G H O S T W A I T S
☀ IN-THEATRE …
Tuesday, September 14, 7:00
Wednesday, September 15, 7:00
Director Adam Stovall will introduce his film, lead post-film Q&A
Proof of vaccination required for admission
☀ STREAMING ONLINE … Opening Sep 16, 2021
Adam Stovall’s debut film is a genre-blending ghost story combining haunting, humor and heart, years in the making, shot in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
Without relying upon the usual blood and gore devices often found in commercial “horror” films, A GHOST WAITS delivers on the director’s intent to accentuate loneliness, connection and caring in a non-traditional love story.
Strong writing, direction and performances, along with wry humor, pull viewers into the blossoming romance between a ghost and the man she is supposed to haunt. A GHOST WAITS will resonate with you if you remember these popular and profound love stories with ghostly themes: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947 Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison); Ghost (1990 Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg); A Ghost Story (2017 Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck).
We look forward to having Adam with us for both screenings, telling us why he wrote and how he made this film. Help us make him feel welcome! Reach out to your circle of friends: everyone likes a good love story, ghost stories have been popular for centuries and A GHOST WAITS fills the bill!
☀ Learn more in the sections below:
Synopsis, Accolades, Director’s Statement, Director Interview, Cast & Crew, Social Media, etc.
WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW MUCH
The Garfield Theatre reopened on April 9, with significant attention to personal safety. Please review our guidelines in
WHAT:
“A GHOST WAITS” director Adam Stovall, USA, 2020, 80 minutes, in English. Director Stovall will introduce film and lead discussion afterward, at the Garfield.
WHERE:
☀ THE GARFIELD THEATRE, 719 Race St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.
WHEN:
☀ In-Theatre: Tuesday, Sep 14, 7:00 pm and Wednesday, Sep 15, 7:00 pm.
☀ Virtual Cinema: Tickets available 24 x 7, Sep 16 through Oct 01.
TICKETS:
Advance in-theatre tickets are $10, available online via the Tix Button, and by phone at (859) 957-3456; tickets at the door are $15, if available. Live screening ticket includes discussion led by the director.
Virtual Cinema tickets are $15. 30 days to watch, 7 days to complete once started.
ADA ACCESS & SAFETY PROTOCOLS:
The Garfield is ADA accessible. ADA details and Covid-19 safety information can be found on the CWC Policies Page.
TERMS OF PURCHASE, IN-THEATRE:
Purchase of a ticket confirms acceptance by the purchaser that the presenter/host and their staff will not be liable for any loss, damage, action, claim, cost or expenses which may arise in the consequence of attendance at this event.
Purchaser declares that they will not attend unless in good health on the day of the event. Further, purchaser understands it is impossible to guarantee that they will not be exposed to Covid-19 and will attend at their own risk.
SYNOPSIS
After opening with a brief send-up of the classic haunted house motif, the film quickly embraces the unpredictable. The ghost (Muriel, “they call us spectral agents”) did not die in the house she’s haunting, but is assigned the task by a ghostly hierarchy, cleverly introducing us to the bureaucracy that exists in the afterlife. Muriel’s target, Jack, likewise does not live in the house – he’s a contractor tasked with making repairs and getting the place ready for new occupants.
A lonely, somewhat depressed man with few friends, Jack is not overly scared by Muriel, but annoyed and ultimately intrigued. “Do ghosts drink beer?” he asks Muriel, while opening the fridge. The interest becomes reciprocal as Muriel realizes she’s not in control of her own destiny.
Their individual, and quite different, types of loneliness bring them together – interest turns to fascination which turns to romance, enhanced by the script’s creative wit and dry humor, along with solid chemistry and believable performances by MacLeod Andrews (Jack) and Natalie Walker (Muriel).
The unusual and moving twist at the end may be a challenge for some viewers, but keep in mind the director’s intent to address depression in a “recognized but not noticed” manner – read the Director’s Statement to appreciate his nuanced thrust. All-in-all A Ghost Waits is a commendable and worthwhile first feature film by a talented director we hope to see more of.
