Same Time Tomorrow
From Short Play to Short Film By Writer and Director John Reoli
I adapted Same Time Tomorrow from a ten-minute play into a short film because it had been received well at a staged reading at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, PA in March, 2007. With the themes of aging and Alzheimer’s disease, the story seemed more relevant in 2023 than in 2007 or maybe I had just gotten older.
Leaning into my experience as a theatrical producer, I began putting together a crew with film students but that idea quickly fell flat. So, I networked as best I could but nobody was signing on. Finally, the short film was produced with the help of my husband.
My vision was clear, a character-driven, quiet story simply shot in a cinema verité vibe, perhaps on an iPhone. Harold and Maude kept coming to mind. Rewrites and rehearsals began almost simultaneously.
I changed the roles from a mature heterosexual couple to a mature same-sex male couple to highlight that LGBTQIA+ people face similar problems as everyone else while leaving the tenor of the story unchanged. Upon the advice of a dear friend, Simone Lazer, I decided to play the role of Walter and I cast Cash Tilton as Joey.
The park location demanded that the day shoot become a night shoot in the hope of encountering fewer pedestrians as well as cooler temperatures. The night shoot also added an element of suspense and danger that the day shoot lacked.
This 7.5 minute film was shot in a few hours.