Check out this episode of The Breast Talk Ever podcast featuring Ginger co-director Melissa Boratyn. We are so thankful to LaTonya Davis and her team for all their work on this. Listen now.
Check out this new review of Ginger by FilmGirl Film Festival. Ginger is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, Vudu, and Xumo.
"We put cancer onscreen, and as a person living with it, I’m so proud of what we’ve created.” Thanks to Medium for this great piece, which features one of the last interviews with our amazing co-director and writer Melissa Beck-Boratyn.
If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch or buy #GingerTheMovie now! Check it out.
Our co-director, Jimmy Boratyn, writes for the first time about what it was like to lose his wife, our beloved Melissa Beck-Boratyn, after her long battle with breast cancer. Read his post here.
We are extremely thankful to Loyola University Chicago’s School of Communication for writing this great tribute to our dear co-director, Melissa Boratyn, who was a proud Loyola alum.
Ginger is now available to stream on Tubi! Simply create a free Tubi account and you can watch Ginger in its entirety. Enjoy!
We have some very difficult news to share. Melissa Boratyn, the inspiration behind and the creator of #GingerTheMovie, passed away over the weekend. Melissa battled breast cancer for almost a decade. During the last four years, she balanced her metastatic diagnosis with living a truly extraordinary life—making incredible art and enjoying wonderful times with her family and friends. She will live on forever, not only through her film legacy and her work within the breast cancer community, but in the hearts of the many, many people who were blessed to know and love her. We are absolutely heartbroken, and we appreciate your support during this time. More information about ways to celebrate Melissa’s life and updates on how we will continue moving #TeamGinger and all its related work forward are still to come.
Susan Gordon
Susan Gordon plays the title role in Ginger. Find out how she became involved with the project, what she did to prepare to play a character dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis, and more.
Q. What drew you to the role of Ginger and to this film in general?
A. It’s actually a funny story. I worked at the same Whole Foods where Ginger producer Johnny Woj used to work at. Our mutual friend, Mandy, told me he needed readers for the Ginger auditions. I messaged him on Facebook asking to be a reader, and then he said, “No, we’d love for you to come and audition.” So I quickly prepped at the last minute while I was at work. I popped in, auditioned, and by callbacks I was told I was cast as Ginger.
Q. Ginger goes through an incredibly difficult time during this movie when she receives a breast cancer diagnosis. Did you do any research to prepare for tackling this subject matter on screen? What experiences did you draw from?
A. I did. I spoke with Melissa [Boratyn] and listened to her experience. I watched YouTube videos and films, read blogs, and spoke with my mom, who was also diagnosed with breast cancer years before. I think Ginger’s biggest internal conflict after her diagnosis was her anxiety surrounding death and dying. I knew the seriousness of this fear and reality, and understood I was representing a demographic whose stories needed to be heard and told with respect. So all in all, my biggest preparation was listening, listening, listening.
Q. You shaved your head for this role, and that moment is captured in the film. What was that experience like for you?
A. Extremely difficult. I was so nervous about it. I cried on the Red Line to a stranger because I was afraid I wouldn’t perform the scene correctly. Fortunately, they were nice, took my number, and on the day of the head-shave scene, they sent me a supportive text of encouragement. As for the preparation, I spent the day before in my room alone, touching my hair and becoming deeply connected with it. I knew I needed to make it a part of my identity, because it was for Ginger. I had to make it a friend I didn’t want to lose. I believe that came through in my performance.
Q. Do you have a favorite scene in the film? What is it and why?
A. My favorite scene in the film is the boob-shopping scene. It’s just fun and definitely makes light of something that is very, very scary. Also, best friends are the best and so is my co-star, Meghan Flood! Getting to perform with her is sooo easy and sooo fun! Cast her, people!
Q. What do you think happened to Ginger after the movie?
A. I believe she continued to grow and gain love for herself. I think she continued to empower people with her experience, and that she learned more coping tools to work through the tough and dark parts of cancer. Of course, she made it funny, too!
Q. Tell us about any current or future acting projects you're working on.
A. I just finished shooting an independent feature called Lucky that I produced and starred in. It focuses on substance abuse, mental health, and toxic relationships. Also, I’m currently working on my own independent pilot for a show called Sweet Feenies, a kids show for adults that tackles the growing pains and darker realities of modern life through its strange characters and wacky world. We are currently developing its Kickstarter launch, which will definitely happen after everything with COVID-19 has settled and we've all figured out our new normal!