ACCOLADES
Critics’ Reviews, A Ghost Waits
“With delicate, affecting performances from its two leads, A Ghost Waits is a pleasure from start to finish and a wonderful example of what’s possible on a small budget with just a little imagination. Eye for Film
~~~~~
“Chock full of delightful narrative surprises, imaginative genre tweaks, and warming performances from its two leads…” The Guardian
~~~~~
“The comedy and drama work in tandem to bring authentic emotions to the forefront. All of this is filmed in glorious black and white and anchored by two amazing lead performances. What more could one want?” Film Threat
~~~~~
“The supernatural romance A Ghost Waits presents its tale of love and loneliness with refreshing heart and sweetness instead of the expected scares and gore.” San Francisco Examiner
~~~~~
“A Ghost Waits is an unexpectedly heartfelt gem of micro-budgeted filmmaking.” Cinevue
~~~~~
“A film dedicated to “those who make us feel less alone,” A Ghost Waits is simultaneously uplifting and heartbreaking.” The Hollywood News
~~~~~
“Stovall’s debut is a wonderful blend of humour and sorrow. In Jack and Muriel, he has given us two characters who will resonate deeply with viewers.” Glasgow Live
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
Years ago, I was a Contributing Editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine. I managed to get an exclusive interview with JJ Abrams around the release of Super 8, in which Mr Abrams gave me a key piece of advice: “You have to have faith that you’re not alone in the world. If you want to see something, someone else wants to see it too.”
I made A Ghost Waits for exactly that reason. Cinema has long been one of the main things that makes me feel less alone in this world, and I wanted to make a movie that could do that for someone else. I wanted to say something as honestly and specifically as I possibly could; something that no one else could say, but that someone else would want, or maybe even need, to hear.
Also, whenever I see depression rendered in a film, it’s usually manic depression or bipolar disorder. I wanted to tell a story about mental health and depression as I experience them, and show that even though someone with depression can appear functional, there are a host of issues they are working overtime to keep from you. Years ago, when I first moved to LA and was working for the magazine, I had this realization that I like being recognized but don’t like to be noticed. I think that holds true for this: The depression in the film is there to be recognized by those who similarly struggle, and it doesn’t need to be noticed by those who don’t. And hopefully, I can tell a story that does all this in a way that’s entertaining and makes people laugh.
I also wanted to make A Ghost Waits because I wanted to work with my best friend, who is a staggeringly talented actor and producer. I could not have imagined it would take so long to complete this film, and had you told me back then the investment that would be required…well, I have no idea what I would have said. Completing this film is the culmination of a lifelong ambition, yes, but more importantly it has evolved and solidified a friendship that I can state unequivocally is one of the best things to ever happen in my life. Even if the movie had turned out bad — which I really don’t think it did — it all would have been worth it for that.
And now I’m here talking to you, sharing this film with you. I hope you like it, and I hope we get to discuss it someday. Thank you for your time and attention.
We recently got the chance to sit down and grab a coffee with Adam Stovall, the director of A GHOST WAITS. Among other things we were chatting about Adam reflected on getting through depression, creating paranormal romance and the influence of Tom Waits…
Hi Adam. Thanks for taking time out to chat to us.
You have an interesting CV – from comedy theatre and film journalism to writing for The Hollywood Reporter and second assistant directing. Was all this a game plan to becoming a fully-fledged director?
I’ve known since I was a little kid sitting in the basement watching the network TV premiere of Back To The Future while holding my Back To The Future storybook and waiting for them to premiere the first footage from Back To The Future 2 during a commercial break that movies meant more to me than they did to those around me. And that’s not a low bar – my Dad worked as a projectionist all through his college years, and my Mom takes my Aunt to see at least one movie a week. I remember seeing Pulp Fiction in the autumn of 1994 and suddenly realizing that a) cinema is far more elastic than I had previously thought, and b) it helped the world make sense in a way nothing else could. That was when I knew this was my path.
Pulp Fiction does seem to have that effect!
