It took incredible tenacity and dedication to turn Lance Oppenheim’s passion for filmmaking into a career.
A graduate from Pine Crest’s Class of 2014, getting his name and work in front of The New York Times and producer Darren Aronofsky, who would eventually produce his first feature-length film, took perseverance.
“It’s one thing to make a film, but a whole other hurdle to get someone to see it,” said Lance. “I devised all sorts of techniques to try and capture people’s attention. I would cold email Vimeo staff-pick curators and post my films on forums and message boards. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn’t. But after continuing to create and being just as persistent sharing the content I was making, I formed a relationship with The New York Times’ Op-Docs, who would later distribute three of my sister Mel and my short films.”
Lance’s sister, Melissa (Oppenheim) Lano ’08 started collaborating with him after Upper School and has served as a producer on many of Lance’s short films.
“Mel has always given me notes on my work,” said Lance. “She has a story-driven brain, and our tastes in films are very different. Mel has always been involved in shaping the stories of my films and is a talented painter.”
“When I’m not working, I’m always painting or creating things for myself and for clients, including Lance,” Melissa said.
Melissa balances her creative work with her full time job as the Global Head of Content Development for Facebook and Instagram. There, she leads a team of content strategists that manage the company’s business marketing channels, such as @InstagramforBusiness.
Lance was always an avid movie buff and credits some of his technical skill to his time in the Upper School with former teacher Dave Burgess.
“I am a better filmmaker today because of Pine Crest,” he said. “I learned how to persuade people to join me on a project by being collaborative and listening. Through my experience with PCTV and Mr. Burgess, I learned how to be around equipment and met friends to help with my short film projects.”
After graduating from Pine Crest, Lance was accepted to Harvard University, however he decided to take a year off before starting his degree to live and work in Los Angeles, California.
“In L.A.,” Lance said, “I worked on different movies, my own movies, and with different artists to understand what filmmaking looked like and how I could make it my profession. It was a really formative time.”
Lance graduated from Harvard’s Visual and Environmental Studies program in 2019 and dove head first into making his first feature length film, Some Kind of Heaven.
Some Kind Of Heaven tells the deeply personal tales of selected residents of The Villages, a retirement community in central Florida.
“It dawned on me to make a film about this place after making The Happiest Guy in the World, a short film about a senior citizen who lived aboard cruise ships for years,” said Lance. “I was fascinated by the distinctly American impulse to escape to a Truman Show-like bubble resembling what our cities used to look like. I wanted to explore this phenomenon as an homage to some of my favorite films like Edward Scissorhands. To me, the desire to escape from the problems in our communities by moving to a place like The Villages is leading to the disintegration of the nuclear family that used to include grandparents.”
When he began filming the project, he lived nomadically with Melissa and a small crew at The Villages.
As a producer on Some Kind of Heaven, Melissa was responsible for budgets, accounting, production schedule, payroll, getting releases signed and much more — all while working full time.
“It is surreal to see where the film is now,” Melissa said. “There were a lot of bumps in the road, and it wasn’t an easy journey. I work with creative people every day, and there is no one as talented as Lance. I always cherish the opportunity to work with my brother, and our relationship works because we are honest with each other. Sometimes, we butt heads but the work is always better for it in the end.”
Some Kind of Heaven was a hit at The 2020 Sundance Film festival. Lance was a 2019 Sundance Ignite Fellow and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film 2019.” The film was purchased for distribution by Magnolia Pictures in 2020, hitting theaters on January 8, 2021.
Lance is currently working on two new film projects, while Melissa is collaborating with their sister Wendi Oppenheim ’11 on a children’s book series entitled, “Oh My Millie,” which follows the adventures of their beloved family dog. The illustrations for the series are all hand drawn by Melissa.
As the two continue their creative pursuits, Lance offers this advice to the Class of 2021, “If you are pursuing a creative career and want to share your projects with people you admire, reach out. It’s so easy, costs nothing, and amazing things can happen.” This approach led to Lance’s partnership with producer Darren Aronofsky. “It took me five years of emailing Darren to finally get through to someone in his company. Make your own opportunities. If you're taking a gap year, ask to apprentice. Successful people are always looking for smart kids who are hungry and motivated.”
Some Kind of Heaven is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube, and Hulu.
