In May of 2018, the Hudson Valley Film Commission was contacted to provide referrals for locations and other production needs for Silent Retreat, a Miramax comedy written by Todd Strauss-Schulson and Matthew Fogel. The story centers on a man and woman with relationship issues who decide to go on a meditation retreat that requires absolute silence for three days along with the man's best friend and recently widowed mother.
Pre-production got complicated. It’s not uncommon for a film to be delayed, but this project took some unusual twists, turns and detours. After being pushed several times, production finally moved ahead in August and September of 2019 at the Old Stone Barn, a country inn, retreat, and wellness center in Rhinebeck, New York. Several other locations were used including Nana's Ice Cream and Grill in Hyde Park.
Director Todd Strauss-Schulson (Isn’t It Romantic, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) moved into temporary housing in town. Crew was hired and the principal cast was put in place, including Sarah Goldberg, Isabella Rossellini, Jack Whitehall, Dennis Haysbert, and Lorraine Toussaint.
With those building blocks in place, the production was left to find meditators who could commit to the entire production schedule. The task fell to Amy Hutchings Casting, also based in Rhinebeck. Amy Hutchings has over thirty years experience in production coordination, management and casting, including twelve years on Sesame Street.
Inside the horse arena which would double as meditation center and casting office.
“Amy is the queen of upstate New York – a bright light who seems to know everyone, everywhere she goes, wrote back director Todd Strauss Schulson. “I asked her to find me a group of background actors with meditation experience to be on set with me every day. I didn't need them to just act, I wanted them to actually meditate. I needed them to hold the space for the actors the crew and for me as we worked. The idea was like when Martin Scorsese makes a mob movie he puts real mobsters in the scene to create a biosphere of authenticity, and it wafts off into the actors and creates the feeling of realness. I wanted to do the same thing... but with meditators... creating a container for our intense shoot... I didn't want them breaking between takes, or getting frustrated by the long hours, I was trying to create a beautiful container of loving awareness and equanimity that could hold us all as we did our work. Not only did Amy find the most amazing people to do this for me, she did it with a smile on her face and was moved to tears when she saw this makeshift retreat family she put together all together on location. Amy is more than just a casting director. Amy creates families…”
Amy Hutchings (in stripes) with several of the Silent Retreat actors.
The film commission has worked closely with Amy Hutchings Casting on over two dozen films including Rhymes with Banana, Cold in July, Then Came You, Skin, Can You Keep a Secret, Shirley, Audrey and over 500 zombies for The Dead Don’t Die.
“We definitely consider ourselves part of the family,” added film commission director Laurent Rejto. “When a film hires Amy, we know they are in good hands. She’s not trying to sell dreams the way some casting directors do, so we’re always happy to post on our Facebook page for any casting needs, no matter how obscure. We thought finding twenty four meditators in the Hudson Valley would be a breeze but the time constraints proved otherwise. Luckily, Amy was able to put together a great group from the amazing pool of local SAG-AFTRA and non union talent.”
"From the moment I read an early draft of Silent Retreat, I knew I had to be involved,” said Amy Hutchings. “I laughed out loud throughout the reading. Todd Strauss-Schulson and Matthew Fogel wrote an innovative, compelling and meaningful screenplay and it was a pure joy to help realize the vision that Todd has as a director. Finding our ‘core meditators’ who would commit to working with our ever changing schedule was a casting challenge but the result was a group of wonderful creatives who, during the course of filming, bonded with one another and created their own ‘community ‘ which translates in the film. My personal take away from Silent Retreat was the value of finding a calm 'center' in spite of all the chaos around us -- a reasonable message for our times."
Background actors included many Hudson Valley regulars who have recently been able to work more locally thanks to the influx of film productions over the past eighteen months. We reached out to a few for their thoughts about Silent Retreat.
In 2018, Rhinebeck based actor, artist and political activist, Norman Magnusson was cast as Bill Murray’s stand-in for the Jim Jarmusch production of The Dead Don’t Die. In 2019, he became a meditator.
Norm Magnusson and Amy King on location with Silent Retreat
“Working on Silent Retreat was a delight,” wrote Magnusson. “Amy Hutchings brought together a core group of “meditators” who were on set for weeks, working together, working in close quarters, working in the heat of the day and coolness of the night, and the individuals in that group were all spectacular. Such a wide range of personalities and resumes and dreams for the future, all of us working together and goofing off together in the vast time between takes. It was a magical experience and I would guess that everyone of us made new friends for life during it. One thing that definitely joined us together . . . our happy membership in the Amy Hutchings fan club!”
"I met Amy through a friend and colleague, Jacinta Kroner who shared the casting call for meditators," recalled Jalesia Randi (aka Juju). "I appreciated working with Amy for my first acting gig. I enjoyed her sunny personality and thoroughness plus I appreciated her checking in on set to see how we were doing. It was nice working with her, I hope we work together again in the future. The experience of working as a background actor was wonderful. I feel truly blessed to have been apart a film centered on meditation and mindfulness. Meeting with Todd to audition was really cool. I could tell by his vibe this was going to be fun. The cast and crew were great to work with, shout out to Mitch and Brian."