But I grew up in Northern Kentucky, which felt like the furthest you could possibly get from Hollywood. I spent my 20’s trying to do anything else and be happy, to no avail. Towards the end of my 20’s, I was mired in a severe depression, getting wine drunk and writing scripts on the weekends. Then, my dog died, and it put into stark relief just how alone I was. So I sold as much of my stuff as I could and moved the rest to L.A. so I could pursue film.
How did that go?
Quickly I had the thought that I’d feel pretty stupid if I moved 2000 miles and just sat in my room, so I started volunteering in the Creative Screenwriting screening series. After eight months of that, I wrote for a magazine, which closed down, then a friend asked me to work on his movie. I was not supposed to be the 2nd AD, but they ended up with a budget far smaller than they thought they’d get, so as people left the production for higher-paying gigs, I kept getting promoted. It was an incredible experience, though, and the best education I could have asked for in terms of no-budget filmmaking. It clarified for me where money needed to go, and where money went out of habit. So yeah, that’s a game plan…
Did the story of A GHOST WAITS come as a sudden flash; were you inspired by the likes of GHOST and BEETLEJUICE?
The idea for A Ghost Waits came from a video game and a web comic. I am not a gamer, but I was visiting some friends and they told me I needed to play a game called P.T. which was designed by Guillermo Del Toro and Hideo Kojima. It’s a first person puzzle game where you have to walk through an L-shaped hallway in a haunted house, doing specific things in time in order to open the door at the end of the hallway, which then puts you back at the beginning of the hallway.
That sounds interesting.
At some point, it occurred to me that there might be a movie in someone like me having to deal with a haunted house. While I was working on that, I saw a Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic where a man asks a woman what she thinks is the most American film. She answers, “Ghostbusters,” and he asks why. She explains that people get demonstrable proof of an afterlife, but the whole thing is about growing a small business and navigating government bureaucracy. I thought, “That’s hilarious, and also I want to see that movie.” So I wrote it!
How long was the development process and where did you obtain financing?
Development on A Ghost Waits moved irresponsibly fast, haha. I had the idea in November 2015, and we shot in August 2016. Normally I have all the time in the world to write, since nobody cares about a spec script being written by a no-name, so the process of writing with so many eyes on me was equally exciting and daunting. Fun fact: I usually name characters and title the piece late in the process, but I wasn’t able to do that here since we needed to create documents for casting and whatnot. So I went home, opened up my Tom Waits discography, and named every character after a Tom Waits song. And then named the movie after him, because he is one of my creative north stars…
Wow! That is awesome.
MacLeod and I had spent the previous year trying to get another movie made, but just weren’t able to raise enough money. One of the investors we met in that time remained very excited to make something, so when I had the idea for A Ghost Waits he immediately said he’d invest half the production budget. My Mom had told me to let her know when we had a firm budget number, so once we had half the budget, she invested the other half. That covered principal photography, and then MacLeod and I put in our own money to cover pickups and post-production.
How do you describe the movie, a supernatural comedy, a paranormal romance, what?
I’ve been referring to it as a haunted house love story, but paranormal romance is good – maybe I’ll start using that!
Was the choice to shoot in black-and-white more an artistic or budgetary consideration?
A bit of both, to be honest. I love the B&W aesthetic, so it was always a possibility in my mind, I mentioned my idea to my UPM during prep while we were on a location scout, and she told me not to do that. We shot in color with the intention of staying that way, but we also shot with two different cameras, the Blackmagic Ursa Mini and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema, which yielded slightly different looks. I drove myself crazy trying to match the images in color-correction, and one day MacLeod said, “Have you thought about just making it B&W?” Because MacLeod is the best person ever. Once we put a B&W LUT on it, it felt right, tonally and aesthetically. Would we have gone with B&W even if we had more money? Who knows! Just another possibility for the pile…
Sometimes these accidents are when the magic happens.
When did you first meet MacLeod Andrews? He says you’ve wanted to make something together for years? So did you write the part of Jack with him in mind?
MacLeod and I met on the set of a film called Split, a bowling rom-com, which filmed in Louisville, KY. I met the filmmaker on a panel, and he asked if I’d be down to come work on his movie. MacLeod is a native of Louisville, and had worked with one of the producers on the film before. We instantly hit it off, and I was struck by his obvious talent and charisma so I sent him a script I’d recently written. He dug it, and we decided we wanted to work together.
