Bess O’Brien is a filmmaker who lives in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Her newest film, Shout it Out, is in many ways a collaboration with its cast, a group of teenagers whose thoughts about being young in Vermont helped form the script. The movie will be touring the state this summer. Vermont Commons editor Rob Williams conducted this interview.

VC: Describe the genesis of the Shout it Out, “The Voices Project” movie. Where did the idea come from?

Bess O’Brien: Shout it Out, which is the movie version of the original live show "The Voices Project," began when Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Vermont asked me to create a statewide project based on the lives of Vermont teenagers. BCBS wanted to know what the health of teens was in the state, what they were thinking about, what they needed, what was important to them, what were their struggles and hopes and aspirations. From eight months of workshops with more than 1,000 Vermont teens my co-writer Abby Paige and I created a script based on what we had learned from the youth we had spent time with. Characters were born and themes emerged. We continuously went back to teenagers with the script to make sure that what were writing rang true and felt real to kids. We then had approximately 15 teenagers come and write all the music for the production – this is a musical after all! That experience was awesome; the kids were so creative, and composed some amazing music for the production. We toured the musical to 13 towns in 2005 and the production made a huge impact on the state in raising consciousness around youth issues and lives. The film (motion picture!) that we are now about to release is based on the original “Voices Project” stage version.

VC: What were your hopes going into the VOICES project? Were they realized?

BO: The original show and now the movie have broken all my expectations, which primarily had to do with getting the stories of Vermont teens out into the public arena, to empower youth and to create dialogue between adults and teenagers. The play, and now the movie, is a vehicle for listening and learning from our youth. It is a way to bridge the divide and empathize and share in the stories that Vermont youth have to tell. The kids, who have participated in the project from research to writing, to the play and now the movie, have been absolutely stellar and professional and have completely risen to the occasion. They have given their all and have created strong characters in the film that are compelling, rich, and real.

VC: How did you go about tracking down Vermont teenagers to lend their voices to this project?

BO: In the early stages, during the research phase, we held workshops in schools and teen centers across Vermont. We did writing workshops, theatre improv classes, discussion groups, poetry sessions, and individual interviews. We also had a website where kids could go on and write about whatever they felt was important in their lives. Abby and I did most of the workshops, but we also hired teachers, poets, and theatre professionals to run workshops. We talked to kids from diverse backgrounds, rich and poor, from rural and urban areas of Vermont, kids struggling with their lives and families, kids trying to get into college, kids dealing with race, gender, body issues, fitting in, bullying, love, sex and romance. The research phase was awesome because the teens we interviewed and talked to were so willing to share their lives and so grateful to be asked to share what was important to them. Their many diverse stories were powerful and great material for the play and movie.

VC: What surprised you about working with Vermont teenagers?

BO: What surprised me about working with teenagers was their immense professional attitude during the shoot of the movie. We shot Shout it Out in four weeks – six-day weeks, long hours, night shoots; many of the cast members had never walked onto a movie set, and yet once we started the shoot the kids were completely focused and prepared. I was so grateful for their terrific attitude, the smiles on their faces and tremendous patience as we slogged through this tremendous task of shooting a movie musical on a low budget with very little time. The kids’ spirit completely comes across in the movie I think, and I am so pleased. The thing is, if you raise the bar for teenagers and give them an exciting challenge they will rise to the occasion and blow your expectations out of the water!

VC: Can you talk about making the shift from a multimedia performance-based project to a film version? What were some of the challenges and rewards of this process?

BO: Adapting the stage version to a screenplay was fun for my co-writer Abby Paige and myself. Now that we were looking at a movie version, we could start expanding the lives of these characters that we had created. All of a sudden we could see their house, meet their parents, see the school where they spend so much time at, and introduce more characters for them to interact with. So the screenplay process was an "opening up" of the stories. That was fun. And then in the movie version, suddenly instead of a stage we had Mount Mansfield Union High School and the landscape of Jericho as our canvas; we could do the dances down the hallways, in the cafeteria, in a Vermont field. The movie version was also a way to go deeper, to do scenes in close-ups, to create more of a sense of place and of interaction between characters in the film. It was very challenging choreographing the dance numbers and shooting them again and again; we did two all-nighters and the kids hung in there take after take. Of course weather was a pain in the butt a number of times. Dealing with weather is a big difference between a stage version and a film!

VC: What are your hopes for Shout it Out?

