Discover
Meet our team at events, through the blog & on this page!
A little bit about us…
We’re a team: a family of creatives making an independent feature film.
Sarah Arlen came up with the idea for Twice way back in 2014, and asked her long-time friend and collaborator, Greg Emetaz, to help her get the movie off the ground. Sarah started writing, and when she handed the first draft of Twice to Greg, the ending made his eyebrows raise nearly to his hairline. “Everyone writes love letters to each other all over the world, Sarah?!?”
Yep. Twice is about figuring out how to make a movie that sparks a fun international movement to spread more love with simple daily actions. We’re the people who help you feel inspired to read a letter, write a letter and join the revolution.
OUR STORY
What’s the story in “Twice” (The Plot)?
Twice is a polyamorous love story exploring how a revolutionary family is made. Woman and Man become lovers, break up and finally create an authentic, non-monogamous life together.
Woman is an American in Paris who loves more than one person at once; at the start of the story, she’s honest with her lovers, but hides her polyamory from the outside world until she learns to come out. Man is an English expat who begins as a womaniser, lying to all the ladies in his life until he falls apart, faces his addictions and rebuilds his life around truth.
When she slogs through devastating heartache, Woman faces her greatest fears, finds a new way to express herself and comes out of the closet on a massive scale. This rebirth begins with her writing love letters to strangers and stashing them all over the world. And as Man faces his troubled past and the consequences of his actions, he realises that he profoundly loves Woman and wants a second shot at being her partner. In order to earn this chance, he’ll search his soul and come up with an idea of building her something extraordinary.
Entirely told in voice-over from inside the two lead characters’ minds, the film shows how the love story you tell yourself is the love story you live. Twice redefines True Love as loving while being true to all of yourself and honest with everyone. At heart, it’s a tale about second chances, actively loving, coming out and the power of our inner story to change the world.
What’s the story of “Twice” (The Making-Of)?
What do you do with heartbreak? Sarah Arlen made a film out of it. As a polyamorous woman who lost a lover, she wanted to explore how we can heal from being broken-hearted, and also what it’s like to be the heartbreaker. A recovery story experienced from both points of view, at first Sarah thought that Twice would be a short film, but as she started to write the script, she realised it would become her first full-length feature.
Greg Emetaz has been collaborating and best-friending with Sarah for almost two decades despite the distance between them (Sarah lives in Paris, Greg lives in New York). The two agreed to make a part of Twice during the three weeks Greg was coming to Paris for Thanksgiving of 2014. They had no budget, but did have a 4K camera and access to professional actors and free locations, so they shot what is now known as Phase One of Twice.
After capturing great footage in Phase One, Sarah mounted a Kickstarter campaign that succeeded in raising the bare minimum needed to finish shooting the movie, including filming in France, Spain, England, The Netherlands, The United States and Iceland! Half-way through filming, an independent anonymous investor stepped forward and, having been convinced of Twice’s merit with the Kickstarter campaign, agreed to support the film to the finish line. The project remains an independent ultra-low budget film, and is currently in post-production with its completion date expected to be January 2017.
You can always start again, while you can never live the same moment twice.
OUR TEAM
Who’s making this awesome movie?
Love is everything to Sarah. She adventures through life looking for practical ways to help people feel more loved and loving. One of the ways she does this is by creating content with her production company, Polyamorous Productions, the love-filled LLC that produced Twice.
Originally trained as an actor with a BFA from UC Berkeley (Go Bears!), Sarah got even nerdier by earning her Master’s Degree in Filmmaking from EICAR, The International Film School of Paris (Go Frenchies!). After throwing her graduation cap up in the air again, Sarah won some awards for writing screenplays that have yet to be produced. It was then that she knew she not only wanted to be the mama of a human baby, but also of project babies. She then took master classes for producing in London to prep for birthing movies. Since then, Sarah and Greg have teamed up numerous time to make award-winning short films, all the while dreaming of making feature films.
Then one day, Sarah’s heart got dashed apart, and that heartbreak pushed her to make a feature with the resources her film family already had. Thus, Twice was born. Sarah plans on making more movies, writing books, helping fellow artists and galvanising all us humans to explore how we can expand and enrich our love for each other.
Apocalypse is everything to Greg. He blasts through life exploring how people survive disasters, whether those disasters are on a giant world scale or are individual heartbreaks. One of the ways he does this is with his production company, MINORapocalypse, the associate-producer of Twice.
