Pictured Above: ‘Fear of Rain’ director Castille Landon grew up in Terra Ceia before moving to Los Angeles to pursue her film career.
Courtesy of Castille Landon on Instagram
By Annalise Anderson
Courtesy of IMDB
Though scenes in Fear of Rain may appear familiar to Tampa Bay residents, its plot illuminates a lesser-known perspective on an often misunderstood mental health condition.
Starring Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up), Madison Iseman (Annabelle Comes Home), Harry Connick Jr. (Will & Grace) and Eugenie Bondurant (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2), Fear of Rain made its St. Petersburg premiere Friday at Green Light Cinema.
Written and directed by Castille Landon, a Terra Ceia native, Fear of Rain follows a teenage girl diagnosed with schizophrenia as she struggles to decipher between illusion and reality.
Landon conceived the film with an intent to use the story of a young, relatable female protagonist as a catalyst for destigmatizing mental illness.
“I honed in on schizophrenia because it’s generally the most stigmatized and the most misunderstood mental illness, and I thought it would be interesting to explore the other, more accurate side, which has rarely been depicted in film,” Landon said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “Too often, people with schizophrenia are portrayed as being either savant-like or violent and are rife with stereotypes. I wanted to show someone who was relatable and realistic, where it’s the circumstances she finds herself in that are heightened and dramatic.”
A significant portion of the film was produced in a neighborhood of St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District and St. Pete Beach. Tampa filming locations included Hillsborough High School, the Tampa Aquarium and the Tampa Riverwalk.
“We shot at so many great locations,” Landon said. “I was born and raised in Terra Ceia, just south of the Skyway, so it was wonderful to be able to come home. The crew are like my family, and a lot of my family actually did work on the film. I loved the little neighborhood we shot in, in St. Pete, and we all had a great time on weekends, hanging out in Downtown St. Pete and Tampa.”
At 15 years old, Landon moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She later studied English at Harvard University to begin writing her own scripts and to create “engaging roles” for herself.
Landon previously directed family films Albion: The Enchanted Stallion and Apple of My Eye. After discovering her love for directing, she earned her master’s degree in creative writing from Oxford University.
Fear of Rain was not only Landon’s first feature film since completing her studies, but it was also her first mystery thriller.
“I hope that Fear of Rain is a film that people of all ages can see and enjoy, for the thrills and emotional rollercoaster it takes you on, but that it also sticks with audience members.” Landon said. “I hope that they’re left with more empathy for those living with mental illness, and that it fosters conversations, and challenges their assumptions and stereotypes they may have based on other media they’ve seen.”
Landon encourages other young creatives interested in film to study additional subjects, like history, psychology, or literature, to establish “an expansive knowledge base” to draw inspiration from.
“Always keep honing your craft and seeking further knowledge. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of taking on a sort of lifestyle of learning — not just about film theory, but about everything,” Landon said. “Get into the habit of learning about the lives of others, because that’s the seed of storytelling.”
Landon is currently working on postproduction of the third and fourth installments of the After film series. She is also in the process of “shopping around” a young adult revenge thriller that she adapted from a book, which features another female protagonist.