"I've been an actor my whole life, but people just started paying me to do it in the last 3 years!" wrote Nacia Walsh. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be able to do this professionally without going to NY city on a regular basis, competing against thousands of hopefuls. Instead, I am able to work close to my home in Red Hook on so many projects like Silent Retreat. That 20 minute drive to work each day was a dream. As actors in the Hudson Valley, we really do get to be big fish in a little pond.
Mehtab Akal Singh, Jacinta Kroner and Nacia Walsh
Typically on sets, the background actors serve the specific role for setting the space and filling the world for principal actors to fill. From the beginning of the casting process I knew this film was different. After combing through all the head shots our Director Todd met with each one of us to discuss the kind of authenticity we would bring to our role. From the diverse and amazing group of people that Amy Hutchings assembled, Todd hand picked each of us based on our interviews. The idea for the movie created a space where each of us really grounded the reality of the story while the main characters were able to explore their outlandish high-jinks. It was such a beautiful juxtaposition.
The reason I love working with Amy so much is that she really looks out for her actors, even though we are the bottom of the actor food chain. For a new actor, like myself, it's comforting to know that you matter, even when you're last on the call sheet. She is also known for finding real people, plucking them from obscurity and helping them to have real acting careers.
In addition I have formed so many true friendships with the amazing group of actors I worked with on Silent Retreat. The connections we formed will without a doubt last a lifetime."
Maria Heng, who considers herself extremely fortunate to have Amy as a neighbor, can now also vouch for Amy as "a mama-bear casting director that makes you feel seen, heard, and cared for.”
“I would never have tried for the role if it weren’t for Amy Hutchings.” Maria wrote. “Amy's trust-worthiness and caring encourages a sense of possibility and adventure and that paid off for me in much more than a pay-check; I had thirteen days of unforgettable camaraderie with a diverse group of delightful fellow extras. A camaraderie that, I believe, was born of an unusual level of caring from the top down. That caring spiraled right back up. Everybody, from Todd to the ADs to the caterers, was lovely to be around. Everything, from the scenic location to the delicious buffets, was a treat. Seasoned extras noted how remarkably positive the film set experience was. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to being an extra and am grateful for the life-long friends I feel I’ve made on set, the lessons learned, the appreciation I’ve gained for the demands of movie-making, the respect engendered by stars who are people first, and the most fun I’ve ever had earning a pay-check!”
Several actors have moved to the area as a result of film productions. Jeffrey Dean Morgan fell for the region after co-starring in the 2011 BCDF Pictures production of Peace Love & Misunderstanding (which Amy Hutchings was also involved with). One of the principals from Silent Retreat has also just recently bought a home, within miles of where the film was produced.
Maria Heng’s recollections regarding her involvement were more involved and led her to write extensively about the experience. Her words are a testament to how art and teamwork can transcend the ordinary to provide hope and inspiration. It’s also a reminder that it can bring a sense of belonging and home. Maria wrote the following after being an extra for thirteen days on Silent Retreat.
BECOMING BACKGROUND by Maria Heng
My neighbor, Amy, is a casting director.
“I want to make you a movie star,” she said one day, not long after we first met.
I took it as a compliment rather than as a career plan. But about two years after making that casual remark that had me laughing, she actually found me a potential role; a zombie.
The invitation was followed by hesitation in her voice. I presumed, right after she’d heard herself, she worried I’d presume it was my body full of burn scars that qualified me for the role.
The fact is I did. I presumed my scars made me supremely suitable for the role, and considered the cost-effectiveness to the production team of hiring me.
“I won’t need body make-up,” I joked on the casting reply to the film’s hire team, “and my left hand comes conveniently amputated.”
I didn’t hear back. They may not have shared my sense of humor.
In truth, Amy saved me from that role when she realized the film conditions would torture me; hours of body make-up application on sensitive skin followed by long hours of running around in that make-up on hot summer days. Even at Zombie speeds it would have been too much. I agreed it wasn’t for me.
Then, this May, she found the perfect role for me; all that was required was real life meditation experience for a Miramax movie set in a silent retreat to be shot locally. I didn’t need to speak to reveal my unusual accent, or smile which would reveal my on-going dental work, or run, I presumed, being a movie plot revolving around silent meditation, or even drive a distance over my threshold of half an hour to reach the film site. It was as perfect for me as could possibly be. I was learning to “Yes” to new experiences and this was a new experience that was easy to say “YES” to.
Then my hesitation set in. Meditation isn’t a performance art but show-biz is. Wouldn’t the movie require its meditators to do the one thing that “shows” the act of meditation — that cross-legged, straight-spined posture well-seasoned meditators are capable of maintaining in stillness, on the floor, for hours? My injuries made sitting on the floor impossible. Forget about trying to sit on the floor cross-legged with a straight spine. I wasn’t even capable of sitting straight-spined on a chair without a fat cushion to prop me forward. Even with a cushion and a chair I wasn’t capable of sitting for long. I began to wonder if the one thing that might qualify me for the role didn’t measure up. My enthusiastic “yes” may have been premature.
I emailed Amy the fine print that came with me, in bold.
