The last time we checked in with West Toledo independent filmmaker Vanessa Leonard was in February of 2020, less than a month before that year’s pandemic-driven, stay-at-home order upended our lives.
She was giddy that her first-ever feature film, A Story Worth Living, was accepted into the annual Golden Gate Film Festival and was being shown at the world-famous TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., aka the former Grauman’s Chinese Theatre near the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
How things have changed.
But before you start thinking this is another one of those depressing pandemic stories, let’s stop and make this clear: It’s quite the opposite. Leonard is flying high on the success of her film, which — well, OK — has a lot to do with depression.
The whole point of making A Story Worth Living, a film Leonard began conceptualizing more than four years ago, was to address the highly sensitive issue of mental illness in an unconventional way — by treating her main character as a real person, not some ghoul.
In the film, Leonard portrays a fictional college student named Allison Foster, someone who has battled depression and anxiety since childhood. Her main character falls in love while trying to wean herself off medication because of an insurance dispute.
“I wanted to make a meaningful film,” Leonard, 33, said. “All of this is truly a blessing and truly an honor.”
She’s referring to a post-Hollywood Walk of Fame odyssey in which A Story Worth Living has won or placed high in several major film festivals.
Perhaps the most significant is the top honor it took from the Up Next Film Festival in Atlanta, a best-of-show award for all feature films entered.
Other honors include Best Feature made under $25,000 and Best Woman Filmmaker awards from the International New York Film Festival; Best Director and Production from the Colorado International Activism Film Festival in Denver; Best Original Feature Screenplay at the Silver State Film Festival in Las Vegas; Best Director, Best Trailer, and Best Poster at the Vesuvius International Film Festival in Italy, and an Award of Excellence at the Depth of Field International Film Festival in Nassau.
It’s also been shown in festivals in Raleigh, N.C., Seattle, Orlando, and the Netherlands, and is scheduled to be shown in both Phoenix and Germany this December.
Her whirlwind success has been pretty overwhelming and, yes — truth be told — there has been a downer because of the pandemic.
She had to delay her film’s premiere in her hometown about a year.
Until now.
A Story Worth Living will be shown on Saturday at the Maumee Indoor Theatre, 601 Conant St., Maumee, and on Nov. 27 at the Imagination Station KeyBank Discovery Theatre, 1 Discovery Way, Toledo. Showtime for both events is 7 p.m. Tickets for each are $10. They can be purchased online through eventbrite.com or in-person from the ticket offices.
“Honestly, things have been so busy I feel like I haven’t been able to bask in and process everything,” Leonard said.
Leonard wrote the script in early 2017 to make good on a New Year’s resolution, and spent most of 2018 in production. About 85 percent of the movie was filmed in the Toledo area, with Columbus and West Virginia serving as backdrops for other scenes.
Her goal is to have the film become a “conversation starter” about mental illness, in hopes more people will begin to treat it like other illnesses, Leonard said.
“If my movie’s able to do that, that’s just an honor,” she said.
A Story Worth Living has special meaning for her because of how mental illness has affected some people she knows. The National Association of Mental Illness, or NAMI, and the Toledo-based Zepf Center support her efforts to combat the stigma. A portion of the sale proceeds are going to Zepf.
“Mental health now more than ever is really important,” Leonard said, agreeing that pandemic has raised more of a national discussion about it. “I feel there’s a mental cloud over everyone. Once trauma sets in, that’s hard to shake. I’m really finding out people just need an outlet.”
When she’s not on the road promoting her film, Leonard is busy at work with her day job as a development specialist for ProMedica Foundations.
Leonard said she’s always considered herself a well-disciplined planner, and admits the pandemic threw her for a bit of a loop herself.
“If anything, COVID has taught me I’m not always in control,” she said.
She said it’s “so exciting to finally be able to share [the film]” with Toledo area residents.
Her mother, Ginny Ferris, who serves as Leonard’s publicist, said the whole family revels in her success and is sharing various roles in helping her pull off the local premieres.
“We are extremely proud of her. It's definitely been an experience for her,” Ferris said.
Planning for the local showings over the next two Saturdays has been “kind of like a wedding” in terms of planning, with family members anxious to see how things turn out.
“It's definitely been a family thing,” Ferris said. “It’s definitely been a blessing.”
The Zepf Center “is proud to partner with Vanessa Leonard and A Story Worth Living to raise awareness about mental illness,” Ursula Barrera-Richards, Zepf Center human resources director, said.
“It’s extremely inspirational that she is able to use her art form to reach so many people and encourage them to talk about mental illness,” Barrera-Richards said. “Stigma keeps many people isolated, but our hope is that A Story Worth Living is an opportunity to break down barriers one viewer at a time.”
First Published November 19, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
