oceans Boulevard is a short film about heroin addiction set in the popular
family vacation destination Myrtle Beach, South Carolina written directed and
produced by young filmmaker Zoe Miller this film is such a strong
reminder that as we go through our regular everyday life going to school
and driving to work cooking dinner going out to eat with friends that in every
single city there's this whole underground secret world happening and
we can't just pretend that it's not watching this film which is set in
Myrtle Beach South Carolina a family vacation spot that I've personally been
to many many times when you see these scenes and you remember being there
watching these places that you've been before that you've taken your family
that you've had your picture made but seeing all these other things that are
going on it's just a shocking reminder of what's really happening just below
the surface
now if you're new to this channel welcome to put the shovel down I'm amber
Hollingsworth and this channel is designed to help you understand the
science and psychology of addiction which is exactly what this film does
it's this really gritty close-up view of what goes on in the mind of someone
stuck in heroin addiction not only was this film inspiring me to get to watch
but I actually got the opportunity to interview Zoe Miller the filmmaker
about this film and I'd like to share that with you now and I'll also let you
know how to get ahold of Zoe yourself in case you'd like to schedule a viewing of
this film in your city
Amber: Zoe tell us a little bit about maybe before we talk about the film maybe
about just you and how you got into film school what's your origin story? Zoe: yes so
actually I started working on this film when I was 16 years old yeah I was
really young and that's actually because I was touring across the state of South
Carolina shooting a documentary about certified peer support specialist okay
and at the time I actually was at the J. Reuben long detention center and
that's where I met two of the three guys that the film is based on and I was just
so inspired by their stories it immediately
I just felt called to make something and that's just when I immediately started
doing some research and educating myself on the opioid epidemic and substance use
disorder and so that's kind of how it all got started. Amber: now just to clarify you
said you were at the detention center you were at the detention center as a
detainee? As a student? Zoe: As a filmmaker I was shooting some b-roll inside of the detention center I was capturing what William and Jonathan
were doing there they were working as CPSS's. Amber: what got you interested in doing
that in the first place the doing a film about Certified Peer Support Specialists?
Zoe: so my mom is actually a social worker okay and I've always had a passion for
photography and video and they really needed someone to make a little tiny
video about what different CPSS's were doing in South Carolina and I kind of
turned it into this documentary just because I was so interested by it. Amber: and
your vision for what addiction looks like because you sort of showed the
story of this one character William is the character's named William or is
that's the person. Zoe: that's the real person's name the character's name is
Jonathan. Amber: the character's name is Jonathan and so your
sort of showing Jonathan over the course of a few days I guess in his life and
have not being a person in recovery how did you visualize that because you had
to have some vision to pull that off. Zoe: yeah that was that definitely was why
the project took so long to execute like in 2016 I had just you know discovered
this issue I was I was more on the mental health side of things and so once
they started sharing their story that's when I really started to open my eyes to
substance use disorder opioid epidemic especially you know the large amount of
opioid use in Myrtle Beach specifically because at the time they were number one
in the state for opioid overdose deaths and honestly a lot of a lot of it was
just interviewing the guys hearing their stories they were super vulnerable and
they really shared a lot of detail which kind of helped me picture it but then on
the flip side I was also studying like criminal and addictive thinking patterns
and really just trying to get into the mindset so that I could portray it
authentically because the whole goal was to show at least a glimpse of what it
actually looks like because most most movies don't even get close you know
it's completely glorified or completely inaccurate so that's why I took my time
to be able to really hone in on what that looks like. Amber: Right yeah I think you
did a good job I've been in places like that have been in scenes like that
looked pretty on course to me yeah all right and so it's called
oceans Boulevard and it's set in Myrtle Beach and the other part that was
particularly impactful for me is because I've been to Myrtle Beach lots of times
and so so many of those scenes I'm like oh my gosh I've had my picture right there
you know and so it's like wow I mean that also I guess hits home if you if
you've ever been there just the whole setting really hits home. Zoe: and it's set in
Myrtle Beach because all three of the guys that it's based on you know when
they were in active addiction they were in Myrtle Beach so it really is just
staying true to their story and you know the important thing is is
that from this film it's not only about Myrtle Beach I mean every place in
the nation is experiencing this this is definitely a broader spectrum thing it
was special being able to to shoot at somewhere that that was like a second
home to me mm-hmm for sure okay and then the actors that played in
the film how did you find them tell me how that piece came together yeah so
because it really was a small project in the beginning I didn't have like the
resources of like casting director or anything like that so it really was just
a lot of hunting down looking for the right person and I actually reached out
to David Flannery because I thought he would really
do a good job portraying the character but I told him upfront like I really
want this to be authentic I really want you to understand I would if you're
gonna take on this role I really really think it's important that you connect
with the guys that it's based on and he really took that and just ran with it
and I think that's why he did such a good job in this role is because he took
his time he really studied and he wanted he just wanted to do it right he wanted
to do the stories justice and I think that really came to life in the film I
thought he did a fantastic job. Amber: oh I think I told you that I thought it was
like real like you were following around with the camera until the end I was like what I
was thinking to myself I'm like wow how do they get those people to let that
camera in there but I always think that when I watch intervention too.
