“It’s been a labor of love,” says Xaque Gruber of “Sallywood,” the feature length film he wrote and directed that focuses on his years in Hollywood, working as a personal assistant to actress Sally Kirkland.
“Sallywood” will be presented as the opening night feature of the Vero Beach Film Festival, which runs April 11-14 at locations around town.
“It’s been a journey, but movies are,” says Gruber, who wrote the first draft of the film on St. Patrick’s Day, 2015. “You just have to have a lot of patience to make a movie.”
Gruber moved to Vero Beach not long afterward, and has since become an intrinsic part of Vero’s art scene, as a painter, photographer, writer, teacher, filmmaker, manager of the Gallery Veritas & Art Library; if it has anything to do with arts or culture, he’s involved.
Two of his earlier short films – “The Pistol” and “The” – were mostly shot here and were shown at previous VB Film Festivals. This feature film, though, has opened up a whole new chapter in his life.
The adventure began in 2002, when Gruber decided to move to Los Angeles from New England, where he had studied. He had earned a BFA in drawing from Pratt Institute, a master’s degree in education from Tufts University, and a master’s in television production from Boston University.
“I figured I would stay in Boston and work in TV news because I had a good internship there. But my professor said, ‘No, you should go to Los Angeles. That’s where all the work is. And you have a great personality for that.’”
So, armed with talent and an optimistic outlook, he took a leap of faith and headed to California.
Gruber recalls that he had been captivated by Kirkland after watching her in the 1988 production of “Anna,” for which she was nominated for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
“Her performance was so heartbreaking and real and gritty and raw and beautiful. And I thought, I want to make movies like this. I want to write characters like Anna,” says Gruber.
Kirkland has performed in a variety of Broadway and television shows, and has had starring and supporting roles in numerous movies; most recently “80 for Brady.”
Through an odd little series of events, which he says you’ll see in the movie, Gruber met Kirkland during a gallery opening of her artwork.
“The movie explains the whole arc of our meeting and story. And, of course, I was starstruck and I was excited because here she is in the flesh, standing right in front of me,” he recalls.
“Well, she looks at me and she said, ‘Young man; what do you think of my paintings?’”
As he commented on them, she asked if he was an artist, and if he was a Virgo; both answered in the affirmative.
“Then she asked, ‘Are you my new assistant?’ and ‘Did God just send you into Sally’s life?’”
Gruber recalls answering, “I think God just sent us both together, Sally,” whereupon she told him he was to start immediately.
“She didn’t even know my name and I was suddenly her assistant,” says Gruber with a laugh.
“I ended up becoming very close with her as a friend. And this movie really celebrates that.
It’s about friendship.”
Kirkland plays herself in the movie as if their relationship were occurring today, rather than as her younger self of 20 years ago. The role of Xaque, however, played by up-and-coming actor Tyler Steelman, is based on Gruber’s younger self.
Gruber says Steelman doesn’t look or sound like him, though; but is rather a version of Xaque he created after reading the script.
“For some reason, all my movies seem to be about multi-generational stories, where you have an older character and a younger character connecting. It’s such a rich territory there; lots of emotional great stuff to explore,” says Gruber.
“It’s an all-star cast, which for my first feature film as a director and writer, is such a thrill. It’s such an incredible joy that, oh my gosh, on my first movie, I directed Eric Roberts, Keith Carradine, Michael Lerner, Sally Kirkland, Jennifer Tilly, Maria Conchita Alonso, Kay Lenz,” he says.
“None of them are like their characters in real life, except for Sally, who’s playing herself.
And, by the way, I think this is the first movie made for the big screen where an actress plays herself in the lead role. This might be the first in history. So, it’s kind of exciting.”
The movie, he says, is a narrative comedy-drama, with strong elements of both.
“It’s not pure comedy, it’s not pure drama, but that’s life. Life is mixed. That’s the wonderful thing about life,” he explains.
“I’m really most interested in comedy, but for adult audiences that are smart and that have good music and good stories and fill your heart. And I intend to do more of these stories beyond ‘Sallywood.’”
There is a slight documentary element to the film, in that Kirkland references and shows video clips and photos of real events in her life.
“So, I’m thrilled that it’s here at Vero Beach Film Festival, because I live here, I work here, my mother’s here,” says Gruber. The part of his mother is played by Jennifer Tilly.
To sneak in a little bit of Vero Beach, he named one character Venetia Boyd (VB), who is played by Maria Conchita Alonso.
Music-wise, a jazz score was written by James Cavell, the opening song is by Tony Basil, and there are a couple of songs by Grammy-nominated Rufus Wainright, including one that hasn’t yet been released.
As with many things in the entertainment world, Gruber says it’s hard to tell if what people say and do is real or pretend.
“And then the pretend leaks into real life. It merges. Look at reality shows, which are not reality. It is kind of a land of make-believe.”
And he should know. For years, Gruber played the role of ‘Francisco the Party Planner’ on the so-called ‘reality’ show “Hell’s Kitchen.”
Although it’s in the very early stages, Gruber says he has his next film scripted out in his head.
“’Sallywood’ has been a tremendous learning experience. I’d never done a feature film before. I’ve done short films, but they’re a little bit of a different animal. And so now that I’ve done one feature film, sure, why not? Let’s do another one. I know what to do and what not to do. And I’m ready, I’m young. I have more films in me, just like I have more canvases in me.”
In addition to everything else, Gruber is kept busy teaching art classes, including at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, to chemo patients at the Florida Cancer Specialist Center, and even to inmates at the county jail, who he says are “delightful.”
“It doesn’t matter if I’m teaching 3-year-olds or 101-year-olds or people receiving chemotherapy or inmates. They’re all human beings and they’re so happy to be doing this.
And I’m so honored to be working with them and teaching them,” says Gruber.
“I love that I live in a town where I can do all these things. It’s a special town. I feel safe here, I feel joyful here. They say you bloom where you’re planted. So, I feel like a one-man garden. I feel very complete here.”
“Sallywood” will be the Film Festival’s opening film at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at the Majestic Theatre followed by a Q&A (earlier that same day, it will be shown at noon at the Vero Beach Theatre Guild). Other showings are at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 12, at the Majestic, and at 2:45 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at the Theatre Guild. For more information about showings, visit VBFilmFest.org.
