Movie filmed in Old Orchard Beach and Saco available for home viewing

OLD ORCHARD BEACH /SACO — The sun, surf and sand of Old Orchard Beach and Camp Ellis set the scene for the independent film “Pretenders.”

Much of Pretenders was filmed in Old Orchard Beach and Saco in 2019, with parts of the movie filmed in New York - Long Island, Coney Island and Flushing, Queens. It is the first feature film produced by Journey Home production company.

The movie centers around three friends who take a road trip to a beach house in Maine. The three young adults are at a place where nobody knows them, and they decide to invent fake identities for themselves. Writer, Director and Editor Tristen Stafford describes the movie as a “queer stoner beach comedy.”

“Pretenders” is currently debuting at the CINEJOY Virtual Film Festival, and is available for streaming through March 30 at https://creatics.org/cinejoy. Tickets are $3.99 and the film must be viewed within five hours once streaming begins.

“Queer struggle and trauma are often fetishized in movies,” said Stafford. “I wanted to write a movie that rebelled against that, with goofy stoner characters who aren’t necessarily struggling with that aspect of themselves.”

Stafford likened the movie to an old John Hughes film that is both funny and heartwarming. He said it’s a movie that will have the viewer laughing at the characters for much of the movie, then suddenly overcome with emotion.

Stafford wrote Pretenders with fellow State University of New York at Purchase alumna Emma Grace Myers. He came up with the idea of the movie on one of his visits to Camp Ellis with producer Adam Gale, also a State University of New York at Purchase alumnus. He and Gale would periodically stay at Gale’s family beach house in Camp Ellis and spend time writing.

The film was recently accepted into the New York City Independent Film Festival, which will be held in early June.

For more information on Pretenders and updates on viewing opportunities, go to https://pretendersthemovie.com.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at [email protected].