Portraying in Film the Mythology of Child-Related Litigation

ABSTRACT

A veteran attorney and filmmaker discusses the lessons for both separating parents and divorce professionals alike contained in his Telly Award-winning short film, Talk to Strangers. The film forges a visceral connection with its audience in the plight of a brother and sister put at risk by a court-administered custody evaluation process. Applying a variety of filmic techniques and an unusual perspective to the toxicity of high-conflict litigation, Talk to Strangers debunks the myths on which separating parents and even divorce professionals rely in countenancing avoidable child-related litigation. The film’s unique power derives from an engaging story rooted in the experience of its attorney producers, stellar performances by its child actors, and an original score cowritten by a Grammy-winning composer.

KEYWORDS:

• Divorce
• family law
• child custody
• child custody film
• custody film

Notes

1. I use terms such as custody battle, child-related disputes, and the like as shorthand for the entire range of child-related controversies including, but not limited to, disputes over decision making, custody, and access.

2. The Talk to Strangers professional version DVD is accompanied by a Quick Index & Reference Guide containing timeline references such as this, to significant teaching and reference points in the film, organized according to the eight myths of custody litigation.

3. Attorney for minor child.

4. On the first page of the Talk to Strangers Pocket Guide for Parents that accompanies the film, a distinction is drawn between unnecessary and avoidable custody battles, and those where a court’s intervention is necessary, such as where children are put at risk by abuse, neglect, domestic violence, untreated mental illness, or substance abuse.

5. As mentioned earlier, Emily expresses exactly that sentiment in her outburst while meeting with the AMC.

6. I would be remiss not to add that all the filmmaking techniques in the world would not have been sufficient without the fine performances of the two children who emerged from our casting calls, Seanan Michael Ellis (Nick) and Claire Hilton (Emily).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Larry Sarezky

Larry Sarezky, Esq. is a former Chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Family Law Section and an award-winning screenwriter and independent film director. A member of the American and Connecticut Bar Associations, Sarezky has lectured across the country to judges and matrimonial lawyers, and his writing on family law issues has appeared in The Huffington Post and in numerous other publications and forums.