On It’s A Question of Balance, Ruth Copland interviews artists involved with the making of the film Metamorphosis Junior Year, which is having its world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose on March 4th. The full-length feature film has been produced entirely by high school students with mentors from the film industry including main mentor and creator of the project James Franco. Listen to the interview here It’s A Question of Balance – Betsy Franco and Film-Makers (broadcast Feb 18).
The film follows Ovid, an angsty teenage boy trying to make sense of life, love, sexuality, and friends, as he analyzes the world around him. A coming-of-age film, its themes are relevant to all adults. The film is based on the young adult novel by Betsy Franco whom Ruth is pleased to have on the show along with five of the student film-makers. The film is part of Elysium Bandini Studios and is the first philanthropic studio event created. Elysium Bandini brings together the Art Of Elysium charity with James Franco’s Rabbit Bandini production company.
Betsy Franco, who majored in Studio Art at Stanford, is an award-winning author with over eighty books, including picture books, and poetry collections, some beautifully illustrated by previous guest of this show Michael Wertz. Betsy also writes screenplays, plays, and sketch comedies, and compiles anthologies of teen writing. Metamorphosis Junior Year the novel is illustrated by Betsy’s son Tom Franco and read on audio book by her actor sons James Franco and Dave Franco. It is also the basis for a successful play. Betsy is an actor on TV and in film, and is a member of a sketch-comedy troupe called Suburban Squirrel. She is currently polishing the sequel to Metamorphosis—The Art of Love. For more info on the show and to listen to previous shows visit It’s A Question Of Balance
