Mahon About Town Nantucket Blog

Susan Beaumont, owner of Viewfinder Productions since 1984, has announced that a feature film, “Tides of Summer”, is expected to begin shooting here in late summer or early fall. Viewfinder Productions will host the film and Susan will serve as local producer. Actors and extras will be needed.

This Daffodil Saturday, writer Scott Simonsen, producer Tim White, and director Trevor White, and Susan will be available to meet and answer questions outside the office of Country Village Real Estate in Sconset from 1 to 3 p.m.

Tim White is a graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts and attended USC School of Cinema-Television. In 2007, Tim, along with his brother Trevor, formed Star Thrower Entertainment, and has produced numerous award-winning shorts.

Trevor White has directed numerous award-winning short films. His film “Knockout” has been chosen as an official selection for the 2007 Palm Springs International Shorts Festival, the 2007 Los Angeles Shorts Festival, the 2008 Cleveland International Film Festival, where it won one of the festival’s few top prizes, and was a finalist in the 2008 Very Short Movies Festival. His film, “A Detective Story”, recently premiered at the Beverly Hills Shorts Festival. Trevor has just completed his most recent independent film, “Day 21″, which currently out to festivals now. Prior to forming Star Thrower, Trevor worked for legendary director Michael Mann. Trevor is a graduate of Cornell University, where he became the first student to ever be awarded a Presidential Research Scholarship for filmmaking based on his own work and his efforts to teach filmmaking to minority students at the Boys and Girls Club.

The screenplay for “Tides of Summer” was written by Scott Simonsen. Selected from among 5,000 entries, the script won the prestigious Nicholl’s fellowship administered by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

“Tides of Summer” is the story of Benjamin Wolfe, a boy from Los Angeles who spends his summer with his grandfather on Nantucket. Hyper-focused on his own academic success and consumed with his plans to matriculate at Yale, Benjamin thinks he is on course for great wealth and professional achievement. This is all too familiar to Darby, Benjamin’s grandfather. Darby wants something different for Benjamin, whose father became the first Wolfe to abandon the island way of life, and views Benjamin as the last Wolfe who can carry on the family’s Nantucket legacy.

Benjamin, however, is immediately out of place on Nantucket and uncomfortable with Darby’s sailor lifestyle and his grandfather’s demands. Rather quickly, though, Benjamin begins to take pride in washing dishes and cleaning in the local seaside bar. At the same time, under Darby’s tutelage, he matures into an excellent sailor. Although Benjamin initially clashes with Darby’s hard-edged nature, biting tongue, and unpredictable behavior, as the summer passes, Benjamin grows increasingly fond of Darby and intrigued with his family’s long history on the island.

The family’s potential extinction on the island is not, however, the only threat to the Wolfe family heritage. The Madaket Light House, where Darby met and fell in love with Benjamin’s grandmother, is on the verge of being knocked down by the Sunny Day Corporation. Darby pleads with the town council to reconsider and while they sympathize with Darby, they argue that the island simply needs the money. The Sunny Day Corporation is represented by several smooth talking businessmen who are able to sell many residents on their plans.

In addition to his adventures with Darby, Benjamin also meets Sydney, who, unlike Benjamin, has spent her entire life on Nantucket. Her parents’ recent breakup has deepened her desire to go away to college and escape her life on the island. Furthermore, her boyfriend of four years, Robbie, not only does not understand her, but also takes her for granted. She is devastated when she learns that, with her family’s current financial situation, she may have to stay on island.

Benjamin and Sydney are instantly drawn to each other. Benjamin’s self-depreciating nature and book smarts distinguish him from the guys with who Sydney has grown up. For most of the summer, Sydney fights her attraction to him even as they develop a close friendship. But when she learns that Benjamin and Darby are in danger one evening late in the summer and Robbie refuses to help, she realizes how strong her feelings for Benjamin are and the choice she must make.

In what will be a powerful cinematic sailing scene in a devastating storm, Darby tells Benjamin that he is terminally ill and unwilling to live out the remainder of his days in a hospital. Darby has planned this day and makes sure that Benjamin understands his reasoning. Then, in a dramatic move, Darby jumps overboard, disappearing into the waves.

Benjamin is overcome. When his parents arrive on the island for the funeral soon after, they are amazed at how much their son has changed over the summer. But just as the service is getting underway, Benjamin learns that the lighthouse is about to be destroyed. Unable to sit in silence, he delivers an impassioned speech in which he argues that Darby would have wanted his friends and fellow islanders to fight for the lighthouse and the heritage it represents. The public outcry that results from Benjamin’s speech makes the Sunny Day Corporation seriously consider the inhospitable environment they will inevitably face. In the face of the opposition, they ultimately decide to abandon their plans.

“Tides of Summer” is a compelling story that captures one young man’s transformation into the person he was meant to become. No longer consumed with getting ahead in the world, he learns to cherish his roots and shows qualities of true leadership, the type of leadership that means more than a line on a college application.