We are thrilled to announce that Ginger is now available On Demand! Please watch the film and consider writing a review on IMdB. Thanks so much for your continued support.
Everyone always asks about the adorable pup who played Ben’s dog, Tuggs, in Ginger. That dog is actually named Tuggs in real life, and he is excited to share some info about himself with his adoring fans.
Q. What personal experiences did you build on for this important movie role?
A. I always listen pretty good and I don’t bark at my dad, so on set I really tried to listen and not bark at my dad, and…well, that’s about it.
Q. Many people may not know that the actor who played Ben is your real-life doggie daddy. How did you strike a balance between your professional and working relationships?
A. Dad gave me treats to be a good boy ‘cause I really like treats! Then we walked and walked all day on set and my poor little feet got sore, but everyone said I was such a good boy and THEN I got to do a snooze and then I went home to my mom and got all the cuddles! My mom gives the BEST cuddles. Then I did another snooze.
Q. What was your favorite part about working on this film?
A. Doing my close-up shots! They got my good fluffy side.
Q. What things do you like to do when you aren't hanging around a movie set?
A. Zoomies in the backyard, snoozing on my mom’s feet when she is making human food, and catching all the balls my mom and dad throw in the backyard. They make the balls FLY! It’s so cool. I love all the playtimes.
Q. Who is your role model?
A. Sorry, no more questions. I gotta go take another snooze now.
Meghan Flood
Meghan Flood plays Ginger’s best friend, Bree, in the film. Learn more about Meghan’s experience on set, her upcoming projects, and more.
Q. What sparked your interest in acting, and what was your very first role?
A. I think it all stems from my parents. They're both very funny, always making people laugh, and I think I applied comedy to my everyday life from a very young age because of them. As far back as I can remember, they would tell me that I didn't need to try and be anyone but myself, and I took that advice and ran with it. I quickly realized that people were entertained by my weird, eccentric personality, and became obsessed with entertaining people in any capacity I could manage. Literally anything I could do to get attention, I would do it—I even went as far as running around squawking like a chicken at recess in elementary school. I was very popular because of it! Wasn't made fun of at all! My first role was in the second-grade production of The Pecan Pie Man (which is the same story as The Gingerbread Man, but with a Texas twist on it), and I was cast as the little old lady who bakes him. Where's my Oscar for that performance? We're still in talks with the Academy.
Q. What attracted you to the role of Bree and to the film Ginger?
A. I saw the listing for Ginger on TheatreInChicago.com, read Bree's breakdown, and literally said out loud, “Oh... she's cool as hell.” I had been living in Chicago for less than a year at that point, looking for any work I could get, but I had a feeling in my gut that Bree and I were destined to be. A dry sense of humor, doesn't like to work out, and a very dedicated and loving friend to boot? I love that Bree came my way. She is one hell of a gal.
Q. What's your favorite scene in the film?
A. It's a toss-up between “Good Boob Hunting” on the beach, and the fancy gelato fight. The boob hunting scene may have been the hottest and sweatiest day we had on set, but man, I had so much fun filming that scene. We obviously had our set lines, but co-directors Melissa and Jimmy gave us a lot of freedom to improvise, and it became what I think is the most honest scene between Ginger and Bree. And in the fancy gelato fight, it was incredibly fun for me to be able to go f***ing nuts. I honestly wish I went more nuts. There's a moment where I start wiping my lips ferociously in my blow up, and it's because I was literally slobbering out of my mouth. You can't really tell, but my hands were.... soaked in my spit, haha!
Q. Bree's character does improv in the film. Are you also an improver yourself?
A. The Ball Busters! What a team. So, I did some improv when I first moved to Chicago almost five years ago, but I mostly write and perform sketch now. I've done a couple improv shows in the last few months, but that's about it!
