“The Floaters” brings summer camp camaraderie to Newport Beach

Photo courtesy of K180 Studios

“Camp: no matter what background you're going to camp. It's a place where individuals come and learn to be together as a community, and that is at the heart of everything that this movie is about.”

Summer camp is a foundational, indelible experience for many, and that was certainly the case for Shai Korman. Along with two of his siblings, Becky and Lily, and other creative collaborators, they used their cherished childhood experiences to pen and produce “The Floaters.” The film premiered to a sold-out crowd at the Newport Beach Film Festival with cast and crew in attendance.

The summer camp movie is hallowed terrain. From “Meatballs” to “Wet Hot American Summer,” many celebrated films have dipped their toe in the subgenre waters where the hijinks of campers and counselors ensue. Producer and co-writer, Andra Gordon, believed in the vision that was “The Floaters,” and the new ground that could be covered by basing the film in a Jewish summer camp.

“We really wanted to capture … the silliness and fun and playfulness of that world, but also really ground it in authenticity … with a lot of heart and really capture the cultural aspect of Jewish summer camp, as well as the universal aspects of a coming of age summer camp comedy,” Gordon said. “So it was wanting to toggle between those, and then give it more heart.”

Casting the young actors to fill out the ensemble of campers proved to be a challenge, albeit one that was ultimately rewarding.

“It's so magical. You're looking at these words on the page and these characters you've developed, and you're sort of (asking) ‘How could they be brought to life?’” Becky Korman said. “And then it is amazing with our incredible casting director, Stephanie Holbrook, and with the director of the film, Rachel Israel, really being able to hone in and find these brilliant young people where you'd see their tapes, or maybe some previous work they'd done, and it just like starts to sparkle and you feel (like) magic is happening.”

Judah Lewis, who plays Jonah, instantly fell in love with his character because of the similarities he found between himself and the character on the page. 

“It was something I wanted to bring to life. And I met Rachel, the director, in a Zoom meeting, and we just became instant best friends,” Lewis said. “And I thought everything she had to say was incredibly insightful, and I knew I wanted to work with her … This is a kid who starts out really cynical and jaded, and through finding this amazing community, really finds his own voice.”

In making the film, the lines between fiction and the realities of attending camp frequently blurred. Shai, along with Lily and Becky, attended the camp where they had shot the film in their youth, and it was where their parents met decades prior. As for the making of the film, the actors playing the campers stayed on-site over the course of the production, which helped the cast bond with one another.

“(There were) no distractions, just camp life and nothing else. It wasn't going back to a hotel 20 minutes away, and then coming on set,” Ben Krieger, who plays Evan, said. “I feel like we were always in camp, and it never felt like we were on set. We were just living the life.”

The experience proved cathartic for Jillian Jordan, who plays Dahlia and is a one-time sleepaway camper. 

“I had a horrible experience at sleepaway camp, so this is my redemption arc, and it fixed the entire experience,” Jordan said.

Often, the activities being portrayed in the film would directly translate to what they were doing off-set the day prior.

“We would play Gaga, we would play basketball or something. And the next day, they'd (say) ‘Okay, we're gonna film this now.’ We're gonna now play basketball and do these things we've been doing, but on camera, and that's now in the movie,” Krieger said.

One of the campers in the film regains possession of their phone, and audiences get to see what’s being recorded on that phone. To achieve this montage, the filmmakers gave the actors free rein to make whatever they wanted as long as it was in character, so there are even bits of the campers' downtime in the movie. 

“Everyone feels this one moment in the movie where, boom, suddenly you're like, ‘Oh, they're becoming a group now,’ and that was that,” Shai Korman said.

The trio of campers I spoke to were delighted to get to see their days at summer camp on the big screen with a packed house.

“It's special for us to be all here together and Shai (Korman) and Becky (Korman) and everybody. Because I think this movie, more than any other movie I've ever worked on, was really made by committee. It was all of us working together,” Krieger said. “And so to celebrate and watch it with everyone that worked on it is a really (gratifying) feeling.”

“The Floaters” is continuing to appear at festivals around the country and you can find out more about the film here.