at all?
Thanks so much! I’m grateful to say that we have been incredibly busy.
The release of Donna: Stronger Than Pretty was eight years
in the making from first draft, staged reading, short film and finally
the feature film. We’ve also just released the bullying awareness film
The Worst Day of My Life. In development we are working on narrative feature film
Mrs. Santa, a documentary feature titled
Holding Onto Hope - Pancreatic Cancer, and a series titled Worlds Apart starring GloZell and
Reante Devon Brown.
You shot Donna long before the pandemic hit? So that was all
good, I assume?
Yes we wrapped production prior to the pandemic so we have not been hit
by this.
Now before we get to Donna, which is terrific, let’s
backtrack. You’ve been acting - appearing in the likes of
Teen Wolf and The Middle - for a number of years.
How do you feel acting prepared you for filmmaking?
Yes having a background as an actor played such a crucial role in having
the insight on so many aspects of working with the talent. As well as
the production experience to understand coordinating departments and
creating the best flow and energy on set. Creating a team and in this
case an extended family.
Do you have a mentor? Maybe one of the directors on one of those
shows that showed you the ropes?
I’ve been fortunate to meet so many mentors along the way that have
shaped who I am today. Larry Moss, John Cirigliano, Lori Tritel
and the crew at James Franco’s Studio 4 have all been pieces of the
puzzle. Understanding that “Art Is Messy” and getting comfortable with
creating projects was a crucial part of my personal development as well
as professionally.
When did you know you were ready to shoot your own movie?
I feel there really is never a time when you feel fully ready.
From what I hear from expecting parents it’s a similar feeling.
Donna: Stronger Than Pretty really made her own way and
became such a force in terms of how she wanted to enter the world. I
truly believe this film would have been made no matter what energy I put
in. Of course it’s a project that is incredibly personal and bringing
awareness to domestic violence is an important reason I’m here on Earth.
There are thousands of years of damage done to the collective psyche and
projects like this are the controversial conversations that will propel
change moving forward.
A lot of actors enter filmmaking or producing so they can fashion
vehicles for themselves. Was that a thought with you?
Yes, James Franco at Studio 4 encouraged us to create our own content.
As an actor it was one of the best things I could do. Learning the time
and attention to detail it takes to bring any project to life is
valuable. It takes the pressure off an actor to know that there are so
many other important factors in shaping a project.
Right away, shooting a feature like Donna, you would’ve
noticed a lot of differences to shooting a short film. Can you discuss
that?
In Donna we span three decades so the amount of work and
thought that went into doing justice with each time time period was a
job in itself. It’s impossible to schedule in chronological order and
beyond the costumes and wardrobe changes, it was also important to
understand where the character was emotionally and how it related to the
story in that moment. Luckily the majority of the cast and crew were
along for the ride for almost the entire development and pre-production
phase, so we had valuable time together that most productions never get.
It's a very powerful movie. Your mother’s story I believe?
The film is dedicated to my loving mother, Donna, whose bravery,
sacrifice, smile, and heart have shaped the man I am today, was realised
to be used as a tool to inspire and empower other families to try to
break free of negative conditioning, stereotypes, patterns, and cycles.
It honours the strength of women all over the world and hopefully it
will also encourage men to acknowledge and share their emotions with the
women and children who love them.
May we unite in solidarity and collective spirit to spread love in the
face of adversity and shift to a global consciousness that propels
movement towards helping undo thousands of years of damage.
It is also dedicated, in loving memory, to all of the beautiful souls
who have lost their lives due to domestic violence.
Real life inspired the film but but can you talk about some of your
cinematic influences for the film?
I’m a big fan of Jean-Marc Vallée. I enjoy the projects he’s
directed and I've studied his work and try to incorporate aspects of his
style within my projects. The juxtaposition in
Donna: Stronger Than Pretty was the beauty of Long Island
with the grittiness of this character driven story.
Big Little Lies had all of those elements and the shots
are stunning and the exterior becomes its own character that can help
heighten and enhance the overall production quality. Sean Baker is also
an old friend and I really love his spirit and respect his choices as
well.
Was the title role difficult to cast?
Thankfully we found our Donna on the very first round of auditions for
the staged reading almost eight years ago! When Kate Amundsen walked in
she not only looked like my mother when she was young, she also had some
of her mannerisms, smile and heart. Kate has become so close to the
family and we’re endlessly grateful to her commitment and strength at
tackling this important role and topic.
How easy was it to get distribution for the film? I imagine, after
all those award wins, relatively easy?
We’ve been working with a sales agent early on and yes the combination
of it winning multiple awards and the fact that women’s empowerment is
at the forefront moved things along quickly. It’s a subject that
typically gets swept under the rug and many filmmakers that have covered
it choose to play into the stereotypes and stigmas. We broke away from
that cycle as it perpetuates the issue. More important to me than
impressing Hollywood, I wanted to create a tool that would help other
people escape their situations. It’s a movie for anyone that has ever
felt the daunting feelings of fear and isolation. A much needed
representation of what it means to break free of stereotypes,
conditioning and patterns and the beautiful life that can be created
from there. It may seem like a long road sometimes, however good does
prevail. More than a movie, we are focused on creating a movement.
“Women have to be #StrongerThanPretty….You look like a warrior to
us”!