Don’t Miss Carter Ward’s Fantastic Rom-Dram “Step Back, Doors Closing”
3 min read
Now playing virtually at the Catalina Film Festival Through October 8th. Two Weeks Only!
Step Back, Doors Closing is Carter Ward’s love letter to his hometown, Washington DC. It stars two terrific up-and-coming actors, Carmen Berkeley and Reilly Walters and features the geography, culture and real people of the nations capital who defy negative stereotypes with warmth and welcome.
This is an impressive debut film from Arden Pictures, the Los Angeles based production company Writer, Director Carter Ward founded in 2021. The film was an official selection of this year’s Los Angeles’ Dances With Films Festival and had its World Premiere at #DWF in LA in June. This sweet, uplifting “story about being twenty-four, learning to smell the roses, and falling in love” is now virtually screening at The Catalina Film Festival. Catch it while you can, it runs through Tuesday, October 8 at 11:59 PM PDT and you can watch it from anywhere in the world HERE. We loved it!
Trailer
Ward’s romantic drama is a charming universal love story about two young adults who long for an authentic relationship. Ryan (Reilly Walters) is witty, down-to-earth, and newly single for the first time in four years, while Julisa (Carmen Berkeley)has lots of self-imposed pressure and is considering dropping out of grad school. After each of their failed nights out and a chance encounter on the metro, Ryan and Julisa spend the next 24 hours discussing their hopes, dreams, and fears. They initially present curated versions of themselves, but as they slowly reveal more and more their armor chips away and they fall in love.
Carmen Berkeley
Carmen Berkeley has been a recurring guest star on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, she starred in Night of the Iguana with Phylicia Rashad and Dylan McDermott at La Femme Theatre in New York. She also starred in the NY World Premiere production of Alexis Scheer’s Our Dear Dead Drug Lord ** directed by Whitney White. The production earned a NY Times Critics Pick.
Reilly Walters
New York based actor, Reilly Walters recently played a supporting role opposite Lucy Halein in the indie film Which Brings Me to You. He’s appeared as a guest star on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Fox’s Fantasy Island, and in a recurring role on the Starz series Three Women. Reilly recently played a supporting role opposite Lucy Hale in the indie film Which Brings Me to You. He’s appeared as a guest star on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Fox’s Fantasy Island, and in a recurring role on the Starz series Three Women.
Carter Ward
Writer/Director, Carter Ward said that art is an important vehicle for reflection in an increasingly complicated world. He was born in Washington, DC and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland. He graduated from Fordham University with a degree in English Language and Literature, but he discovered his love of film and storytelling while working as an assistant on several short and feature films in New York City. In 2015, Ward moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in filmmaking, having done everything from background acting, to assisting at a top-tier talent agency and working at a prestigious film festival. He founded the production company Arden Pictures In 2021, aiming to produce character-driven films that explore all aspects of American life.
Filmmakers
Step Back, Doors Closing is an Arden Pictures Production | Writer/Director/Producer: Carter Ward; Producer: Kathryn Crabtree, Jane Hollon; Executive Producer: C. Maury Devine; Director of Photography: JWJ Ferguson; Production Designer: Sofia Wong; Editor: Gordon Antell; Costumer Designer: Taylor Gray Burke, Phoenix Steele; Composer: Paloma Estevez; Music Supervisor: Natalie Clark; Casting Director: Matthew Glasner; Cast: Carmen Berkeley, Reilly Walters, Michelle Macedo, Ashley Romans and Mershad Torabi.
*Special thanks to Platform Media Group (PMG)
**Related LA theatre history
Did you see Center Theatre Group’s highly acclaimed Los Angeles production of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord produced with IAMA Theatre Company directed by Lindsay Allbaugh?
