With adulthood just around the corner, a group of New Jersey adolescents deal with their last summer together in their own unique, unpredictable ways.

Kevin James McMullin’s debut drama “Exit 117” is a melodic group portrait of New Jersey youth and the kaleidoscope of hopes, fears, and laughs that is their last summer together. Told in a series of interconnected vignettes, characters confront adulthood in different ways. Brian (John Blakeslee) says goodbye to relationships he has outgrown while Melissa (Kathleen Mallon) and Tommy (David A.K) try desperately to preserve their adolescence. Matt (Matthew Strickland) and Sammy (Christopher Azara) dream of escaping their small town in pursuit of destiny, while Grady (McMullin) and Janine (Kristen Brunelli) defend their suburban middle-class life. As these characters fight and love and hope their way through this summer of transition, they reminisce about the past and dream about the future.

“Exit 117” was shot in 15 days intermittently over the summer of 2009 on a budget of less than $850 with my friends from high school as cast and crew. Everyone involved is a non-actor who came to shoot in between work and sleep, classes and babysitting, sacrificing nights and weekends to help make one of my dreams come true. The days were long, running from one location to another on little sleep and a lot of coffee. If it was raining, which it often was, we still shot. The headphone jack for the camera was broken so we were never sure the audio was recording properly. We filmed most of the movie on the Panasonic HVX that our cinematographer owns. We took our lunch breaks when the P2 cards we recorded our footage on were full so we could upload the footage, delete it, and continue shooting.

I graduated the University of Pennsylvania in 3 years to finance this film, only to find after condensing my course study that by borrowing lots of equipment and using predominantly natural sunlight, I would be able to complete the feature on my laptop for the cost of food and a few external hard drives. I graduated May 18th and began production May 31st.

I am 21 years old and have seen my fair share of films about teens, but rarely have I found them to be accurate portrayals of my experiences. “Exit 117” was born from that frustration and a desire to examine the lives of some characters I really love. The film is a melodic group portrait of New Jersey youth and the kaleidoscope of dreams, fears, and laughs that is their last week together. My goal was to induce nostalgia while walking that fine line of drama and comedy. In rehearsals I would often rewrite dialog to better suit the actors and add a more personal element by incorporating real events and conversations we as friends have had in the past. I wanted to listen to these characters espouse some really personal stuff, and I wanted to show enough of their interactions with each other so the audience is constantly re-analyzing their assumptions of each character, the way people do in real life.

That summer after high school graduation can be many different things to many different people and so the ultimate goal in making this film was to explore all of these feelings through the confessions, declarations, and resolutions of disparate individuals.

The film has recently been selected to premiere at the 20th Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, CA, and has also been invited to screen at a few other festivals that we will announce shortly. It is the winner of the 2009 Flesch Screenwriting Award and has received a 2009 Drexel University Grant.

“Exit 117” has meant a great deal to us, and, personally, making the film has been the hardest I have ever worked but also the most fun I have ever had. What I hope you will find is something simple and sincere.

Thank you!

Kevin James McMullin