A Bethany teen has combined his love of writing with his interest in military history, the result being a short film that will premiere on Friday (August 23) at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.
Conceived, written, directed, and produced by recent Crestwood graduate Kayden Carlton, 18, Behind The Lines centres around three Canadian soldiers — one of them a sniper — in Nazi-occupied France following the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings in Normandy. Their mission is to go behind enemy lines to destroy a bunker, allowing troops following to advance.
Scenes for the 35-minute film — a Rice Landekker Films production — were shot at rural Bethany locations area during the summer of 2022.
Just 16 years old at the time, Kayden directed four days of filming spread over a month. A lengthy editing process followed with the music score added earlier this year, at which point Kayden tried to nail down a venue for the premiere.
“I’ve always like writing — I made up stories in my head and sometimes wrote them down,” says Kayden.
“One summer I was pretty bored and I started writing this script. I had this idea watching all these World War Two movies and was like ‘I kind of want to make a movie.’ I had made some short films but with no real script or anything like this. Having the script down, which was the first time I had ever done that, opened the door to ‘Hey, I can actually do a full project with this.'”
As for any specific influences he drew upon for his script and the subsequent shooting of the film, Kayden says “I guess ‘Saving Private Ryan’ would be one.”
“The script is a realistic battle that could happen but is completely fictional. I took inspiration from multiple films I’ve seen, like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and (the miniseries) ‘Band of Brothers’, and from different battles I’ve researched.”
His script in hand, Kayden reached out to friends to fill acting roles. Among them were Lincoln Holbrook, Jake Hanks, and George Knechtel.
“Lincoln’s character is the main one, with George and Jake in back-up lead roles,” says Kayden, noting other friends played smaller parts with limited speaking parts.
“They loved it,” Kayden says of his friends turned actors. “A lot of them have the same passion for history, specifically World War Two history. As soon as I mentioned I was doing this, they went and bought their own uniforms.”
Kayden also began his own search for military apparel and related props.
“Multiple friends had BB guns and pellet guns, and things like a jacket or helmet, so that added to the pile,” he says.
“Then I found an army surplus store in Oshawa. I was able to get different uniforms that weren’t exactly authentic but looked pretty much identical … uniforms and helmets that were rather cheap. A connection through another friend got me to a military collector who had all kinds of uniforms, helmets, and weapons that were actually used in World War Two.”
“Some of the stuff ended up being a little expensive,” Kayden admits.
During the four days of shooting, Kayden says “a bunch of people” helped with makeup and costumes, and drove the actors to the film set locations. His grandmother, he adds, kept everyone well fed.
“I also had one of my grandparents on camera. A lot of people wanted to help film, which was really helpful. We always had two (digital) cameras rolling with multiple takes of each scene. Everybody had a blast, even though it was hot and sweaty — the (military uniform) jackets were all wool.”
“When I yelled ‘Cut,’ they didn’t necessarily stop filming. The actors stopped but they kept the camera rolling. That provided a few scenes I could add to the film where the actors didn’t know they were being filmed. It happened to work out perfectly. There was a lot of stuff I didn’t plan on happening that worked.”
Once Kayden completed the final edit, Knechtel, who also writes music, scored the film.
The Rice Landekker Films tag, says Kayden, is a story in itself.
“One day, as a joke, my dad called me Rice Landekker, making up a Star Wars name for me. I was like ‘Well, I need a film company name — this kind of has a nice ring to it.'”
Noting “very few people” have seen the finished film, Kayden says he’s “pretty happy with it.”
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I’ve watched it over a hundred times, so I’ve seen little things here and there but I’m pretty proud of it. I’m really excited to finally get it out. It has been a long time in the making.”
Come October, Kayden will be in New Zealand, where he will do outreach work for five months with YWAM (Youth With A Mission), a interdenominational Christian mission organization. As for his plans beyond that experience, he says nothing firm is in the works, but isn’t ruling out filmmaking as a potential career.
“It’s definitely something I love to do. If opportunities arise, it’s very possible I’ll pursue that.”
Whether that comes to fruition or not, Kayden says his inaugural experience as a filmmaker has proven to be an eye opener in a good way.
“If you reach out to the people around you, it’s surprising how many people are ready to support you,” he says.
“I had this idea that my parents were super supportive of,” Kayden explains. “Once I had the script, I started reaching out to people … friends who messaged other friends who were like ‘I’ll be a part of this.’ I reached out to guidance counsellors at school and they were like ‘Oh yeah, we’ll post it in the school forums so you can get actors.’ If you take the step of reaching out, it’s surprising how many people will support you.”
As for pitching Behind The Lines for possible future screenings, Kayden says he has already “reached out to different festivals here and there,” including Peterborough’s ReFrame Film Festival that’s held early each year.
Friday’s premiere at Market Hall is at 7:30 p.m., with the doors open at 6:45 p.m. Tickets, including fees, cost $11.98 and can be purchased online at eventbrite.ca/e/993641347017. There will be an after party at 8:30 p.m. following the screening.