Originally trained as an architect and lighting designer with a BFA from UC Berkeley (Go Bears!), Greg got even nerdier by earning his Master’s Degree in Lighting Design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (Go Bobcats!). After throwing his graduation cap up in the air again, Greg founded his production company by making films and videos, including projections for the world’s top opera, dance and theater companies, and content for international arts organisations and corporate clients. Since then, Sarah and Greg have teamed up numerous time to make award-winning short films, all the while plotting the making of their own and their collaborators’ projects.
When Sarah’s heart got dashed apart, Greg hugged and encouraged her to make a feature with the resources of their film family. Thus, Twice asked Greg to become both its cinematographer and co-producer. After Twice, Greg wrote, directed and produced the feature film, Camp Wedding, which will be completed in 2017. He continues to make epic apocalyptic projects.
Molly Koch – Editor
Miss Molly started out on Twice as an assistant editor, but it quickly became clear during post-production that she understood the unique language of the film, which lead to her becoming the project’s lead editor. This is the first feature film where Molly’s been editor boss, having assisted on numerous film, television and publicity projects in Los Angeles, as well as short content she created for non-profits and the short films she’s made as an auteur. Molly uses the internet and the occasional international flight to work on Twice from her home base in Hollywood.
Anthony Porter – Composer
Sarah found Anthony through Greg when he told her there was a composer whose music would perfectly fit her filmmaking style. Mr. Porter’s gorgeous compositions have accompanied Sarah’s short projects before, and have been performed in concert as well as on soundtracks, along with his piano playing skills. Anthony is also an accomplished graphic designer, and lives in a gorgeous Bay Area house that Sarah admires more than any decor magazine. Twice is Anthony’s first feature-length soundtrack which calls for twice (!) the amount of music normally made for a feature.
OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS
Sarah Arlen – “Woman”
WOMAN: She’s always known she was polyamorous, but hasn’t always felt comfortable telling people that, especially as a foreigner in Paris. Woman is a writer by trade, cares deeply about words & realises during the breakup that not letting herself fully use her words to express who she is cripples her. Her biggest flaw lives inside the fear of repeating a horrific decision her father made…
SARAH ARLEN originally started out as an actor, having trained in both classical and musical theatre. She moved toward producing movies she could perform in when it dawned on her that she wanted to change the acting process from the inside out by treating performers as true collaborators on a calm set. In future, Sarah would love to keep acting in her own projects as well as expand in other creators’ passion projects. For more about Sarah Arlen, click here.
Phillip Schurer – “Man”
MAN: He’s magnetic, charming & has always been a dishonest womaniser, but has never, until the breakup, asked himself why. Man is an architect, a builder at heart, but also someone who has become the designer of abstract ideas instead of the dude who makes things with his hands. And he wants to make things. He’s secretly hiding an open emotional wound from the world that he finally must face…
PHILLIP SCHURER was cast in the first short film Sarah Arlen ever made! He’s been a professional actor for nearly two decades, having shared the screen with fellow actors like Pierce Brosnan, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. Phillip brings complete believability and great sensitivity to the role of Man, as well as strength and humor, all in a way he’s never shown on screen before. For more about Phillip Schurer, please click here.
Vincent Vermignon – “Long-Distance Lover”
LONG-DISTANCE LOVER: Living in London, “LDL” runs a successful business & is a proud leader of the city’s polyamorous community, but misses spending daily time with Woman, who used to live with him before she moved to Paris. Watching her heartbreak from afar triggers his regret about not being by her side more often, causing him to question the way they’ve arranged their lives…
VINCENT VERMIGNON met Sarah for the first time auditioning for Twice & she’s eternally grateful she found him! After only two years in the acting world, Vincent has appeared in a lead role for two seasons of a major French television series (called Cut), making a name for himself quickly. His portrayal of LDL is full of pathos, generosity & grounded emotion. For more about Vincent Vermignon, please click here.
Justyna Kelley – “Golden Girl”
GOLDEN GIRL: Gorgeous Golden Girl is seen by Man as the “perfect woman,” with her long blond hair, fabulous figure & sparkling smile. When she asks him to choose only her & be monogamous, he wants to please this seemingly flawless creature. To Woman, Golden Girl starts as a rival who ends up teaching them both the meaning of compersion…
JUSTYNA KELLEY is both an actress & a singer/songwriter. After living in Los Angeles for a few years, she moved to Paris with a record deal and is currently working on her third album. Justyna brings classic Hollywood bombshell looks to her role, but more importantly conveys her intelligence, sweetness & a complexity of character that makes her role truly three-dimensional. For more about Justyna Kelley, please click here.