BO: We will be touring Shout it Out through Vermont between June and November 2008 to fifty towns. We will also be creating a study guide that will accompany the film (DVD) into high schools and teen centers in Vermont. Beyond Vermont we will be entering the film into national film festivals, will be marketing the film to schools across the country and be looking for a TV or theatrical distribution deal – we’ll keep our fingers crossed!

VC: There's been a lot of head-scratching in Vermont about young people leaving the state and not returning. What's your take on this?

BO: I think it's the same old mantra: there needs to be things for young people to do here in the state; there needs to be more jobs in more places for young people, not just Chittenden County. I found that most kids loved Vermont and probably would be interested in staying in the state, but that certainly as teenagers they wanted more to do. They wanted more teen centers, coffee houses, youth jobs (kids want to work!) – more community action to be involved with and collaboration with adults. Kids want to be involved and taken seriously. They want to be on school boards, they want to have a say in their town's decisions and future. They want to be listened to and respected – and if they are, by their communities, they will want to stay in their communities longer.

VC: Are you optimistic about the state of Vermont's future, given some of the tough 21st-century economic and political dilemmas the world faces?

BO: Yes, because I think that this generation is the future of change and of making great things happen. I think this generation will be the one that will move the world to a more sustainable and peaceful place. I think that most young people get that the world needs change and they are ready to move us into a renaissance of clean energy, better education and more global cooperation and sustainability. Youth have so much energy, vitality, and good ideas; let’s give them the space to share that energy with us and our communities – and if we do, believe me, Vermont and the world will be a better place!

SHOUT IT OUT / “The Voices Project” Movie
SUMMER 2008 Vermont TOUR
Tickets $10 adults/ Youth $7.00 - Tickets at the door
For more information, call 802-592-3190.

Sat.      June 21, 7 p.m.                  Mt. Mansfield U High School, Jericho
Fri.      June 27, 7:30 p.m.              Contois Auditorium/City Hall, Burlington
Sat.     June 28, 7:30 p.m.               Contois Auditorium/City Hall, Burlington
Sun.    June 29, 7:30pm                  Contois Auditorium/City Hall Burlington
Fri.      July 11, 7:30 p.m.               BFA High School, St. Albans
Sat.     July 12, 7:30 p.m.                Falsom School, South Hero
Sun.    July 13, 7:30 p.m.                Shelburne Town Hall, Shelburne
Fri.     July 18, 7:30 p.m.                 Valley Players/Town Hall, Waitsfield
Sat.    July 19, 7:30 p.m.                  Barre Opera House, Barre
Sun.   July 20, 7:30 p.m.                  Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury
Thurs. July 24, 7:30 p.m.                 Town Hall/Willey Bldg, Cabot
Fri.     July 25, 7:30 p.m.                  Pavilion Auditorium, Montpelier
Sat.    July 26, 7:30 p.m.                  Chandler Music Hall, Randolph
Sun.   July 27, 7:30 p.m.                  Plainfield Town Hall, Plainfield
Thurs. July 31, 7:30 p.m.                  Haskell Opera House, Derby Line
Fri.     August 1, 7:30 p.m.                St. Johnsbury School, St. Johnsbury
Sat.    August 2, 7:30 p.m.                 Town House, Hardwick
Sun.  August 3, 7:30 p.m.                  Barton Memorial Bldg, Barton
Thurs. August 7, 7:30p.m.                 Fellowship Hall, Greensboro
Fri.    August 8, 7:30 p.m.                  People's Academy, Morrisville
The tour continues in the fall of 2008! Look for fall dates at the end of August!

FILM SYNOPSIS

Shout it Out is an original musical based on the lives of Vermont teens. The feature film is an adaptation of the groundbreaking original stage musical, “The Voices Project,” that toured to 13 towns across Vermont in 2005 and was based on writings by Vermont teenagers with original music by teens. The stories and characters were developed during an intensive yearlong, statewide research phase in which more than 1,000 teens participated.   

Shout it Out tells the story of a group of teenagers making their way through high school. The film follows them through some of the more tumultuous moments of teenage-hood: academic pressure; friction with peers, teachers, and parents; trying to fit in; trying to find one’s self; fear of the future, nostalgia for the past; friendship, and first love.   

Shout it Out is a raw, real, revealing, compassionate, powerful, funny, and ultimately affirmative look at the transformative powers of young people. The songs are dynamic and range from love songs to rap and hip-hop.   

Shout it Out is about listening to the voices of youth, respecting and honoring their struggles and aspirations, and hearing their voices loud and clear!

Mature Themes.