Q. What are some recent or future projects you can tell us about?
A. You can usually catch me performing with The Storefront in their monthly sketch show, The Storefront Gets Sketchy, because I love them to bits and pieces and will perform with them any time they ask me to come back. My sketch duo, Fat and Funny (with Raechel Karas), had a four-week run of our original show, Fat to the Future, at Second City last July, so that was very, very cool. And I will be starring in a sketch I wrote called Graduation, which will be filmed this summer. So keep your eyes peeled for that! It's gonna be…bloody. Fake bloody, of course!
Learn more about Johnny Woj, one of the talented producers who helped make Ginger possible!
Q. How did you become involved with Ginger?
A. It was at the first table read. I went to high school with Jimmy Boratyn, one of the co-directors. He needed actors for a reading and I volunteered to help. I brought my roommate, a former actress, and we couldn't stop talking about the script that night. I was newer to film production at the time, but I loved the script and knew I wanted to help. I offered my services as an associate producer, essentially someone to help with production but in a way that respected my newness. In a month, Jimmy realized that I had a lot of on-set experience on indie films and did have some know-how, so I signed on as Ginger's third producer behind Jimmy and Ryan Grundtisch.
Q. A film producer wears many hats. What were some of your primary responsibilities?
A. My main jobs were as one of the film's fundraisers, a co-writer, the casting director, the production designer, the scheduler, and manager of the set, the last two making me sort of the film's unit production manager or UPM. Fundraising involved setting up our Indiegogo page, writing and recording a sample of our work with the team, and e-mailing so many people for money. We threw some events to raise funds, I coordinated with improv troupes for a comedy night, and so much more.
Working as a co-writer/producer meant I helped re-write the script to make things more shootable. As the casting director, I posted character breakdowns, chose scenes for actors to audition with, ran first-round auditions, and coordinated with more than 400 actors who were interested in being in our film! I had an insanely detailed Excel breakdown of everyone and did not sleep during casting.
As the film's production designer, I helped scout locations, bounced ideas off our directors and producers, talked about design, but mostly worked with the budget and ran to Target at least twice a week during production (thank you Target!). I'd dress locations with my wonderful art director, Thirza Pearl, and together we transformed her space into Ginger's apartment.
As the UPM, I scheduled the entire film and managed the day-to-day flow of the set, making sure we had all our props, wardrobe, film gear, and that everyone knew where to go, etc. I wore too many hats, and somehow the Ginger team put up with my mania as I slept less and less and less during production. I remain grateful to Ryan, Jimmy, and Mel for letting me do production design so I had a chance to have a creative outlet during the film's pre-production and production.
Q. Co-director Melissa Boratyn learned of her metastatic breast cancer diagnosis right as the film was set to begin filming. How did that experience affect production?
A. Melissa was diagnosed between our first round of auditions and callbacks. Our script was still in re-writes, our schedule was in flux, and we were beginning to find crew. I remember calling Melissa and Jimmy and asking pointedly, “Do you still want to do this? If you do, I'm 100% in. If you want to wait and do it later, I'll be there." And Mel was so adamant that given the severity of her diagnosis, now was the BEST time to do this. So I pulled some almost all-nighters, finished the scenes that weren't done just so the callbacks had scenes to use, and organized the callback schedule.
Mel's diagnosis for sure put a damper on the whole project and made all of us involved more aware of what living with cancer is like and actually helped ground the film. No longer were we living in happy fantasy land. We HAD to make this film, and we had to make it right. We needed to tell her story and support her changes of the story: her diagnosis for sure made the script a bit darker. During production, Mel never missed a day on set and kept fighting through all the challenges of our schedule and location limitations to make the best movie we could. Jimmy really stepped up as her co-director and husband/emotional support system, and together they really are unstoppable.
Q. What was one of your most memorable moments on set?
A. Ha ha ha, oh man. One early morning, I think on a Sunday, I got a call from Ryan that a location he'd helped us secure had backed out last minute. We were filming THAT DAY at THAT LOCATION and scrambled to find something that might work near where our actress was already driving to. Somehow through a friend of our caterer, we found an option and the whole team worked their butts off to help me dress the space to make it work. It was ridiculous that it worked and of course ended up being just a few clips in the final edit, but I'll never forget the whole Ginger crew banding together to get that set ready to shoot.
