Let Them Have Their Way
ABOUT
Three couples search for connection and meaning in an angry, anxious, and polarized world. Uniquely combining an expressionist and pop art style with hundreds of found footage clips, the film is a journey through the sights and sounds of consumerism, advertising, and self-help culture. A hybrid remix work blending fiction and documentary while testing the limits of Fair Use as rarely seen before.
Currently, Let Them Have Their Way is the largest independently financed film produced in the Western New York in terms of scope, made in collaboration with 400 other artists in roughly 100 production days spanning three years. The film’s preview screening marked the largest single exhibition for a non-studio film, surpassing the attendance of Thomas Edison’s screenings at the Pan-American exhibition in 1901.
Completed in January 2020. Debut feature film.
PRESS COVERAGE
“…[an] experimental epic that digs into our excess-obsessed American culture.” — Dan Mecca, The Film Stage
“… weirdly fascinating… variously resembles Koyaanisqatsi and Mon Oncle d’Amerique with some input from Charlie Kaufman… unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.” — M. Faust, The Public
THE FILM STAGE | THE PUBLIC | BUFFALO NEWS | BUFFALO RISING | THE DAILY NEWS
SCREENINGS + RECOGNITIONS
- Official Selection: Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival (Istanbul, Turkey)
- Official Selection: FIC AUTOR – Author’s International Film Festival (Guadalajara, México)
- Official Selection: Queens World Film Festival (Queens, New York City, NY): Winner: Jean-Luc Godard Award; Nomination: Best Screenplay
- Official Selection: Blow-Up: International Arthouse Film Fest Chicago: Nominations for Antonioni Award (Best Narrative Film), Tarkovsky Award (Best Direction), Tonino Guerra Award (Best Original Screenplay), Nino Rota Award (Best Sound), Monica Vitti Award (Best Actress)
- Special Preview Screening: Buffalo International Film Festival
- Winner: 1st Place, Fair Use Week, Virginia Tech
CAST
GUY WILLIAM GANE III (a Nouveau Riche Man)
http://www.guywgane3.com/
Since his early childhood, Guy W. Gane III has been fascinated by the American Civil War and film and television. He has worked as an actor and model since 2000.
Guy has appeared in over 30 films and TV programs, most notable among these being House of Cards, the Emmy winning mini-series, John Adams, Gods and Generals, Fields of Freedom, Legends and Lies, and various programs on PBS, HBO, History Channel, and National Geographic.
ADAH HAGEN (a Female Model)
Adah Hagen is a film and stage actress and model based in Buffalo, NY, where she has been active since her early twenties. She has trained with Bob Lambery, Ron Leonardi, and Linda Phillips Palo.
Her credits include Claire Boothe Luce’s award-winning theatrical drama, The Women (where she was cast as Mary Haines, the lead character), Crimson: The Motion Picture, The Men Who Built America (The History Channel), and All My Children (ABC Studios).
DOUG HENDERSHOTT III (a Male Model)
Doug grew up in the tiny town of Oakfield, NY, and has been a modeling for commercials, runways, and print advertising since 2008. Let Them Have Their Way is Doug’s first experience with acting for narrative film.
A sports enthusiast, Doug enjoys playing hockey, football, basketball, and golf. Doug likes to spend his free time in the outdoors white water rafting, camping, hiking, and hunting. He is a graduate of Miami University (Ohio), where he studied finance. In addition to modeling, Doug has worked in marketing.
ASHLEY CHRISTOPHER LEACH (a Maladjusted Man)
http://lambsgroveproductions.com/
Ashley Christopher Leach is a writer and performer living in New York City. His works have debuted in New York, London, and Norfolk, Virginia. His original play An American Gospel was selected for the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival, and his solo performance piece Seymour or The Last Fallen Angel was selected for the 2010 Theater for the New City’s Dream Up Festival. His short stories Arthur’s Secret Show and Jesse were finalists for the 2009/2011 Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Short Story Competition. His short film Sandhill Boys was selected for screening at International Slamdance Film Festival and the Cucalorus International Film Festival.
Besides writing and performing professionally, Ashley has been a secondary school English teacher for eight years. He holds a BA in American and Black Studies from the College of William and Mary, an MA in Performance from Queen Mary University of London, and is currently a graduate student in the Media Studies program at The New School.
ELIZABETH ODDY (a Nouveau Riche Woman)
Ms. Oddy is originally from Buffalo, New York. She has worked as an actor in film, theatre, and television around the globe. She has worked with a number of Buffalo theatre companies including Irish Classical Theatre (Mary in Juno & The Paycock), Shakespeare in Delaware Park (Peasblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pinch in The Comedy of Errors), Torn Space (Phillipe in The Devils), Buffalo Lab Theatre (Regan in Cinderella Waltz), Kaleidoscope (Shelia in Jake’s Women), Subversive Theatre Collective (Mollie in The Furies of Mother Jones), Theatre of Youth (Nori in The Hobbit), Theatre Jugend (Mrs. Smith in The Bald Soprano, Detective Norwood in CSI: Buffalo, and Nicole in Men of Like Passions).
Ms. Oddy was a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda from 2007-2009, where she worked with teachers to use film & theatre as mediums to promote positive social change. She trained in acting at Niagara University, Studio Arena, Schiller International University in London and The Royal Shakespeare Company in England. She is currently working as an educator, counselor, and advocate.
EVGENIYA RADILOVA (a Maladjusted Woman)
http://www.evgeniyaradilova.com/
Evgeniya grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria. She was blessed with very strong, value-driven, artistically-inclined and loving family. Evgeniya is a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she received the prestigious Charles Jehlinger award for excellence in acting and was selected to be part of the 2009-10 Academy repertory company.
Her credits include Law & Order SVU, Limitless, Blood Wedding (Marvell Repertory Theatre), I Plead Guilty (Gene Frankle Theatre), Seven Against Thebes (Faux Real Theatre Company), Circus of Circus (House of Yes), Spartacus (USA Network Productions), HorrorCon (Yellow Horse Productions), Brooklyn International Film Festival, In the Course Of Condemnation (Adrian Szasz, dir.), and others. Evgeniya is excited and thankful to be part of Let Them Have Their Way.
SUPPORTING CAST
ALI FUNK (an Office Worker), DELILAH KATES (a Nouveau Riche Child), MATT KOZAK (a Nouveau Riche Child), ROY ROUSSEL (a Psychoanalyst)
PRODUCTION TEAM
RYAN MONOLOPOLUS (Lead Producer, Assistant Director)
EMILY PUMM (Associate Producer)
MATTHEW VIGIL (Director of Photography)
DIEN VO (Writer, Director)
ASSISTANT PRODUCERS
TREVOR BOYD, JEREMY COURNYEA, MATT DAMIANO, TAYLOR DEL VILLAR, BRUCE GIBSON, KAREN HANLEY, JOHN INBODY, JIM JURKOWSKI, CAITLIN KELSCHENBACH, TAL KISSOS, NICK SCHEIDER, ROB ROMERO, KAREEN SOFFER, JERRY THERESANATHAN, JAMES THOMSON, DASHA VALUYSKAYA, JESSE WEKERLE
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
WYATT MAKER and CARL SMITH
