'Love in Storytown' debuts at Jackson Theatre

A silver screen debut made its way to downtown Jonesborough on Sunday evening, as the film "Love in Storytown" premiered at the Jackson Theatre, but a lot went into to make this story come to life. The entire premise of the film is based in Jonesborough with much of the story revolving around the National Storytelling Festival. But how did a non-East Tennessee native find Jonesborough and decide to base her screenplay on the town and its storytelling? Screenwriter Betty Sullivan said it was just a coincidence that turned into a deep admiration of the town. "We went through Jonesborough while dropping my daughter off at school in Asheville," Sullivan said. "We stopped and we listened to the stories and went into the Storytelling Center, and I just fell in love with all of it." While Sullivan was excited at the prospect of exploring something new, she joked about how her teenage daughter at the time, assumed she was in for a bad time when she heard they were going to be listening to someone tell a story. But, by the end of the hour-long tale, everyone was satisfied with Sullivan saying the only word she could find for the experience was "magical". That single trip turned into many trips through the years and ended up being the catalyst to inspire Sullivan to write a script based in the town. Sullivan knew she had to introduce people to the storytelling of Jonesborough, but she still needed a plot for her story. The story she settled on was inspired by people Sullivan encountered. "I had a co-worker who had just left the military, and she had two young children, and that inspired me to put a woman veteran in the lead of the film," Sullivan said. "The character became a retired Major in the military." Actress Beverly Mitchell, best known for her role in Warner Brother's family television show "7th Heaven," stars as the films lead. Her love interest in the film is an old friend who works as a resolution specialist who also loves to tell stories. This obviously leads to a clashing in philosophies. This film was notably special for Sullivan who wrote and produced the film in its entirety following a diagnosis of Progressive Primary Aphasia (PPA). PPA is a neurodegenerative syndrome that primarily causes a slow deterioration in speech function as well as other cognitive behaviors. While Sullivan's form is not as severe as it could be, she still suffers from the effects. Her doctors do remain positive sighting her work as something that works in her favor. "Writing is keeping my brain working," Sullivan said. "They said hopefully it'll help me live longer, so I'll keep writing and trying new things to challenge my brain." Sullivan said she felt so motivated to make the film fantastic because of all the help she had locally. The help was overwhelming at times and Sullivan said it reminded her so much of where she lives in Cambridge, Maryland. "The people of the town deserve the movie," Sullivan said. "Their help really was amazing." The film was allowed to film during the actual National Storytelling Festival, something Sullivan was also grateful for as it added another level of authenticity to the film that a recreation wouldn't have. The payoff for Sullivan occurred whenever she said her and her family watched the film together and her daughters were appreciative that Sullivan made the lead character a woman in her 40s. The character isn't constantly caked in makeup and wore everyday clothing, something Sullivan helped define the film as something for every day, regular people. Sullivan said that Jonesborough itself is almost its own character in the film, alive with jubilant townspeople, a warm atmosphere and a historic charm that you can't quite put your finger on. As for the theatrical premiere taking place at the historic Jackson Theatre, Sullivan said she couldn't have imagined it any other way. "It had to be here," Sullivan said. "There was no way I was ever going to do it anywhere else." The film's premiere on Sunday, April 13, was sold out. The crowd gave the film a rousing applause at its conclusion and got the chance to do a short Q and A with Sullivan and some of the cast. The film is available for rent on most major streaming platforms now.