Thought-provoking short film Tattoo You, written/produced by Lisa Kenner Grissom and directed by Robb (S.R.) Bindler, has been reaching festival audiences around the country and is screening at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.
Based on the National 10-Minute Play Award-winner at The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Lisa Kenner Grissom's Tattoo You tells the story of two women from the same town who re-connect in the bathroom at their 20th high school reunion. Their troubled past breaks the cool veneer of the present. The film’s creative team is comprised of entertainment industry and non-profit professionals who share the belief that we can create meaningful change through the healing power of storytelling. Widening audiences, the play was translated into a movie to generate more exposure about the long lasting impact of bullying, whether physical or psychological.
“Tattoo You is a story about how the past sometimes shows up in the present, threatening the future,” explains director Robb Bindler. “My challenge, as a filmmaker, was to show bullying in a visceral way as Lisa’s script has done so spectacularly with words. In doing so, our hope is that the movie challenges people to consider and to be accountable for their own actions.”
“People often ask, did this happen to you? Although the story is fiction, in the writing of the play, I revisited my own memories of junior high when it seemed like everyone had their turn at being bullied at one time or another,” notes writer Lisa Kenner Grissom. “We got through it, but did we forget? And how did those memories shape who we are today? I realized this was a conversation worth having. The adult perspective doesn't come up when people talk about bullying. And that's why we made this film.”
