directed and written by JERELL ROSALES produced by ANDREA MASSARO cinematography by JUSTIN RICHARDS production design by JENNIFER HWANG costume design by GABRIELLE LEVION running time 19 mins 26 secs aspect ratio 2.35:1 (scope) screening format DCP sound 5.1 dolby surround language english (subtitles available) starring ZACKARY ARTHUR TIMOTHY RYAN COLE JASON HEYMANN SAMANTHA KRULL film contact JERELL ROSALES rosalesjerell@gmail.com www.jerellrosales.com
STORY SYNOPSIS short When an eight-year-old boy falls in love with his male third-grade teacher, he steals his father s watch to profess his love and experiences his first heartbreak. long Eight-year-old Zander is your typical quiet and shy third-grader, but his dad Keith works too much to pick him up from school each day. He falls in love with his male third-grade teacher, Mr. Wiley, but can t seem to catch his eye in class. When Keith gets the birthday gift of a gold-plated watch passed down in the family, Zander steals it to profess his love. When he s heartbroken, Keith gives Zander the watch and promises, When the big hand gets to here, you ll feel better. The next afternoon at school, Keith picks up Zander and finally hears, I love you, from him.
DIRECTOR S STATEMENT When I was eight years old, long before I even knew what being gay was, I had my first crush on my third grade teacher, Mr. Wilslef. Unfortunately, my brother also had Mr. Wilsef a couple years before me, so Mr. Wilslef always mixed up my name with his or just lazily called me, Joe s little brother. I was determined to make him know me individually, so I won the third-grade spelling bee. But the real prize was that he finally said my name and never forgot it. To celebrate, Mr. Wilslef had me hang back during recess to watch Bill Clinton deny his affair with Monica Lewinsky on TV. Best fifteen minutes of my eight-year-old life. I tend to tell stories about characters that reach for the impossible. This film is no different: unrequited love. I m using my experiences of growing up gay to tell a story that all walks of life can relate and enjoy. It s a story about the purity and innocence of love before society and the construct of sexuality obscures it; before the idea of right and wrong is applied in matters of the heart. That s what excites me about this film. We all experience love, regardless of who that may be. So a story about love from the pure innocence of a child, with his teacher, is universally relatable. Because we all know what it s like to love someone so bad, that will just never love you back. Jerell Rosales Director / Writer of THESE THINGS TAKE TIME
JERELL ROSALES Director, Writer Jerell is a Filipino-American film and television director and writer. A military brat, Jerell grew up in Southern California, Japan and Ohio. Jerell s feature film debut, HIGH SCHOOL LOVER, executive produced by and starring James Franco premiered on the LIFETIME/A&E NETWORK on February 4th, 2017. The film stars Paulina Singer, Francois Arnaud (NBC s Midnight Texas, and Showtime s The Borgias), Julia Jones (The Twilight Saga), and Lana Condor (X-Men: Apocalypse). A festival favorite, Rosales short films have been officially selected in over 60 film festivals worldwide and hailed in THE HUFF- INGTON POST as a demonstration of Rosales solid skill as a rising filmmaker. He s a two-time UCLA DIRECTORS SPOTLIGHT AWARD WINNER honored as one of the best films UCLA Film Festival has to offer in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Jerell is based in Los Angeles and proudly holds an MFA in Directing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. ANDREA MASSARO Producer Andrea is an up-and-coming film and television producer based in Los Angeles. Her produced work has garnered recognition, including a nomination for a college Emmy, and has screened at over thirty festivals around the world. She has multiple films in post-production, including MISSISSIPPI REQUIEM starring James Franco, Topher Grace and Marianna Palka. Her current passion project is digital series ONE TRUE LOVES, which has been praised by Tubefilter as one part love story and one part nostalgia trip, repeated eight times. She holds an MFA in the Producers Program from UCLA s School of Theater, Film & Television, and a BA in Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University. She currently works at 2.0 Entertainment as a trainee-of-all-trades.
JUSTIN RICHARDS Director of Photography Justin is a 4th Year MFA cinematographer at UCLA. Raised in Chicago, his interest in cinematography was born out of a hobby for street photography and the stories that could be told within a single image. He earned his BFA degree in Film and New Media at the Johnny Carson School at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has continued to shoot a variety of short films at UCLA including a short thesis, 305/307, that won Best Cinematography at the undergraduate showcase. He recently shot his first feature, RE- CAPTURE, in 16mm black and white. The film is currently in post-production. JENNIFER HWANG Production Designer Jennifer is a Los Angeles-based production designer and set decorator, working in both narrative and commercial content. Her work has been featured on Nerdist, Huffington Post, HelloGiggles, and Hypable, and screened at Sundance. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in Art, and enjoys approaching designing for film with the lens of a fine artist. GABRIELLE LEVION Costume Designer Telling stories through design has been Gabrielle s lifelong passion. She achieved a BFA Honours in Apparel Design from Rhode Island School of Design and is pursuing an MFA in Costume Design at UCLA. As a fashion designer, Gabrielle interned in the fashion house Ralph Lauren Black Label and later with the couture designer at Ralph Rucci. She has worked on a number of short films and theatre productions including THAT EVENING SUN, a James Franco short film directed by Jerell Rosales. Gabrielle s enthusiasm for travel, culture, historical novels, art history and story telling allow her to weave stories through her costume designs.
ZACKARY ARTHUR Zander Cooley Ten year-old Zackary Arthur made his major motion picture debut as Sam Sullivan in THE FIFTH WAVE (2016), starring opposite Chloe Grace Moretz. Zackary has also recurred for four seasons on the Emmy and Golden Globe winning TV series TRANSPARENT (Amazon). He has appeared on BEST FRIENDS WHENEVER (Disney), GREY S ANATOMY (ABC) and TEACHERS (TBS). Aside from working with James Franco in DON T COME BACK FROM THE MOON, they also co-starred in MISSISSIPPI REQUIEM, which is a collection of four short films based on the stories written by William Faulkner. Acting since the age of six, Zackary has dozens of short films and commercials to his credit, and he continues to study his craft at Gray Acting. His other talents include singing, dancing, climbing trees, and drawing. Zackary aspires to become a filmmaker when he grows up and soon can be seen starring alongside Nicholas Cage and Selma Blair in the feature MOM AND DAD. Zackary loved working on THESE THINGS TAKE TIME with Jerell, who is one of his favorite directors in the world! JASON HEYMANN Mr. Wiley Jason Heymann s credits include a recurring role on YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS), LIFE IN PIECES (CBS), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS), IRONSIDE (NBC), GOSSIP GIRL (CW), HOT IN CLEVELAND (TVLand), GENER- AL HOSPITAL (ABC), SWITCHED AT BIRTH (ABC Family) and was in the Broadway National Tour of AVENUE Q! Jason was a performer in the NBC TALENT SHOWCASE. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, Jason graduated from Northwestern University.
cast crew Zander Cooley Keith Cooley Mr. Wiley Reagan Park Conner Jeremy Kayla Cheryl Cooley Scarlett Zackary Arthur Timothy Ryan Cole Jason Heymann Samantha Krull Makana Say Jack McGraw Meilee Condron Ashley Ledbetter Annmarie Nitti directed & written by produced by director of photography production designer costume designer editor casting by composer Jerell Rosales Andrea Massaro Justin Richards Jennifer Hwang Gabrielle Levion Marie Lee Kim Le Stephen Spies Kate Bacich
@jerellrosales www.jerellrosales.com