Mendacity, a local film currently in production, has made an effort to involve community members in its cast and crew. One of the main cast members is played by an N.C . State student.
“It started out very, very humbly,” Brian Decontreras, the director of the upcoming film Mendacity, said. The film, which is being made locally, is currently in production.
“I actually went to school with the producer that brought me onto the project in high school,” Decontreras said. Decontreras went to Apex High School with producer Jon Darcelien . The two writers for the film also went to Apex High.
The project has grown since then, acquiring a talented cast and crew from around the Raleigh area, and is preparing to begin filming.
“We’re on our feet, promoting it ourselves and getting it out to people,” Decontreras said.
According to Decontreras , normally smaller budget films like this normally go to film festivals to find investors after they’re made, but he is taking a different approach to the future of Mendacity.
“We are not doing that,” Decontreras said. “We are completely skipping any film festivals or anything like that and we are self-distributing the film.”
For the University’s student body, that means the film should be easy to see. Once completed, Mendacity will be screened at 36 different schools in North Carolina alone, as well as independent venues and movie theaters.
Mendacity is a character-driven story, with the strong lead female character, Jules, as a motivating force behind the plot.
”She’s a serious seductress who comes into the lives of three best friends and events take the turn for the crazy,” Taylor Adams, the film’s script supervisor, said.
Other characters include three friends named Theo, Bobby and Ray. Theo is being played by Robert Steinberg, a senior in business administration.
“Theo is more of the normal nice guy, Bobby is pretty goofy, makes jokes a lot, and Ray is more short-tempered,” Adams said.
“I’m trying to encapsulate the idea that [Theo] is an all-around nice guy and very likable, which is hard to do at some points because I spend a good majority of the show handcuffed to tables and stuff,” Steinberg said.
While the characters are unique from one another, the production team feels the innovation lays in the way they’re telling the story of Mendacity.
“If I had to put it in a category I’d have to say it was a suspense-thriller, because reading through the script you really have no idea what actually happened until the very end of the show,” Steinberg said.
“When people ask me what the story is about it’s hard for me to say, because it’s one of those things you just have to see,” Decontreras said.
Steinberg is also currently acting in Rent and was recently in The Philadelphia Story, both University productions, and has been in every University musical since his freshman year.
”Acting is a real passion of mine. I do a lot of theater at N.C . State, and I’ve always wanted to get into film,” Steinberg said.
Everyone in the film is passionate about making it the best it can be, even in its pre-production stage.
“When it’s your project, you do everything that you can,” Decontreras, who is currently working on the business aspect and planning of the film, said.
During pre-production, Adams is putting out monthly video blogs fans can see on Facebook. Adams is also working on promotion of the film.
“Whenever I have free time, basically I work on Mendacity things,” Adams said.
According to Adams, even though they haven’t started shooting yet, the production team has a bunch of events coming up, one every month.
The first will be to view their promotional trailer Thursday, Feb. 2 at Kings Barcade. They are also having a fashion design contest where the winner will choose the clothes of the main female character. They encourage N.C. State students to participate at http://www.wix.com/mendacity/fashion.
