Tampa Film Fan

A tall Southern tale involving a doppelganger, ‘roid rage, remembrances of things past, murder and beauty pageants, Pose Down’s twisted journey begins with a MacGuffin about a killer bodybuilder (Brian Deck) and slowly shifts into a story about his high school sweetheart (Marlena Gate), who returns to her hometown to bury both her estranged mother and her past. Pose Down – one element of a bodybuilding competition where all the competitors face off against one another simultaneously - becomes a metaphor for the characters living and working in a small Southwest Florida town, particularly for our main protagonist, Marlena, who must literally “pose down” her past in order to look to a better future.

Pose Down continues along a similar thematic journey with writer/director Erika Yeomans’ other short films and videos (Paging Dr. Freud, Chubby Buddy, The Forgery, In Search of Bas Jan’s Miraculous). Yeomans creates a world that is both familiar and foreign - constantly shifting between humor and pathos.

The soundtrack for Pose Down blends alt-rock indie artists of the 80s and 90s (Maria McKee and Florida bands such as Beggar Weeds and Charlie Pickett) with alt-rock indie artists of today (Earl Greyhound, Smog, Six Organs of Admittance and Corn Mo) to create a rocking tapestry of music that further underscores the film’s thought-provoking imagery.

Over the years, Yeomans has created an extensive body of work in theater, mixed media and film. She is the co-founder and artistic director of the performance company Doorika, and her videos and films have won grants and screened at film festivals and art institutions around the world.

Pose Down was shot in 22 days on Super 16 mm in the spring of 2006. An ultra-low budget production, Pose Down is Ms. Yeomans’ feature film directorial debut and was produced by Aaron S. Levine. The production garnered tremendous business and community support from the city of Fort Myers, Florida and its residents. The production had the full support of the Fort Myers Fire Department, The Mayor of Fort Myers office, the Lee County School District and the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, who even allowed the production to cast real deputies as the police officers in the film. The project was awarded a pre-production grant from New York State Council on the Arts.