Patrick Dross – “Husband”
HUSBAND: Married to Woman for over a decade, Husband identifies as monogamous, not polyamorous. The couple share a strong bond & lovingly co-parent their child, but as he watches Woman get her heart smashed apart by Man, Husband’s feelings about her being polyamorous are truly tested for the first time in their long & stable partnership…
PATRICK DROSS was in the second short film Sarah Arlen ever made! Having worked for over twenty years as an actor in film and on television, Patrick anchors the story of Twice with his portrayal of Husband in a subtle, poignant way that beautifully shows how a monogamous character functions in the polyamorous universe. For more about Patrick Dross, please click here.
Sydney Katz – “Sister”
SISTER: Sister is the only surviving biological family members left alive in Woman’s life. Sister didn’t take well to Woman’s declaration about her being polyamorous & has quite an opposite view of love & sex. This disapproval caused a severe distance to form between the siblings, a problem that will be need to be erased when the two go through crisis…
SYDNEY KATZ studied acting at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and went on to work in theatre and the production side of film before entering a filmmaking Master’s Degree program in Paris at EICAR, the International Film School of Paris. She’s a talented performer, photographer, editor and writer, and in real life is like a sister to Sarah Arlen (without the fighting).
Soren Riehl – “Son”
SON: Little six-year-old Son loves Mama (Woman), Papa (Husband) & he also loves the other men who he knows love and are loved by his mom. When Mama’s feelings get hurt & he doesn’t get to see his good friend Man anymore, he helps Mama not only feel better, but triggers a memory in her that forces her to face her greatest fear. And that leads to Son getting to hang out with his buddy, Man, again…
SOREN RIEHL is Sarah’s real-life son and agreed to be in the film because he loves seeing what Mama does for work, and also because he wants to be like E.T., Darth Vader & Kylo Ren. This is his first film, and since he enjoyed himself, he’s decided to continue acting and try his hand at directing next. Sometimes he looks into the camera; we cut those bits out. Soren is an expressive soul and plays a pivotal part in the plot while having fun with Uncle Greg (Emetaz) & his fellow actor buddies Phil (Schurer), Bouly (Patrick Dross) & the rest of the Twice gang.
OUR ENSEMBLE
The film’s universe is built on the richness of the story’s supporting characters…
"Watching the family dynamic play out, the movie is more than just about this relationship in a bubble, it also explores how that one relationship affects all the people around that relationship. Twice gave me hope that my idea of a poly family can still happen. For anyone that is thinking about non-monogamy this is a great movie to show that there is work that needs to be done to have a successful non-monogamous relationship but that the work is worth the effort."
"Two thumbs up from my wife and myself. I really liked that the different viewpoints in the relationship were represented and given voice. And more importantly not sugar-coated."
"TWICE presents a viewpoint not often seen in film: that of honest relationships and what life might look like if everyone was true to themselves. When the movie ended, I felt full of hope and love. I was full of gratitude for the beauty all around us in the world. I felt this incredible commonality with the rest of humankind, thinking about how most of us just want the same thing—to love and be loved. My favorite part of TWICE was the role-modeling showing good communication in polyamorous relationships, and showing clearly that these conversations happen despite how scary and vulnerable they can be. The film gave me a renewed sense of faith that people really can bring their whole, authentic selves to the table and build a life that makes them happy... even if it looks different from other people’s lives. TWICE is the most authentic and human love story that I’ve ever witnessed."
"I must admit, the movie was not at all what I expected. For starters I don't like films with voiceovers, generally, and this one had voiceovers all the way through. The thing is though... it worked. It was by turns beautifully and brutally honest, sometimes both. I felt the pain and the joy of the characters. None of it was easy or simple, all of it was human and recognizable. I don't think that'd have been possible without the constant personal voices of the characters. It made me think back on some of the relationships I've had, and rethink them with a little more in the way of empathy - not just for my former partners, but also for my former self. When a film gives you insight like that it's proof of it having true humanity."
"SO. MANY. EMOTIONS. My girl friends and I cried the whole way through! We've all experienced at least some of that, and between all of us we had experienced the entire movie. Never before has a movie so closely told the story of my life. Congratulations on this artistic achievement! We are so proud of you and so happy to experience what you've created for the world."
"Watching TWICE was a very emotional experience. Some scenes of the movie look like they were taken from my own life - upon switching genders. Your movie touched me. Thank you."
