Local filmmaker has secrets to share
By Emily Brown Potomac News Thursday, May 5, 2005

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Lonnie Martin has a secret. He wanted to make a film before he turns 30 in August.

Everyone has secrets, he said, and no matter how hard someone tries to hide it, they inevitably surface.

This is the thought behind Martin's independent film “First Session,” premiering May 11 at the Avalon Theatre in Washington, D.C. This is the Dale City resident's first film, which runs about 27 minutes.

Martin, who majored in video production and communications at Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia, had written many scripts and screenplays, but for his short, psychology came to mind.

“I think it's fascinating,” he said. “Everyone's mind is different and I think we're all a little crazy in our own mind.”

The idea sent his male lead character Mr. Smith, played by
Scot McKenzie, to a psychiatrist's office. “He's eccentric to say the least,” Martin said. “He's a pretty disturbed individual.”
Mr. Smith frequents psychiatrists' offices, but this time he meets Josie, a doctor with much more in common with him than he expected.

Joy Haynes, 31, of D.C., plays Josie, a psychiatrist who is having troubles of her own, she said.

“She's the kind of person who has her life together personally and professionally,” Haynes said, “and is unprepared for how her life falls apart around her.”

Martin co-produced the film with his wife Cindy, who plays “an annoying nail-filing receptionist,” she said. She majored in theater at Concord College in West Virginia and toured nationally with The Repertory Theatre of America.

The Martins underestimated the film's budget at $2,500, and have spent close to $7,000.

“Different things add up,” Martin said, noting a few snags in post-production.

After the film's premiere, they will take it to film festivals across the country.

As director of photography, Aaron Shirley of D.C. said Martin's ideas for his first film were impressive.

“It sounded very solid and had a very visual hook with the imagery,” Shirley said. “Visually I found it pretty interesting and challenging to shoot.”

Though the cast and crew worked for free, many have reputable acting careers in the area. Haynes has done voice over, theater and film work, including “Dying to Belong,” an NBC movie about sorority hazing.

McKenzie appeared in “Scent of a Woman” and on numerous stages around Washington. Helen Marie Bunch, of Reston, is Mr. Smith's mother in the film. She's trained as a professional dancer in the D.C. area for the last 10 years.

Cast and crewmembers' mini-short films follow the premiere.

Martin said short films serve as a business card to show others his work and hopefully get hired for more. But regardless of the film's success, it's a story he wants to share.

“Everybody's got secrets,” Martin said. “We show people one thing and there's something underneath.”

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To request a review or interview press kit, please send an email to: publicity@firstsessionmovie.com