Teach Me How To Cry

2022

Short Film

Unable to cry whilst performing on stage, a struggling middle-aged actor is given one last chance to prove himself by attending a session with an acting coach who supposedly has the ability to transform his performance.

From The Director, Finegan Sampson: The story of Teach Me How to Cry was conceived from experiences in my youth as an actor and the tribulations of becoming emotionally vulnerable on demand, especially the toll it takes to achieve it. Vulnerability in all its forms has fascinated me. I wrote the narrative with the intention of the film being a character driven performance piece, that tells the story of a struggling performer who must come to terms with a piece of himself that he has lost, in order to find the part of himself that is vulnerable. At the heart, the story examines both the nature and process of actors performing with authenticity, although on a deeper level, explores how humans sometimes have to suffer to get what they want. The film is led by Lachy Hulme who plays struggling actor Graeme McCrae and Michala Banas who plays acting consultant Lex. The film was shot over 3 days at Camberwell Grammar School with an incredibly passionate and dedicated cast and crew. From the beginning, I wanted everyone involved to have a piece of themselves in this film so it’s been incredibly fulfilling seeing it all come together and to see everybody's creativity shine. I’m immensely excited to share Teach Me How to Cry with the world.

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CAST:

Graeme McCrae: Lachy Hulme

Lex: Michala Banas

Sol Diamond: Bert LaBonté

Maddy: Justina Noble

Johnny Lawrence: Julian Haig

Matisse Brewer: Campbell Connelly

Stage Hand: Nikita Chronis

Jack Hayes: Finegan Sampson

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CREW:

Writer & Director: Finegan Sampson

Producer: Max Kearsley

Co-Producer: Angela Lopez

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Director of Photography: Cameron Mitchell

Daniel Shen

1st AC: Kieren Barber-Wilson

Walter Mather

2nd AC: Walter Mather

Andrew Whelan

Gaffer: Nick Smith

Best Person: Jordan Blanch

Best Person 2: Andrew Whelan

Grip: Daniel Smith

Lighting Engineer: Lachlan Hicks

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Production Designer: Angela Lopez

Tanny Shab

Assistant Production Designer/Costumes: Bella Salvatore

Hair & Make-Up: Helen Magelaki

Justin Teague

Hair & Make-Up Assistant: Zoe Crawford

Prop Master: Mark Wager

Wardrobe Master: Jennifer Bennie

Locations Manager: Andrew Stocker

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Sound Recordist/Mixer: Leytton To

Boom Operator: Spencer Cameron

Ben J. Read

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1st AD: Angela Lopez

2nd AD: Nikita Chronis

Chloe Doumanis

3rd AD: Anthony Bougioukos

Script Supervisor/Continuity: Tadji Ulrich

Script Consultant: Tadji Ulrich

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BTS Video: Tyron Tran

Andrew Whelan

Oscar Kearsley

BTS Photos: Natalie Tsembas

Stills: Olivia McGregor

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Catering: Legacy Camberwell

Craig Sampson

Rebecca Sampson

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Data Wrangler: Marsalis Lam

Runner: Cassidy Oreo

Production Assistants: Sara Riippa

Oscar Kearsley

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Editor: Sara Riippa

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