Leave It
SYNOPSIS | CREDITS | BIOS | AWARDS | FESTIVALS | FILM CLIP | GALLERY
Contact: Laura Jean Cronin, 206/323-0557
Minadog10@hotmail.com
SYNOPSIS:
The One Liner
Trish gets caught with her dog off-leash in a city park and is sentenced to dog obedience school where she meets the girl of her dreams.
The Plot
Two Seattle Officers, who take themselves very serious, are on a stake-out. The target: Disobedient Dog Owners. This time they’ve got one red handed! Trish lets the dog off leash and as he runs through the fields, Officers Crane and Deehan head her off at the pass! Trish reacts with disbelief and contempt, but when she is given the chance to attend dog obedience class instead of paying the hefty fine for breaking the leash law, she jumps at the chance. Sure that she will sail smoothly through this class, she comes to learn there is more to dog training then meets the eye. For example, it is a good way to impress a girl. Trish works extra hard to succeed in the class and win the heart of her beautiful classmate Kelly.
The Theme
Leave It is about self-control and self-esteem. As the Judge tells Trish, “Obedience class is more for the owner of the dog than the dog itself. Owners are the ones in need of training.” In the dog obedience class there is growth not only with the dogs and their adherence to the commands, but with the dog owners and their relationships to their dogs and the people around them. The class is comprised of a diverse group who, outside of the dog class, have nothing to do with each other: Eric, a single African American father and his daughter, Jenny; Liz and Stuart, a European American newly wed couple; Jade, a new age European American woman; Kelly the Latina bi-sexual, and Trish the European American lesbian. Together they learn the importance of respecting one another and self-respect. Eric must learn that in order for his daughter to learn responsibility he must let her do things for herself. Liz and Stuart must work on the endless cycle of her jealousy and his flirtations if they want to make their vows last a lifetime. Jade must learn to focus on herself and not everyone around her. Kelly’s insecurities surface in her dog who will not listen to a thing she says. And Trish’s dog Boris lashes out at others when he feels threatened. Trish finds a new sense of self in her ability to train Boris through self- discipline. She is able to pass this on to Kelly when she invites her over for a “dog training session” which leads to love in the afternoon. But Trish has still another lesson to learn, when she is quick to make assumptions that the beautiful Kelly does not have eyes only for her.
Produced and Directed by
Laura Jean Cronin
Written by
Laura Jean Cronin & Cherilynn Brooks
Director of Photography
Scott Leyse
Co-Producers
Scott Leyse & Tony Hebert
Edited by
Laura Jean Cronin
Music supervision
Linda Kennedy
Sound by
Dave Howe, C.A.S.
Production Design
Owen Connell
Original Music by
Joseph Skyward & Shawn Brooks
Principle Cast
Cherilynn Brooks
Natasha Figueroa
Bronwen Carson
Lisa Nix
J Heflin
Amy Prestas
Paige Green
Jerod Edington
Jordan Rennick
Scott Nath
Jeffrey Gilbert
Isolina Campbell Cronin
Cherilynn Brooks, actor, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter, trained at the Cornish College of the Arts. She has worked with the world renowned Larry Pisoni and appeared in his production of Circus of Fools in 1998. She also appeared in Via Satellite, and Katydids in 1997 and starred as Emily in the premiere production of Fried Rice and Ketchup which has since been published in The Book of Etrogenius, 2000. Cherilynn made her film debut on Block Party as the rocker Beth. She also writes her own music. One of her songs, Sliver, was chosen to be the end credit song for Block Party. Cherilynn co-wrote Leave It, and also plays the lead Character, Trish. Her vocals were put to use once again in the theme song for Leave It, Come Over Here. Her current project is co-writer on the feature length script, Princess and Buddha, in which she is attached to play Billy, the charming, but destructive grunge girl. Princess and Buddha was well received at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival where she read the part for Billy.
Natasha Figueroa, actor, was born June 14th, 1972, to a Danish mother and Guatemalan father. She started acting at age 8 in school plays, after exhausted parents realized their younger child has way too much energy & too many strange accents. By age 10 Natasha was performing with City Players of St. Louis in full-scale productions, almost exclusively portraying young boys. She attended high school (sporadically) in Clearwater, FL, focusing on Dramatic Interpretation & Improvisation with Speech & Debate team. At 18 she traveled extensively around the U.S. working for a private investigative firm, specializing in “Quality Control”, working constantly in disguise. At 22 she moved to LA to pursue a film career, but was quickly turned off by “icky industry vibe”. She promptly relocated to Central America, and began importing goods to US. At age 24 she resurfaced in Miami Beach, opened a vegetarian restaurant, and became involved (intimately) in the fashion & modeling industry (also occasionally staring in music videos). At age 28 she began traveling again and spent a fair amount of time in Bali. After many health-depleting situations she returned to States and ends up in Seattle where she opened a shop specializing in Southeast Asian antiques. It is here that she rekindles her interest in film. The rest, hopefully, is history.
Scott Leyse, Director of Photography, recently returned to the Seattle area from Los Angeles. He received his BS in Film and English from Montana State University and has considerable experience in film and television. He has worked on documentaries, independent and studio feature films, TV episodics and he received an Emmy for Northern Exposure. He is a member of the Cameraman’s Guild and has been involved with Seattle’s independent film community for ten years.
Audience Award, Best Local Short, Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2002
Oppenheimer Jury Award, Best Local Film, Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2002
Audience Award, Verzaurbert International Queer Film Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2002
Official Selection
Outfest, Los Angeles, 2002
Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, 2002
Seattle International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2002
Verzaurbert International Queer Film Festival, 2002
Immaginaria, Bologna, Italy, 2003
Cleveland International Film Festival, 2003
Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney, Australia, 2003
San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival , 2003
Festival Internationale de Cinema Gaylesbico di Milano, 2003
Rhode Island International Film Festival, 2003
The Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, 2003
Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, 2004
New Zealand International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2004
New Orleans Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, 2004
Michigan Women’s Music Festival, 2004
Reeling, Washington DC International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2004
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