I absolutely wrote the part of Jack for MacLeod. To the extent that if he’d said no, the movie would not exist. Fortunately our brains function on similarly weird frequencies, so we’re usually intrigued and excited by similar ideas.
What about Natalie Walker? How did you come to cast her as Muriel?
I’d been following Natalie on Twitter for a while, and was impressed by her humor and brilliance. I had a feeling that casting her in a role that demanded she sublimate her energy would yield a similar result as when Robin Williams was asked to do the same for dramatic roles. I emailed and told her about the project, and offered to send over the script so she could check it out and see if it interested her. She responded that she was very interested, so we talked and she did a self-tape, which was perfect. We hopped on FaceTime and I offered her the role.
The chemistry between MacLeod and Natalie is wonderful in A Ghost Waits. Was that instant or did it need nurturing?
Instant! We never even had a table read, much less any rehearsals, so the first time they met was on set. Since we had such a small crew, I was always doing a multitude of jobs, which limited how much time I was able to spend with them. A lot of their dynamic is due to the work they did on their own. It is my profound hope that the three of us are able to work together again.
A highlight of how important it is to have a good team working with you.
Where did you film and for how long?
We filmed in Cincinnati, OH, and Lakeside Park, KY. Principle photography was 12 days in August 2016, and then we did the first set of pickups over four days in April 2017 and the last set over a week in February 2018.
Finally, what’s next for you?
We’re working with a couple producers on two films, which we’re obviously hoping to make soon. One is an existential horror drama, and the other is a coming-of-age comedy-drama. In the meantime, just writing a few things and hoping for the best.
You have got lots coming up so good luck with those projects. I hope you get to make some progress on them soon.
INTERVIEW - DIRECTOR ADAM STOVALL
An Interview With ‘A Ghost Waits’ Director Adam Stovall
Conducted April 7, 2021, Movie-Blogger.com:
We recently got the chance to sit down and grab a coffee with Adam Stovall, the director of A GHOST WAITS. Among other things we were chatting about Adam reflected on getting through depression, creating paranormal romance and the influence of Tom Waits…
Hi Adam. Thanks for taking time out to chat to us.
You have an interesting CV – from comedy theatre and film journalism to writing for The Hollywood Reporter and second assistant directing. Was all this a game plan to becoming a fully-fledged director?
I’ve known since I was a little kid sitting in the basement watching the network TV premiere of Back To The Future while holding my Back To The Future storybook and waiting for them to premiere the first footage from Back To The Future 2 during a commercial break that movies meant more to me than they did to those around me. And that’s not a low bar – my Dad worked as a projectionist all through his college years, and my Mom takes my Aunt to see at least one movie a week. I remember seeing Pulp Fiction in the autumn of 1994 and suddenly realizing that a) cinema is far more elastic than I had previously thought, and b) it helped the world make sense in a way nothing else could. That was when I knew this was my path.
Pulp Fiction does seem to have that effect!
But I grew up in Northern Kentucky, which felt like the furthest you could possibly get from Hollywood. I spent my 20’s trying to do anything else and be happy, to no avail. Towards the end of my 20’s, I was mired in a severe depression, getting wine drunk and writing scripts on the weekends. Then, my dog died, and it put into stark relief just how alone I was. So I sold as much of my stuff as I could and moved the rest to L.A. so I could pursue film.
How did that go?
Quickly I had the thought that I’d feel pretty stupid if I moved 2000 miles and just sat in my room, so I started volunteering in the Creative Screenwriting screening series. After eight months of that, I wrote for a magazine, which closed down, then a friend asked me to work on his movie. I was not supposed to be the 2nd AD, but they ended up with a budget far smaller than they thought they’d get, so as people left the production for higher-paying gigs, I kept getting promoted. It was an incredible experience, though, and the best education I could have asked for in terms of no-budget filmmaking. It clarified for me where money needed to go, and where money went out of habit. So yeah, that’s a game plan…
Did the story of A GHOST WAITS come as a sudden flash; were you inspired by the likes of GHOST and BEETLEJUICE?
