During the 2020 Spring semester, radio, TV and film alumnus and screenplay writer Matthew Hewitt pitched a script for a dark comedy called “Staying Alive” at the annual San Jose State script pitch contest. He had no idea his first-place screenplay would be produced during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hewitt’s film features Randy, a fatigued minimum-wage worker played by theater arts alumnus Cody Nichols, who discovers he’s immortal after he tries to commit sucide. Randy is confronted over his decision to kill himself by Arthur, his long-distance friend, played by radio, TV and film senior Gage Phillips, who arrives for an unexpected intervention.
The film was produced by the SJSU Film Production Society, a student-run club that gives students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the film industry through the creation of original projects.
Hewitt said his concept behind Staying Alive was based on aspects of his real-life occurrences and written pieces he read in the past.
“It was kind of based on experiences. I had friends drifting apart, then trying to get closer and then coming back, seeing they'd changed and maybe not for the better,” Hewitt said.
Nichols said while his character requires the embodiment of intense emotions, such as heavy themes of depression, he was able to dive deep into his role by combining his personal experiences and his ability to immerse himself in the character.
“I would go out on a limb and say that most people who are entertainers or actors, either currently [are] or have suffered from depression in the past. That's often what leads us toward becoming actors,” Nichols said in a Zoom interview. “For a moment, it means we don't have to be ourselves and subconsciously, that's kind of why we love it.”
Nichols said he experienced depression in his early 20s, making it easy to draw from those feelings.
Reflecting on Randy’s distant friendship with Arthur, Nichols said the film also explores the difficulty of maintaining friendships in adulthood.
“We have these friends coming out of high school [and] going into college, but a lot of them fade away,” he said. “And sometimes just holding on to friends while maintaining responsibilities like a job, school, family, friends. It gets hard to hold onto some of the people you care about.”
The production of the film was delayed by nearly eight months because of COVID-19, which presented many challenges for the screenplay crew.
Genevieve Villarreal, a radio, TV and film and communications senior and the film’s producer, said the team faced a multitude of difficulties after resuming production in spring, such as minimizing the size of the crew and reconsidering COVID-19 precautions.
She also said she felt bad having to cut people from the crew but they had to follow Santa Clara County coronavirus guidelines.
“We had to cut the crew in half, just so that it could be safe for all of us to be in the same room together,” Villarreal said.
Despite the unforeseen pandemic, Hewitt said the postponement of the film granted him extra time to revise the script.
“Everything in [the script] was intentional to what I wanted,” Hewitt said. “I didn't know for sure if it was going to work or not but I was like, I know why I want everything.”
Staying Alive's filming has concluded and it’s currently in its post-production editing stage, but the proposed release date is still in discussion.
Hewitt said the team is hoping to host a special premiere for the crew this summer and for SJSU at a later date.
Nichols and several other cast and crew members expressed their praise surrounding the film’s process and approach regardless of the complications.
“Even though this is just a student film, this felt just like I was working [at] a big studio, because they were all on top of their game and it was hard not to admire it,” Nichols said.
