Aiming High at American High

Over the summer, a whirlwind of commotion hit the Liverpool community. The Zogg building in Liverpool village, formerly a middle school, was transformed overnight into the production company, American High. Jeremy Garelick, well known for directing the Wedding Ringer, now owns and runs production out of this archaic looking building.

He hires interns from Syracuse University to assist with production. Actors like Pete Davidson and Colson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly were spotted in Syracuse, people went wild with questions. ‘What were they doing HERE in Syracuse?’ Matter of fact they were working alongside Garelick as part of the American High Production, Big Time Adolescence. The addition of the newly engaged Davidson to pop superstar Ariana Grande sensationalized the movie and articles began popping up everywhere about this new movie running out of Syracuse, New York. Along with filming in an isolated location such as Syracuse, far from big Hollywood production and major commerce, the film required the addition of extras.

Many were recruited through Liverpool High School and saw advertisements tacked around the school for potential extras.

One lucky student, Carina Coleman-Gridley, got the opportunity to be an extra for Big Time Adolescence this past summer before her freshman year of college. Coleman-Gridley recalls her mom noticing an ad in the local newspaper and asking her if she wanted a way to make money this summer. Intrigued by this prospect Coleman-Gridley remembers going online to a google forum where she had to submit her name, a picture of herself and where she is from. She states during our conversation, “If they see your photo and you seem like a good person, Annie (member of production) sends you an email and explains how she does casting for the movie”. Coleman-Gridley was contacted via email to inform her she had been chosen to be an extra and to let them know her availability for Tuesday and Thursday sessions. She remembers, “I wanted to do as much work as possible and finally got an email back and was chosen for Thursday filming, I had just gotten my wisdom teeth out so I didn’t look great with a puffy face”. The first day of filming took place at Nottingham High School for a brief introductory highschool scene. Coleman-Gridley explains to me how hot it was that August day because, “I had to bring in a wardrobe of clothes for these artsy stylists to sift through, they had to make sure we all looked different but were wearing neutral colors to blend into the background”. She was relieved to learn her chosen outfit of a basic flannel and shorts was adequate for the scene. “In one of the scenes we were filming, Pete Davidson (Zeke) had to carry Griffin Gluck (Mo), carrying him and running backwards, the cameraman is carrying a 100 pound camera, both running backwards, as the cameraman slowed down and Pete didn't, they all fell on top of eachother. Everyone went silent because it was their main camera, scared to death wondering was it going to be okay. As the cameraman brushed off the accident everyone was cheering cause Pete blindsided this 300 pound cameraman and knocked him over.” With stars as big as Davidson, it’s no fantasy to wonder what it must have been like to film alongside him in a professional film.

Coleman-Gridley explains that, “At first I didn’t recognize it was him because everyone seemed so normal. But as he started cracking jokes, I realized it was him. He was very funny and it was cool to work with him, it was weird because I was used to seeing him during a Saturday Night Live skit on my tv, and here he is ten feet away from me”.

The dynamic of high school students and big time actors is definitely something directors like Jason Orley take into consideration. After speaking with Jeremy Garelick (producer) and Jason Orley (director) over the phone about such instances, Orley explains, “the high school students I cast were the most mature, professional people on my set”. He jokes, “read between the lines on that”. Extras for the film were so thoroughly infatuated with the concept of being in a movie. Liverpool, as most of us know, is not a big city where hundreds of people flock. Garelick recalls during production when one extra even offered up his skills as a personal assistant to grab coffee or do other miscellaneous tasks such as picking up Tully’s tenders to have on set, which they thoroughly argue original is the best flavor of.

The willingness of the locals to assist/participate in their movies has astonished both Garelick and Orley. Orley stated, “Liverpool officers pulled us over and said ‘What are you guys doing?’” to which Orley responded, “Filming a movie with Pete Davidson!” The officers with no hesitations asked, “Great how can we help?” as Orley replies, “Come be in our movie”! He says to look out for the scene where Davidson (Zeke) gets pulled over by cops because this is the hilarious coincidence that led up to this scene. Garelick and Orley both thoroughly emphasize their love of Liverpool and how great it has treated them during production. Garelick even owns a Liverpool sweatshirt which he loves and most definitely puts to good use in these brutal upstate winters.

