Ever prepared for an intervention? It’s fucking tense, dude! Like the night before a battle but the person you have to battle is your own daughter. You want to vomit. You want to call it off. You want to institutionalize a family member. And it all has to be done in an hour and half. 

Intervention is about a family coming together to have an intervention for Amanda’s drinking problem. They’ve hired a therapist named Trevor, written emotional letters, chosen the time and location, and now they sit and wait for Amanda to arrive.

But there’s one thing the family neglected to mention to Trevor: Amanda does not, in fact, have a drinking problem. She’s just… the problem.  Ungrateful, disrespectful, a bad seed. And they want Trevor to prove it to her once and for all. “That’s not what a therapist does,” Trevor tries to explain. But listening isn’t this family’s strong suit and they’ve already prepared for battle.

The intervention turns into a whodunnit of how and why this family is so miserable. As we flash back and forth from contested family memories to the claustrophobic intervention room, we’ll piece together the mysteries that haunt this family -- and why they’re so locked into the dynamics that make them go into survival mode around each other.

We first started writing this film after we each were involved in interventions within our own families. And those interventions were… exhausting! It’s strange when a family that doesn’t believe in therapy comes together for some last minute, Hail Mary pass at healing. After refusing to talk about anything, everything has to come out all at once. There may be no other time when you’re as acutely aware of all of the weird, overlapping, conflicting dynamics that make your family messed up. In the midst of such a moment, how presumptuous to look at a single person in the room and say -- “Hm, I think YOU have something to work on!”

The more we thought about it, the more struck we were by how an intervention is often a placeholder for all the many things that go unspoken in families – sometimes for years, and sometimes forever. 

This film needs to be made because there simply aren’t enough films that actually delve into mental health and race, or even just show complex relationships that reflect families across America. Despite the rush of new commercials with interracial families, we haven’t seen a film that really explores that dynamic in depth. In particular, the idea that racism often comes from within your own family. That your parents are suspicious of you, and maybe that’s a way to protect you from the world or maybe it’s a coping mechanism, but it’s a mindf*ck of an experience that hasn’t really been explored in a movie.

Marina & Nicco are comedic screenwriters and playwrights, and we’ve been collaborating together for 17 years. We’re a woman and man, white and black, Jewish and Palestinian. And no, we’re not dating. (Development executives are confused by us, too!) That being said, all of our stories are about perspective shifts, about watching people and being watched. We delight in making comedies that hit you in the chest. Comedies that have you laughing at the edge of your seat, hanging on the plot twists, and seeing yourself in characters whether you’d want to or not.  

More recently, we've developed and pitched TV shows and are now at the point of our lives where we're like, “To hell with all of you industry bastards! We’ll make our own movie, our own damn selves!” and thus, Intervention was born.

Intervention features 8 characters in the predominantly Black ensemble. The roles are meaty, they’re nuanced – and they’re also a ton of fun. You’d be lucky to eavesdrop on them if they were sitting at the table next to you.

They are…

Linda, the matriarch (60’s): If Linda chastises you, you immediately feel ashamed. She’s a professor and she’s raised you better than that. She knows better than you. She wears big beads and dresses like someone who shops at the Natural History Museum. If you said “Our childhood was fucked up,” she’d say: “...Okay.” 

Amanda, the problem (30’s): If you saw Amanda on the subway, you’d want to ask her where she got her cool jacket. But you’d be too intimidated. Because Amanda has learned to draw boundaries with the intensity of a medieval castle under siege. Somehow, her family is still banging at the door. SHE’S NOT YELLING YOU’RE MAKING HER YELL!

Julia, dutiful daughter (30’s): Eldest. She remembers when the family was broke. She’s been put through the worst of it, and still she doesn’t complain. She’s got a loving relationship with Rachel. It doesn't mean anything that she’s just introducing her partner of two years to the family today at this intervention. 

Bill, baby brother (20s): Born when the family had money. He’s got nothing to complain about. His dad was Mom’s favorite husband. His dad did die, true. But everyone agrees Bill has it the easiest. He’s also schlubby and should have a higher degree or a better paying job by now. 

Majd, peacemaker (20s): Majd isn’t an orphan per se. His parents just died in a car crash when he was 19. Since then he’s been with the family through it all. He’s handsome and a joy to be around! They kind of forget his parents died traumatically relatively recently.

Uncle Earl, The Great Uncle (70’s): He’s Linda’s uncle, though they’re not too far apart in age. Uncle Earl is the positive male role model for the kids. He runs a karate school. Not big into therapy. If Linda had spanked the kids maybe none of them would be this emotional.

Rachel, happy to be here (30’s): Rachel is meeting everyone today! At the intervention! Is that weird?! Doesn’t matter… This isn’t about her. A lot of things in her relationship with Julia aren’t about her. But she loves Julia, and loves supporting her.  A friend once gave her a book about codependency. 

Trevor, moderator (40’s): Trevor used to be a finance bro, now he wears leather bracelets that remind him of a mantra he learned. He is NOT an angry man anymore. He wants to show other people they can change and heal, too. That being said, Trevor is not used to being talked down to by a Black woman. So immediately at the start of this intervention, he’s thrown.

We are fully charging ahead with pre-production with an optimistic goal of filming in late 2023. We already have a third of our budget accounted for, but we're looking to fundraise the bulk of our budget through crowd funding this summer. We have several members of our team attached and we're excited to announce more folks as the campaign continues. We've got locations, we've got cameras, we are currently speaking to talent. This process for us began six years ago when we started working on the script, and now we're so excited to bring it to life! Be our movie doulas and help us push this thing into the world!