When Halifax-born filmmaker Jacob Medjuck found his camp diary he wrote when he was ten years old, he cringed. Then he thought it would make a great movie.
Now his first feature film Summerhood, playing in Toronto at the AMC Yonge Dundas theatre until this Friday, has garnered many film festival awards and critical praise. Telling the story of Fetus (a moniker only), a ten-year-old in love who struggles to fit in with both the immature macho jokes that his friends enjoy at their boys summer camp, with his ambition of kissing his love, Sundae. It’s a classic love story with a modern twist, as Medjuck doesn’t sugar-coat the antics that kids at camp can get into.
“Today kids are exposed to so much. At 10 they feel like 18. But children are still human beings. For some time now, Hollywood has neutered that reality,” Medjuck told CTV. “I wanted to make a movie that respected that truth and the humanity in kids just a little bit more.”
And for his first film on a low budget, Medjuck didn’t settle for anything but the best. He managed to get such names as Joe Flaherty, Christopher McDonald, and John Cusack on board. A soundtrack also includes nostalgic favourites like Air Supply, Tears for Fears, Doobie Brothers, Rod Stewart and The Cure.
Almost half of the proceeds from box office sales will go to charity, like building a school in Africa and funding arts and sports programs in North American schools, through Medjuck’s company Filmraiser.
“I just wanted to teach little boys to be just a little better to little girls. It’s a tough time being kids now. It’s a tough time. Kids are being bullied to death. You give a ten-year-old self-esteem, you’re putting their future on the right path,” Medjuck told eTalk.
From the press release
Narrated by John Cusack (Say Anything, High Fidelity), Summerhood is a serrated sendoff on childhood and heartfelt coming-of-age comedy. “Does camp feel like a prison?” asks this summer saga of four best friends who hate each other. Young Fetus, (played by the Woody Allen-esque Lucian Maisel) struggles for status while confused by his first summer love. Abandoned by his friends, rejected by love, and confined, Fetus risks summers without sunlight for romance and glory.
Critics have uniformly praised Summerhood; which has earned private screenings at PIXAR and Harvard. Ainʼt It Cool News says, “Medjuck reminds me very much of a young Ben Stiller. He has a knack for comedic timing…”. Collider.com writes, “Not just one of the best Iʼve seen in this festival, but also one of the best Iʼve seen about childhood ever.”
About Filmraiser
Filmraiser lets schools and communities see advance movie screenings at their favourite multiplex and keep the box office to help fundraise for school programs. Filmraiser has been successfully working with Canadian student councils this past year and is expanding into the U.S. FILMRAISER provides students with a real option to raise substantial money through safer and more ethical efforts.
Students sell a fun experience at a multiplex theatre to give them positive experiences at school, supporting their sports teams, school musicals, prom, etc. As well, the Filmraiser program gives students an opportunity to learn valuable business and management skills. It’s a hands-on entrepreneurial activity that engages students by feeding and formalizing their passion for the media business, an ever popular area of interest with teenagers. Filmraiser was founded by Jacob Medjuck in 2009.
I need to see this movie!!! Looks amazing…