Loveline: A New Brunswick Story

St. Stephen native, Michael Mohan takes viewers back to his hometown during the millennium.  It’s a love story brought to life through pictures and sound in Loveline.

The title may sound familiar, but this 6 minute film is less about the famous call-in radio show, and more about small town love.

“Loveline, in a sense, is both a satire and homage to small town radio spin-offs of Dr. Drew’s classic radio program,” Mohan explained. “It was less about the namesake and more about how it trickled to smaller communities, where you could voyeuristically tune in to someone you may know.”

The film was created during Mohan’s Artist in Residency at UNBSJ’s campus radio station 107.3. With funding from the Saint John Community Arts Board and local actors with a passion from the project, Loveline was born.

Loveline (Courtesy of Michael Mohan)
Angel Bustard & Ryan O’Toole (Courtesy of Michael Mohan)

Ryan O’Toole and Angel Bustard star in the production, with their characters expressing their feelings to each other solely through motion. The young, naive lovers are unsure of themselves, and with Angel’s character having ambitions to leave town, she’s confused about the relationship having a future she’s called the radio show to talk about it.

“The actors were asked to draw upon their own personal experiences and were very generous to the project; the film wouldn’t be what it is without them,” Mohan said.  “The narration was provided by the lead actress Angel Bustard, however the choice to remove dialogue between characters is a deliberate one. I wanted to give the viewer an opportunity to explore the characters’ internal psychology.”

Loveline showcases a variety of New Brunswick talent. From Mohan’s directing, the actors including an appearance by Sadie Donahue, and music from Brendan MaGee of Brookside Mall, each cast member makes the production complete.

This Is A Small Town (Courtesy of Michael Mohan)
This Is A Small Town (Courtesy of Michael Mohan)

And this won’t be Mohan’s last piece to showcase stories in New Brunswick. “While working in auditory installations is new to me, I plan to develop more film projects. My work at the moment is centered on telling stories of residents of New Brunswick,” says Mohan.

A special screening will take place in Saint John on Monday, September 12th.  Callahan’s Pub will be showcasing Loveline at 8:15, 9:15 and 10:15 on Monday evening.

For more information you can find Loveline here.