The idea for A Ghost Waits came from a video game and a web comic. I am not a gamer, but I was visiting some friends and they told me I needed to play a game called P.T. which was designed by Guillermo Del Toro and Hideo Kojima. It’s a first person puzzle game where you have to walk through an L-shaped hallway in a haunted house, doing specific things in time in order to open the door at the end of the hallway, which then puts you back at the beginning of the hallway.
That sounds interesting.
At some point, it occurred to me that there might be a movie in someone like me having to deal with a haunted house. While I was working on that, I saw a Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic where a man asks a woman what she thinks is the most American film. She answers, “Ghostbusters,” and he asks why. She explains that people get demonstrable proof of an afterlife, but the whole thing is about growing a small business and navigating government bureaucracy. I thought, “That’s hilarious, and also I want to see that movie.” So I wrote it!
How long was the development process and where did you obtain financing?
Development on A Ghost Waits moved irresponsibly fast, haha. I had the idea in November 2015, and we shot in August 2016. Normally I have all the time in the world to write, since nobody cares about a spec script being written by a no-name, so the process of writing with so many eyes on me was equally exciting and daunting. Fun fact: I usually name characters and title the piece late in the process, but I wasn’t able to do that here since we needed to create documents for casting and whatnot. So I went home, opened up my Tom Waits discography, and named every character after a Tom Waits song. And then named the movie after him, because he is one of my creative north stars…
Wow! That is awesome.
MacLeod and I had spent the previous year trying to get another movie made, but just weren’t able to raise enough money. One of the investors we met in that time remained very excited to make something, so when I had the idea for A Ghost Waits he immediately said he’d invest half the production budget. My Mom had told me to let her know when we had a firm budget number, so once we had half the budget, she invested the other half. That covered principal photography, and then MacLeod and I put in our own money to cover pickups and post-production.
How do you describe the movie, a supernatural comedy, a paranormal romance, what?
I’ve been referring to it as a haunted house love story, but paranormal romance is good – maybe I’ll start using that!
Was the choice to shoot in black-and-white more an artistic or budgetary consideration?
A bit of both, to be honest. I love the B&W aesthetic, so it was always a possibility in my mind, I mentioned my idea to my UPM during prep while we were on a location scout, and she told me not to do that. We shot in color with the intention of staying that way, but we also shot with two different cameras, the Blackmagic Ursa Mini and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema, which yielded slightly different looks. I drove myself crazy trying to match the images in color-correction, and one day MacLeod said, “Have you thought about just making it B&W?” Because MacLeod is the best person ever. Once we put a B&W LUT on it, it felt right, tonally and aesthetically. Would we have gone with B&W even if we had more money? Who knows! Just another possibility for the pile…
Sometimes these accidents are when the magic happens.
When did you first meet MacLeod Andrews? He says you’ve wanted to make something together for years? So did you write the part of Jack with him in mind?
MacLeod and I met on the set of a film called Split, a bowling rom-com, which filmed in Louisville, KY. I met the filmmaker on a panel, and he asked if I’d be down to come work on his movie. MacLeod is a native of Louisville, and had worked with one of the producers on the film before. We instantly hit it off, and I was struck by his obvious talent and charisma so I sent him a script I’d recently written. He dug it, and we decided we wanted to work together.
I absolutely wrote the part of Jack for MacLeod. To the extent that if he’d said no, the movie would not exist. Fortunately our brains function on similarly weird frequencies, so we’re usually intrigued and excited by similar ideas.
What about Natalie Walker? How did you come to cast her as Muriel?
I’d been following Natalie on Twitter for a while, and was impressed by her humor and brilliance. I had a feeling that casting her in a role that demanded she sublimate her energy would yield a similar result as when Robin Williams was asked to do the same for dramatic roles. I emailed and told her about the project, and offered to send over the script so she could check it out and see if it interested her. She responded that she was very interested, so we talked and she did a self-tape, which was perfect. We hopped on FaceTime and I offered her the role.
