By Hugh Hart

Five months into the Peter Stark Producing Program, entrepreneur-turned-filmmaker Shane D. Stanger '23 had not yet decided what story to tell in his thesis project. Then he saw how classmates reacted to dailies he'd shot for his second-term short. "I had Covid so I was on Zoom while everyone else in my class was in a theater," Stanger recalls. I watched their faces looking at all the different dailies. When they got to mine, I saw their reactions to Danny's face and how they leaned in. People were just drawn to him." 

"Danny" is Danny Kurtzman, Stanger's best friend since sixth grade. Kurtzman has FSH Muscular Dystrophy and uses a wheelchair. He also stars in Good Bad Things, written and directed by Stanger, which follows ad agency creative "Danny" on a journey of self-discovery after he joins a dating app and falls for a beautiful photographer. Co-starring Brett Dier ("Jane the Virgin") and Jessica Parker Kennedy ("The Flash"), Good Bad Things won Grand Jury and Audience Awards at the Slamdance Film Festival early this year. It also earned acclaim from Muscular Dystrophy Association's Disability Outreach & Empowerment Vice President Mindy Henderson, who said in a statement, "This movie and the inclusion it stands for…. is how we will change the world for the 61 million people living in the United States with disabilities." 

Good Bad Things opens at 50 AMC theaters on August. 15.

Stanger says "I want people to leave the movie theater feeling fulfilled, thinking about relationships and the people in their lives. It's important to normalize seeing authentically portrayed disability on screen as an attribute of a complex character vs a plot point; I hope all people see themselves in Danny and relate to his journey."  

Stanger traveled a circuitous route to his current perch as a first-time feature filmmaker. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 2009, he toiled in the ICM mailroom, served as an associate producer on Richard Linklater's Bernie and lead-produced the indie film Pretty Perfect. "With the stress that came along with making my first movie, it felt like I was floundering," says Stanger. He returned to his hometown of San Diego and co-founded the Baked Bear ice cream sandwich chain. For the next eight years Stanger helped build the company into a nationwide enterprise comprising more than 35 outlets. But during the Pandemic, Stanger re-set his priorities. He says, "Covid sort of forced this mid-life crisis. I re-configured the deal with my partner for him to run the company so I could apply to film school and pursue my passion."

Peter Stark Producing Program chair Ed Saxon vividly remembers meeting Stanger during the interview process. "Shane had this record of being effective [in business] and obviously had the drive but he also had a humility about what he needed to learn if he was going to do this well," Saxon says. Summing up Stanger's engagement with the two-year MFA program, he cites the Steve Jobs quote "Real artists ship." Elaborating, Saxon observes, "Shane's an artist who ships product. When you marry that to a sense of inspirational dissatisfaction where you're always thinking about how to improve and never settling for 'good enough, as Shane does -- that's what we teach."

Eager to "ship," Stanger moved quickly after showcasing Kurtzman's low-key charisma in the short film dailies. Together, the friends brainstormed a story outline. Stanger then hammered out a rough draft in one week. He recalls, "It wasn't close to final but the bones were there: it had a beginning, a middle and an end, and we had the characters."

While he polished the script, Stanger arranged for Kurtzman to take acting lessons and prepped for production by assembling a team that included Stark classmates Manuel Gonzalez and Mel McGinnis (producers); Drew Marquardt (associate producer); production designer Samuel Sanders; and music supervisor Tina Farris. Department of Film Scoring student Matthew O' Connor composed the film's music. "A few even came on as extras, so a bunch of classmates were there for me in one way or another," Stanger notes. Since there are no electives in the Stark program, every student in the 24-person cohort takes the same classes. "By the time you got out of there, you know pretty much everything about everyone," Stanger laughs. "Our class got super close, kind of like a little family."

The 22-day Good Bad Things shoot stretched across seven weeks in the summer of 2022. To minimize costs, filmmakers took advantage of free locations including Stanger's own house. In the movie, the Hollywood Hills home Stanger shares with his wife and two young children doubles as Danny's headquarters. 

At school last fall, Stanger edited Good Bad Things while absorbing valuable lessons in Andre Caraco and Marisa Liston's "Motion Picture and Television Marketing" class. Then came the triumphant Slamdance debut followed by a critical question: how to get Good Bad Things out to the world beyond the festival circuit? Enter movie producer Albert Berger, whose resume includes Little Miss Sunshine, Cold Mountain and Peanut Butter Falcon. Through Stark's mentorship initiative, Stanger connected with Berger. "Albert invited me onto a call he hosts once a month, which is kind of a think tank of distributors, executives, people who care about preserving independent film," Stanger explains. "He asked me to pitch Good Bad Things, the trailer, the story around it. There were 30 people on the call and five or six reached out afterward saying 'If you need advice, we would love to chat.'"

One of those people was Annalisa Shoemaker. A former executive at Focus Features and Amazon Studios, she now runs her own company. Stanger says "Annalisa is focused on stories with disability themes that could tap into traditionally underserved audiences. She had a plan of attack and put together the deal with AMC. Now I just let Annalisa tell us what to do because I really trust her. It's like 'You're the boss.'" 

Looking back on his rapidly evolving career over the past few months, Stanger credits the Stark Program with being an essential source of guidance and structure. "Had I not come to Stark, I don't think I would have had the time or patience to pursue directing," he says. "USC gave me that safety cushion. After all those years of doing restaurants, here I was walking around campus with a backpack getting to do something I really love and doing it with the guy who's been my best friend for 25 years. In a way, I felt like a kid again."

About the Director/Writer

 Shane D. Stanger '23, writer/director: A Southern California native, Shane Stanger is a filmmaker and entrepreneur whose career began in 2009 in the ICM mailroom before spending two years as an assistant to an agent in the motion picture department. Shane went on to associate produce BERNIE, directed by Richard Linklater, starring Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey. The success of BERNIE paved the way for Shane's role as the lead producer for the independent feature PRETTY PERFECT.

In May 2013, Shane founded and launched The Baked Bear, a dessert concept out of San Diego specializing in ice cream sandwiches. In 2016 Shane was a recipient of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Award. By 2021, Shane had opened over 35 Baked Bear locations across 12 states and decided to return to his true passion: filmmaking. Shane enrolled in the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and received his MFA in May 2023.

GOOD BAD THINGS is Stanger’s writing and directing debut.