really thought that you were filming it as it was happening yeah It felt real it
really did so essentially oceans Boulevard is a
it's a short film and it's sort of designed to sort of show the realness of
what that life is like yes and how do you get to see it I see it I guess yeah
Zoe: right now we're doing basically we're touring across the southeast and we're
trying to give it out to as many different cities
as possible really just so that we can share a message of hope and a lot of
people when they see the film they're like wow this is very intense because it
is you can't make a film that's authentic without heroin addiction not
have some intense content but really a panel follows after each screening and
that panel discussion with the people that it's based on shows the hope and
shows that recovery is possible so we're trying to share that message with as
many people we want to this film is for everybody it's - it's really meant for
the people that don't know what substance use disorder looks like and so
a lot of times it's the people in long-term recovery bringing in other
people from the community which is incredibly valuable. Amber: okay
I like that that's good and so how does someone get this film to come to
their city? Zoe: To host a screening you can reach out to me and I can give
you a little bit more information about what it looks like but really the main
requirements are that you have a space that has like audio-visual equipment
that can see a good number of people because usually when we come to a city there's a
lot of enthusiasm and a lot of participation. Amber: okay and so I will put your
contact details in the description of this video so people will know how to
reach out to you if they want to bring that to their city and I know we have a
lot of people that are watching our videos all over everywhere apparently
and so yeah and I'll and some of those people are
involved in advocacy and belong to groups like whole groups that may want
to see it and things like that so if you're one of those people out there and
you're watching this video I encourage you to contact Zoe I know a friend of
mine Nate Tate contacted me he said hey we're
bringing this do you want to come and I was excited about it so I think it does draw
a good audience and it has a it has an important message
it really is it's different well I was talking to a couple of group members of
mine that went when we saw the film over the weekend and they have a
suggestion they wanted me to tell you about your next film so in our office we
see a lot of what I would call functional addicts and alcoholics now
in your film I would definitely say that is a non-functional right addiction
story but what we see a lot of is people who have good jobs college students
smart successful health care business owners and they have this whole secret
life going on and I think that's important because a lot of times people do
have that sort of end of the road vision in their head which in my mind makes a
lot of people who are already on that path the ones that we say think oh I
don't have that problem because that's what it looks like and we see it in
suits and ties in our office. yeah and so I don't know there's just a whole other
piece of it so that's our suggestion if you're gonna make another one. Zoe: I like that idea
too and I think that unless you read about the film a lot of people don't realize
this and part of the problem is just because it is a short film you know you
can't put everything in there you really have to compact it down but the film
itself is showing the main characters relapse on heroin and so it is implied
that he he was using it was more of that like suit and tie like almost like a
dual life thing and I think that would be cool to even show what happened
leading up one of the most important things for me when making this film and
and collaborating with the team of filmmakers would was to make sure that
everyone understood why we were there and what we were doing and so whenever I
was talking to somebody who was interested in being a part of the cast of the crew
you know it was that like do you know anyone that's been affected is this
something that hits close to home to you and we had those honest conversations
and it ended up being that almost every single person that worked on this film
had been touched by some form of opioid or heroin use and the
only person that said they didn't have anybody was actually our lead actor but
then shortly after we finished filming about three weeks after he received a
call that his brother overdosed and died from opioid use and this was something
that completely blindsided their their family it wasn't something that they
were aware of and yeah it was just really just crazy timing that this
happened I mean he was just in Myrtle Beach with all these people in recovery
I mean we were sitting down in a motel room when they were teaching them you
know how to shoot up heroin because he had absolutely no idea where to even
begin with that and then three weeks later you found out that your brother
died from this it was definitely an eye-opening experience for everybody in
it it hit home for the entire cast and crew and we were all so touched by the
story that we actually decided to open the Daniel Flannery fund which is our
scholarship program so a portion of the ticket proceeds goes to this scholarship
that helps jumpstart the process for individuals who can't afford treatment
because for a lot of people that is the first step and that can be an obstacle
if they can't afford it or their insurance doesn't cover it so that's
that's kind of what we've done to carry on the legacy and we've dedicated the
film to his brother Daniel but yeah that was one of the most unexpected
things that happened. Amber: I think a lot of people might think you know how does
someone get that far into addiction and it not be known but with opiate
addiction particularly that goes on for years and years before anyone knows and
people look very very very functional they can be employee of the month they can be
making straight A's in fact though if they're especially if they're using pain
pills they'll function better for a long time many years until it gets bad
and so I know a lot of the families that we see we first meet them
there they feel like how did that go on so on with without my knowing and with
that particular drug it really can yeah Zoe: Yes and that's honestly what his
experience in his family it also showed us how much we really needed in the
panel discussion to focus on how it can impact families and educating families
and making them aware of different signs or giving them local resources because
that's just something like families struggle with because they don't know who to
talk to they don't know where to go because it is it's not as much anymore
but it still is more of a taboo subject so we're really trying to shed light on
that and try and end the stigma and show like this is what it looks like here's
some resources and empower them to seek help. Amber: right yeah there really is a lack
of there's a lack of resources out there for families who feel desperate well
thank you for doing the interview it's super exciting and I like I said I loved
it and I support what you're doing I think it's great! Zoe: well thank you! Amber: you know
I think if you're really going to beat addiction it's so important to
understand how it works what's the psychology because that's the very key
that's going to tell you how to win this war so next up I'm going to tell you
about my top most favorite books about addiction