Jillian Clare breaks out in the insightful family dramedy PRETTY BROKEN from Brett Eichenberger and Jill Remensnyder.

Written By

Nick R. Murphy

Cinema Trends

Grief is a complicated beast, and when faced with tremendous loss amid a life changing transition, an unemployed college dropout has her world turned upside down in the new film PRETTY BROKEN, a story about starting over when you are at your lowest.

Indie Series Award Winner Jillian Clare stars as Lindsey Lou, a young woman who has given up on her educational pursuits and is on the verge of divorce when she receives news that her father has gone missing as the result of a climbing accident and figured for dead. She returns to her hometown and winds up couch surfing at her childhood home while her and her family grieves over the loss. Lindsey Lou does her best to keep her father’s memory alive, but her mother (Stacy Edwards) is ready to leave the past behind by replacing him with a younger man named Jerry (Daytime Emmy Winner Tyler Christopher of Days of Our Lives). Tension abounds as an odd love triangle forms and the stages of grief present themselves in a disorganized fashion. What follows is a lighthearted emotional journey about overcoming dread and beginning anew.

To prepare for the role of Lindsey Lou, Jillian Clare spent time researching clinical depression and how to deal with the loss of a loved one, including when grief is ignored and left untreated. While grief is not the central focus of the character, it is shown through Clare’s mannerisms in her performance. For Lindsey Lou, not only does she have to endure the loss of her father, but she has to reconcile the strained relationships between her mother and her brothers. Her father’s passing is the trigger that inevitably wakes Lindsey Lou up to face reality and break out of denial.

Jillian Clare was thrilled to jump on the project and saw a dimension to her character that many female characters in that age range did not usually have in typical films. Clare has been in the acting game since the age of eight, but she never encountered a character quite like this before. So she was excited to take on the challenge as this woman who battles staggering emotional issues on a scale of ‘slice of life’ realism that does not succumb to melodrama or traditional plot conventions. Clare portrays Lindsey Lou as an independent and vulnerable spirit who tries not to lose herself in all the drama unfolding in her life.

Maya Butler (JoJo), Jillian Clare (Lindsey Lou), Austin Hillebrecht (Liam Lou)

Adam Chambers (Scott), Jillian Clare (Lindsey Lou)

Jillian Clare (Lindsey Lou), Tyler Christopher (Jerry Carlyle)

PRETTY BROKEN is the third feature film directed by Brett Eichenberger. It was produced by Eichenberger and Jill Remensnyder through their company Resonance Productions. The original script was written by Remensnyder back in 2010. She then spent a few years tinkering with different drafts while working on other projects. Then in 2013, while shooting the made-for-TV Christmas movie BY GOD’S GRACE, Remensnyder approached a co-star of that film (Jillian Clare) about the project. She showed Clare the script, and soon thereafter, she was on board to play Lindsey Lou and also took part as a producer with Susan Bernhardt of Leonian Pictures.

Location scouting and financing proved to be the most challenging aspects of pre-production. After shopping around a couple scenes as a proof of concept at the 2015 American Film Market event, the producers realized that while their footage was well received, securing production funds was a task that they were on their own to accomplish. However, after locations were secured, everything eventually fell into place for the film, but not without a lot of hard work and determination.

PRETTY BROKEN was shot entirely on location in Portland, Oregon over the course of one year. Filming began in July of 2016, and the first week was completely self-financed by the producers. After a brief pause and a crowdfunding campaign, the production resumed in September of 2016, and then once the shoot was a wrap, an investor jumped on board to provide additional post-production costs. Editing continued on through February of 2017, and a rough cut was complete by the summer of that year. A few extra shots were needed to round out the finalized film, and once those commenced and ADR was added, PRETTY BROKEN was ready for its festival run.

Tyler Christopher (Jerry Carlyle), Stacy Edwards (Caroline Lou), Maya Butler (JoJo), Austin Hillebrecht (Liam Lou), Jillian Clare (Lindsey Lou)

Preston Bailey (Monty Lou)

The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Newport Beach Film Festival. It was also screened at The Portland Film Festival to great acclaim, and was released on VOD March 1srt 2019 domestically by Freestyle Digital Media and is available through Amazon, iTunes, Dish Network, DirectTV and many more VOD platforms. Now available in the on Google Play and Amazon UK distributed by Bounty Films.

Be sure to check out the fantastic talent and genuine heart on display in this indie drama and add PRETTY BROKEN to your Holiday watchlist today!

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