The chemistry between MacLeod and Natalie is wonderful in A Ghost Waits. Was that instant or did it need nurturing?
Instant! We never even had a table read, much less any rehearsals, so the first time they met was on set. Since we had such a small crew, I was always doing a multitude of jobs, which limited how much time I was able to spend with them. A lot of their dynamic is due to the work they did on their own. It is my profound hope that the three of us are able to work together again.
A highlight of how important it is to have a good team working with you.
Where did you film and for how long?
We filmed in Cincinnati, OH, and Lakeside Park, KY. Principle photography was 12 days in August 2016, and then we did the first set of pickups over four days in April 2017 and the last set over a week in February 2018.
Finally, what’s next for you?
We’re working with a couple producers on two films, which we’re obviously hoping to make soon. One is an existential horror drama, and the other is a coming-of-age comedy-drama. In the meantime, just writing a few things and hoping for the best.
You have got lots coming up so good luck with those projects. I hope you get to make some progress on them soon.
CAST & CREW
Cincinnati, OH … Covington, KY … Lakeside Park, KY |
Adam Stovall |
Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)
MacLeod Andrews | … | (screenplay) |
Adam Stovall | … | (screenplay) |
Adam Stovall | … | (story) |
Matt Taylor | … | (story) |
Cast (in credits order)
MacLeod Andrews | … | Jack | |
Natalie Walker | … | Muriel | |
Sydney Vollmer | … | Rosie | |
Amanda Miller | … | Ms. Henry | |
Adam Stovall | … | Neal | |
Tym Pollack | … | Pizza Delivery Guy | |
Nicholas Thurkettle | … | Adam (voice) | |
Krissy Bates | … | Susan (voice) | |
Deva Marie Gregory | … | Mom (voice) | |
Michael Drace Fountain | … | Dad (voice) | |
Tessa Taylor | … | Daughter #1 (voice) | |
Mia Luna Barkage | … | Daughter #2 (voice) | |
Ashley Hollingsworth Dethy | … | Haunting Victim | |
Chandler Dethy | … | Haunting Victim | |
Angela Duggins | … | Haunting Victim | |
Vanessa Emerson | … | Haunting Victim | |
Jeremy Greenwell | … | Haunting Victim | |
Alyssa Hancock | … | Haunting Victim | |
Noelle Isaacs | … | Haunting Victim | |
John Mark James | … | Haunting Victim | |
Sally Lin | … | Haunting Victim | |
Erin Ward | … | Haunting Victim | |
Alice Motovylyak | … | Haunting Victim | |
April Reed | … | Haunting Victim | |
Stephanie Sabelhaus | … | Haunting Victim | |
Emily Schaefer | … | Haunting Victim | |
Darci Joy Edwards | … | Alice |
Produced by
MacLeod Andrews | … | producer |
John Mark James | … | associate producer |
Bill Parag | … | executive producer |
Deborah Parag | … | executive producer |
Adam Stovall | … | producer |
M.F. Thomas | … | executive producer |
Nicholas Thurkettle | … | co-producer |
Music by
Mitch Bain | ||
Margaret Darling |
Cinematography by
Michael C. Potter |
Film Editing by
Adam Stovall |
Makeup Department
Madeline Winters | … | makeup artist |
Production Management
Chenney Chen | … | unit production |
Sound Department
James Paul Bailey | … | sound |
Adam Rabinowitz | … | dialogue editor |
Camera and Electrical Department
Adam Stovall | … | additional camera / second unit dp |
Casting Department
Chenney Chen | … | casting |
Adam Stovall | … | casting |
Additional Crew
Rachel Bomkamp | … | production assistant |
Special Thanks
Perry Blackshear | … | special thanks |
Daniel di Tomasso | … | special thanks |
Evan Dumouchel | … | special thanks |
Abe Goldfarb | … | special thanks |
Corrie Loeffler | … | special thanks |
Margaret McGurk | … | special thanks |
Lauren Showen | … | special thanks |
Josh Stolberg | … | special thanks |
Leah Strasser | … | special thanks |
SOCIAL MEDIA & PRINT MATERIALS
DRINKS & DINING
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