Gardner Loulan’s first feature film, appropriately titled “Our Feature Presentation,” is about a 22-year-old man who returns home to a small, wealthy town to make a movie, but loses control of the project when his tycoon mother refuses to fund it and the know-nothing townspeople clamor to be involved.
Fortunately for Mr. Loulan, 24, he didn’t have the same experience that his protagonist did when he returned to his hometown of Portola Valley for his directing debut, which began production on June 15 and wrapped on July 15. Instead, he received plenty of support from family and friends who make up much of the cast and crew, several of them former classmates of Mr. Loulan at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton.
JoAnn Loulan, who is producing the film, conceived the idea four years ago with her son in mind after taking a screenwriting class at Stanford. She didn’t set out with the intention of making it until this year.
“I brought Gardner and some of his friends together at Thanksgiving and told them that I thought they should do this,” Ms. Loulan said, adding that she knew this might be their last chance to make a film because many of them will head to graduate school soon.
Mr. Loulan, who graduated from Fordham University in New York City in 2004, took a break from his regular job as a video jockey and writer at MTV’s college cable channel, mtvU, to direct the movie. He co-wrote it with Joseph Brady, a Santa Clara graduate, over a period of three months, then began pre-production.
He said that he was apprehensive when his mother approached him with the idea because it was based on his life, but that the story evolved into something else when he started to write it with Mr. Brady.
While the main character of “Our Feature Presentation” has to compromise his artistic vision for the demands of the movie’s backers, that wasn’t a problem for Mr. Loulan. Kathie Maxwell, a family friend and former Woodside resident, trusted his artistic vision and agreed to fund the project.
Much of the cast and crew volunteered to work for free or took pay cuts, though Ms. Loulan declined to reveal the budget. She said it was the first movie that several had been involved in, though the filmmakers also enlisted a number of formally trained film students and professionals in the industry.
Actor Chad Eschman from Santa Clara University plays Cody Weever, who graduates from film school and returns home to live with his parents. After his mother refuses to provide financial backing for his movie, he turns to a local stage mom, who agrees to put up the cash — on the condition that her son gets to star.
When rumor spreads that a famous (if talentless) Hollywood actress is involved, the wealthy townspeople throw money at Weever in exchange for roles in the cast and crew and threaten to take over artistic control.
Mr. Loulan shot the movie in Portola Valley, Woodside and Los Altos, primarily using houses that belong to family friends, and said that people in those towns were very supportive of the project.
He returned to New York City two days after shooting wrapped to resume his job at MTV.
After the movie is edited in New York by Joe Dillingham, who grew up with Mr. Loulan in Portola Valley, the producers will submit it to several film festivals in an effort to find a distributor. They also plan to screen it on college campuses, banking on an audience of students that they hope will be familiar with Mr. Loulan’s work at mtvU.
Other Portola Valley residents involved in the production include: producer Steve Dunne, set designer Katherine Tincher, set dresser Laurel Tincher, graphic designer Amber Ramies, and actors Craig Lewis and Rosemarie Luce.
Change of plans: Research campus to leave Menlo Park, make way for more housingJune 12, 2026 6:46 pm