She reassured me; “They want it to look like a real meditation retreat so there will be some chairs for those who can’t sit on the floor. Just tell Todd what you can and can’t do when you meet him.”
Turns out I had been shortlisted for an audition with the director, Todd Strauss-Schulson.
Being new to the whole experience I didn’t know that it was unheard of for directors to audition Extras, otherwise known as “Background”. Afterall background is just that; the blurred shape behind the action or that anonymous crowd on a busy street, their sole purpose to lend authenticity to a scene focused on anything but them as individuals. Background isn’t even significant enough to qualify for the category of cast and crew. I think a more accurate description for Background would be prop furniture with rights, but individually much less important than significant props. Directors don’t take time from the million significant decisions they must make to deal with Extras.
But Todd was an unusual director. In his previous movie, the rom-com Isn’t it Romantic, he was reported as saying he wanted to create a goofy, fun, and loving environment for everyone on set and one of the ways he accomplished that was to include real-life couples as extras, including the couple that had introduced his parents to each other. As testimony to the success of Todd’s strategy, three couples in the crew of the movie, Isn’t it Romantic, fell in love on set, and two of his starring actors married after the wrap. I deduced he was repeating this strategy for the movie Silent Retreat, glad it wasn’t a gruesome murder movie.
And so I arrived at my five minute allotment with the good-looking, curly haired, nearly forty years young Todd Strauss-Schulson. It was past 6pm and he’d been working all day. I’d never have guessed I was about the twentieth extra in to see him by the warm enthusiasm with which he greeted me, as if I were an old friend or a movie star.
Then he made the mistake of asking me an open-ended question, “How did you become a meditator?”
Despite answering with close to the speed of a disclaimer in a pharmaceutical ad and with the animation of a QVC host, fifteen minutes was no where close to enough to answer his question. Anyone who knows me knows my love for backstory, something you may have deduced by now. Unlike my family inclined to race me to the point, Todd listened with obvious interest, his face as animated as mine, his questions as rapid-fire as my speech, waving away the interruptions of his assistant’s time-up alerts. By the third interruption I made myself stop and stood up to go, in apparent fairness to everyone still waiting their turn, but also thinking it best to leave while the going was good. I squeezed in the fine print of my limitations, and made sure Todd knew my arms were scarred in case he wanted us to wear short sleeves. He waved away my concerns with a “pfff”.
“Can you do walking meditation?” he asked.
“It’s not part of my tradition but my husband complains I walk too slowly, does that count?” I asked in reply, and began demonstrating how slowly I can walk, nearly tripping in my clogs.
“Think of kissing the ground with the soles of your feet,” he suggested.
“I’ll practice,” I promised, as he hugged me goodbye, not expecting to get the part. I was quite happy to have had the pleasure of meeting Todd. This was as close to getting a real job as I’d come since my accident fifteen years ago. Work I do with and for my husband, not being based on fair hiring practices, and coming with no fixed schedule, work of interest or even an official paycheck, never felt like it counted. I was genuinely thrilled to get this close to what was an exciting possibility for me, a sign I really needed to get out of the house more.
The next day Amy told me I was Todd’s first choice. I didn’t care if Amy told every selected candidate that. I was thrilled to believe I was special enough to have been selected to play a role that required complete anonymity.
I was thrilled I was actually going to get paid for something I didn’t mind doing, a role that couldn’t possibly come with less performance pressure. Being thrilled, for however long or short, is a wonderful thing. In two weeks I would find out exactly what I’d signed up for.
END OF PART 1 of BECOMING BACKGROUND by Maria Heng.
For more info regarding Ms. Heng, please contact gekcho@gmail.com
The Hudson Valley Film Commission helps productions secure local crew, cast, locations, vendors, post production facilities, and more! Since 2000, the film commission has supported and worked on over 500 productions, helping to create thousands of jobs and over $200 million in regional economic development.
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SELECT Hudson Valley productions:Billions • Monsterland • Things Heard and Seen • Audrey • The Plot Against America • Silent Retreat • Lapsis • Save Yourselves • Foxhole • The Undoing • I Know This Much Is True • I’m Thinking of Ending Things • Scare Me • Can You Keep a Secret? • Panic • High Maintenance • Shirley • The Dead Don't Die • Swallow • Avengers: Endgame • The Climb • The Irishman • Skin • The Mountain • A Quiet Place • Fabled • Then Came You • Furlough • A Vigilante • Nancy • Diane • The Miseducation of Cameron Post • It Comes at Night • Super Dark Times • The Seagull • HAPPYish • The Ticket • Growing Up Smith • Cold in July • Katie Fforde Films • True Story • The Sisterhood of Night • The Better Angels • We Are What We Are • The Bourne Legacy • Frances Ha • Our Idiot Brother • First Winter • The Last Keepers • Francine • Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding • Martha Marcy May Marlene • Higher Ground • Rocksteady • Bitter Feast • Stake Land • Man on Wire • Taking Woodstock • American Gangster • Michael Clayton • The Human Footprint • The Night Listener • Stephanie Daley • War of the Worlds • Down to the Bone • Personal Velocity
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