"TWICE opens the doors to a world that so many people haven't even considered or even heard of, where they can live their lives without compromising themselves or their loves, however that looks to them. At the end of the film, it was so exciting to see so many people together, without jealousy, hate, drama and all the things that come from a "traditional" relationship. I loved seeing how two friends could transition into a more loving, deeper relationship, without borders. TWICE reminded me to step into my courage to live my own truth and love openly and honestly."
"It's rare for a movie to draw me in to the raw emotions of one, let alone multiple characters - TWICE is such a film. While the film may have ended, the characters were so real that they continue to live on day by day loving, crying, healing...LIVING. I watched Twice with both my loves and it inspired so much conversation and healing in our relationships! Whether you are polyamorous or monogamous or anywhere on any relationship spectrum, TWICE brings real, unbridled, raw emotion... We all experience many emotions during our journey through life - love binds them all together. TWICE is a story of love."
"The film’s a story about love. Real love, self-defined love, actionable love. TWICE leaves you empowered to take the leap of faith required by love but to do so from your own foundation of truth. One of my favorite parts of the film is the multi-faceted depiction of the main character - Love. Vulnerable, blissful, heart-wrenching, and pure are the many personas on display. Simple to complex, all the stages of love are captured so picturesquely engendering you to fall for Love. See TWICE to remember what love is and to learn what it could be!"
Second-Chance Lover
Friend-Metamour
Friend-Lover
Woman's Bestie
Woman's Bestie
Beautiful Woman
Beautiful Woman
Beautiful Woman
Beautiful Woman
Husband's Boss
Woman's Therapist
Man's Therapist
Beautiful Lover
Guitar Lover
Beautiful Woman
Beautiful Woman
Golden Girl's Guy
Beautiful Lover
A FULL CREDITS LIST IS COMING SOON
ARTISTIC VISION
TWICE THEMES = second chances + courageous actions + coming out + true love + polyamory awareness + authentic imperfection
SOUND: The entire film is told in voice-over. Yep, you read that right. Because the story exists inside the memories of Woman and Man, you’ll hear their inner thoughts while not hearing any on-screen dialogue, and without (much) on-screen sound. Meaning, for example, that when someone’s walking, you won’t hear their footsteps. One thing Twice will have is more musical score than the average film, so you could consider the soundtrack to be a third voice alongside Woman’s American accent & Man’s British tones.
EMOTION: Sarah, as the director, set up each scene as an improvised exploration. The actors had the freedom to play around until they found true feelings, until it wasn’t quite acting anymore. The emotions in this film cover a huge spectrum while never taking the story too seriously. Because this film is told as memory, there’s hindsight humour; after all, it’s easier to see the funny side of almost anything in retrospect. That’s the way life is, hilarity next to sadness next to joy next to gassiness next to sexiness back to hilarity again, right?
COLOR: Sarah is OBSESSED with color (Greg can vouch for that)! To her, color tells a strong immediate story about how characters feel without them having to say a word. And when color goes away after its brightest hues have been in front of your eyes for a while, it makes a huge impact on how you feel as an audience. We play with that color theory a lot in Twice and stretch the freedom of being inside people’s minds to its chromatic limits.
TIME & FOCUS: This film plays a lot with time and focus because it takes place not in the present moment, but in memory. A huge chunk of the film is in slow-motion (which our camera captures natively in beautiful quality). Time ramps up & down as focus shifts and is often very shallow (not enough to make you car sick, we promise), but just enough to give you the sensation that time and clarity exist only in our minds. Twice plays with the idea that maybe memory is time travel.
INTRO TO POLYAMORY
What the what is polyamory?
You may not have ever heard the words “polyamory” or “polyamorous” before, and if not, no sweat! They’re vocab that describe people who love more than one person at once while being honest with everyone. The honesty part is essential: it ain’t polyamory without honesty.
Whether you’re polyamorous or not, we’re glad you’re here. Polyamorous people are, well, people; humans who wanna be understood and loved by our friends and families for all that we are. The most important message Twice relays is the redefinition of True Love as loving while being true to all of yourself and honest with everyone.
The characters in Twice exist to tell a story about what polyamorous life can be like from the inside & how monogamous people can live with and truly love polyamorists. How we can all live life in a more actively loving way that revolutionizes the world.
To catch a quick glimpse of “poly” life, why don’t you watch our two minute video,
“I AM POLYAMOROUS,” and begin to get what loving more than one really means…