Q. Any funny behind-the-scenes Ginger stories to share?
A. Another fun evening on set happened at 2:30 a.m., when we had to move to our bar set. The bar would only allow us to shoot when it was closed. Instead of changing the story so the bar scene took place during the day (which would've been WAY easier), we shot in the early morning. Our directors and director of photography worked to shoot towards the dark windows first, and then our location representative and I covered the bar's big windows with black trash bags as the sun started to rise so we could finish shooting. It was a trick I’d learned prior, but had never used in that much of a dire way. We got all the coverage we needed and wrapped at the start of a beautiful Chicago summer day.
Q. Tell us about some of your current/future projects.
A. 2019 saw me working on four different features. I first assistant-directed my first indie feature in Barrington, IL, called The Grasshopper. It was a great script that involved very expensive locations and a small, hearty Chicago indie crew. Next, I flew out to Cyprus to run the basecamp for a film, Jiu Jitsu, featuring Nicolas Cage in what can only be described as very much a B-movie. I then returned to Chicago and ran the basecamp for Candyman, written by Jordan Peele and produced by his production team. And I just wrapped The Trial of The Chicago 7, a feature starring Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baren Cohen, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and Frank Langella, directed by Aaron Sorkin, which filmed in both Chicago and New Jersey. I helped run the actors as a first-team production assistant in Chicago and as one of the cast assistants in New Jersey. I'd like to try my hand at making a short, and hopefully 2020 will be the year I finally make that happen!
Debra Rodkin
Get to know a bit about the many people who made Ginger possible! Debra Rodkin, who played Ginger’s mother, Deborah, in the film, shares insights about her role, memories from filming, and more.
Q. What drew you to this film and to the character of Deborah?
A. I don’t do a lot of film; I'm mainly a stage actor. My mother survived breast cancer but my best friend did not, so the subject matter of Ginger really spoke to me and the character sounded intriguing. The directors described the character to me as “Hurricane Deborah,” which aligned well with my personality.
Q. Deborah struggles with her daughter’s cancer diagnosis. How does she balance her concern with trying to give her adult daughter some space?
A. I think the difficulty is that even though Ginger sees herself as an independent adult, she behaves very irresponsibly and now is thrust unprepared into a life-changing moment. Ginger really grows up in this movie, which is nice to see. Moms always think they know best (and often do), and my character may seem very overbearing in the movie, but you can tell that it all comes from a place of love and it’s not all about Deborah being right. She’s just frustrated she can’t make it all better.
Q. What is your favorite memory of working on the Ginger set?
A. Something we played around with during the hospital scene after Ginger's panic attack was my character blasting through and ripping open everyone’s curtain yelling, “Ginger, where are you?!” and invading everyone’s space. We weren’t able to include it because we didn’t film that portion in a real hospital, but it was really funny. I also love the scenes with Deborah and Ginger sitting and talking on the couch. They let me bring some improv into those scenes, which was fun.
Also, this isn’t a favorite memory, but one that will always stand out to me: during callbacks for Ginger, we discovered that co-director Melissa Boratyn’s breast cancer had returned and was metastatic. Frankly, I can’t fathom her bravery and how she was always on set and not letting her diagnosis take over her life. I stand in awe of how she embraces and lives her life and of her husband Jimmy who supports her so beautifully.
Q. What has been your favorite role to date?
A. Plays are very odd. Sometimes a role is wonderful (and that’s always ideal), but the experience is more about being part of a wonderful cast and production. A local playwright, Tommy Lee Johnston, wrote a play called Geezers that I was lucky enough to be a part of, and that show really stands out to me. It really increased my awareness of how we need to engage more with the older members of society and appreciate their stories and experiences.
Check out this inspiring interview with Ginger co-director Melissa Boratyn in Close-up Culture.
Thanks to Chicago Film Scene for writing a great article on “Ginger!” Check it out.
We are thrilled to announce that Ginger is now part of the Cow Lamp Films portfolio. This is an exciting partnership for us, and we look forward to sharing information about distribution very soon.
Our festival list keeps growing! Very excited to announce that Ginger is an official selection at the Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF). More info and screening date coming soon.
We're honored to be an official selection at the 25th anniversary of the San Antonio Film Festival (SAFILM)! Texas, we’re heading back your way very soon! Dates to follow when available.
Happy to announce that Ginger is headed to the Windy City International Film Festival. The film will screen Saturday, July 20, at 1 p.m. Get your tickets now!