Michael Schade (producer) can vouch for this, when visiting the set of Sid Is Dead, he describes how the actors would run off set and immediately bundle themselves in big jackets. Schade jokes, “You’re putting us to shame” as I stand in a windbreaker versus the West coast natives all wrapped in thick sweatshirts and vests. Garelick informs, “We are a really fun company (American High) and we love to work hard, but also have a good time and we like to make people feel proud of their work everyday”. Orley chimed in, “When you make movies in LA, cities where they’re making a lot of movies, people can become jaded, and coming to Syracuse to make my movie made me sense an excitement, like this call for example, no Beverly Hills High School student makes a call to talk about how excited they are to be making movies in their town”. In terms of Liverpool High School, devoid from big Hollywood influence, Garelick points out, “I believe that we had a lot of help from the Liverpool High Athletics Department, using their baseball team as extras and Tom Beecher (recently hired as the head of their Academy) has been in touch with Liverpool High to form a better relationship and start classes where we come teach and see how the kids can keep getting involved”. Coincidentally, after meeting Beecher on the set of Sid Is Dead , he even expressed personally his hopes of getting Liverpool High students acquainted with American High. The mashup of two separate worlds continues to inspire Garelick when it comes to American High. He is currently working on producing high school set movies mirrored after ones he says, “we all grew up loving; The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles”.

Garelick also found the idea of being able to film in primarily one location intriguing.

He explains his process when searching for a low cost building to produce films out of.

“I was looking for the perfect looking high school in the perfect looking town and found a few options, but discovered that there was a tax credit in Upstate New York, so I googled schools for sale and this one (Zogg) popped up and it looked just like what I had pictured in my head”. Garelick recounts hopping on a plane to look at the building and then purchasing it after seeing it was the perfect fit for his soon to be production company.

Garelick disclosed that after spending a lot of time in the industry they had great connections to get a headstart on film production. In a sense the stars aligned in the perfect order as he says, “I was met with pretty great response”. Orley notes, “When they came to Syracuse so many actors were literally hanging on set” Even as he let them know they were done and able to go home they were gungho on, “hanging around and seeing what we were doing up here, it happened all the time and that's a credit to making films in Syracuse”.

Fast forward from Friday afternoon to eight o’clock Saturday morning. After touring the American High building, to much of my surprise, Garelick was once again on another endeavor, this time producing Sid Is Dead. Although he was in LA at this time at work with Jason Orley. An assistant at American High directed me towards the back of the building as I mentioned I was there to meet Michael Schade for what I assumed was a brief tour. Schade greeted me warmly as I stepped onto set in awe. The energy was exciting, yet tense due to the professionalism suddenly surrounding me. Tom Beecher (screenwriter) handed me a pair of headphones and I got the chance to listen in on Joey Bragg (Sid) acting out one of his many scenes. Schade was extremely gregarious, introducing me to almost the entirety of the cast and crew on Sid Is Dead. Will Phelps (producer and business partner to Garelick) alongside Eli Gonda (director) were front and center of the “video village”, otherwise known as the setup of monitors where crew intently analyzes the film.

As I stood in a semi circle among Schade, Phelps, Beecher and Bragg I could sense the fun atmosphere they all contributed to the production. I had never seen a group of people so enthused about their job and care about connecting with highschool students like myself.

Between takes, Bragg would even excitedly approach me allowing me to interview him before he got whisked away by crew. He explains how he was once in my shoes as he was a part of journalism at his high school and wanted to make sure he could answer any questions I had. When asked what his thoughts on being in Liverpool were he replied, “It’s great! I’m from California, so coming to these small suburbs is crazy, there are things that I’m not used to”. Suddenly an audible “Joey!” is shouted and we conclude the small snippet as he comically tells me, “I’m a big shining star, make sure you print that!”.

After transferring to the next film location alongside Syracuse University intern, Nav Kaur, I found myself once again in Bragg’s presence. Taking this chance to inquire about his thoughts on American High he responds, “I think that it’s super cool that it’s bringing jobs, obviously, to Syracuse, which has a big income inequality differential. It’s good to see people creating and making stuff in a small town”. Bragg goes on to mention, “Moving out to LA is a big ask, when it comes to you it’s a big deal and not a lot of people get to experience that sort of thing. Everyone here is in love with movie making”.

Previously Orley had mentioned LA being jaded and Bragg mentions this as well coincidentally explaining, “So many people in LA are jaded, they are doing it not for the money, but the fact they are making more money so they lose that drive of doing it for the art”. “So they lose their motivation?” I ask Bragg.“Exactly, the people here are motivated to make a good movie, we’re not doing it for the money, it’s obviously a small budget film, but we read the script and wanted to make it as good as possible.” Before leaving and concluding my surprise day on set, I received high fives all around and a hug from Bragg as I left the building. You wouldn’t believe it, but packed inside that once abandoned building of Zogg was the building blocks of real artistry and cinematography in Liverpool.

All the cast and crew that day on Sid Is Dead exuded a sense of pride and joy by getting to film in Liverpool, where they see great potential for future and current films. Big things are happening at American High and it’s imperative that Liverpool stays in tune with them and their work. I would like to extend a special thank you to Jeremy Garelick, Jason Orley, Michael Schade, Tom Beecher and Will Phelps for letting me in on the excitement that is the film industry at American High and making me feel like I belonged, even just as a high school journalist. It is evident to see how high American High truly is aiming with these new and fun endeavors situated in the small suburbs of Liverpool.