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Nourishment
Overall Rating     Total Runtime 9:19
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Synopsis
Ghosts from the past distract Nat as he intakes a newly diagnosed HIV-positive client at the local meal delivery agency.
About the Filmmaker

Marc Saltarelli - Director

Marc Saltarelli is a writer, director and film editor living in Los Angeles. His short film Where We Began won a 2007 PlanetOut Short Movie award and also tied for the PlanetOut Audience Choice award. The film has played on Logo's "The Click List: Best in Short Film", ranking No. 1 for Season 3. All of his shorts have played at major film festivals in the U.S. and abroad.
Marc co-produced, wrote, shot and edited the feature documentary film, Father G and The Homeboys (narrated by Martin Sheen), which profiles the lives of former East Los Angeles Latino gang members. InThe Shadow, the winner of the 2007 Latino Screenplay Competition, was inspired by these real-life stories and will ultimately become a dramatic feature. Marc is especially pleased to have directed the new musical volunteer training video for Los Angeles' HIV/AIDS meal delivery agency, Project Angel Food.
Marc has worked in post production on syndicated television programs and began his career working in the art department for Cannon Films. He has a film degree from Loyola Marymount University with additional training from USC School of Cinema.

Tom O'Leary - Writer

Tom is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and humor writer. He wrote the screenplay for the short film Where We Began, which won a 2007 PlanetOut Short Movie Award and tied for the PlanetOut Audience Choice Award. MTV's Logo network acquired U.S. television rights and it plays regularly on The Click List: Best in Short Film. Where We Began has played to great acclaim at film festivals throughout the world, including Montreal, London, Tokyo, Lisbon, Toronto, Miami, Los Angeles and Provincetown.
Nourishment, a short film written by Tom O'Leary, premiered at Reeling 2007, the Chicago Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. The movie has since been an official selection at Image+Nation 20 Montreal GLBT Film Festival, the Cleveland International Film Festival, NewFest New York City GLBT Film Festival and the Provincetown International Film Festival.
With writer Cathy Crimmins, Tom O'Leary co-authored the best-selling humor book The Gay Man's Guide to Heterosexuality. His play David is the Provincetown Theater Company Best New Play of 1998. David received its world premiere at the Theater on the Square in Indianapolis where it played to sold out houses. Breath, an evening of one-acts by O'Leary, was performed in both New York City and Los Angeles. His play The Negative Room won the Best New Play Award at the Towngate Theater in 1994 and played to sold out audiences in Provincetown, MA. His play The Guest House Diaries was also a smash in Provincetown.
Tom O'Leary received an MFA in Playwriting from Temple University. He was Playwright-in-Residence at Playwrights Horizons Theater School. He lives in Los Angeles.

Filmmaker Q & A
Q: What inspired you to make your film?
Marc: I've been a volunteer at Project Angel Food, a meal delivery program for people living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses, for over 10 years now and my friend Tom O'Leary wrote a beautiful and quiet script that I felt compelled to put on film. The impact of all the friendships I developed with clients while volunteering, especially those who have passed on, made the film's subject matter have a personal resonance for me.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your film?
Tom: The short film script began life as a full-length stage play. The play and film script were inspired by my work at Project Angel Food. I've been volunteering or working in the HIV community since I began volunteering at Gay Men's Health Crisis in 1985 in New York City. Henry, the main character of Nourishment, is only 22 and is shocked and overwhelmed that he has just turned HIV-positive. Over the course of the last two decades I have met and lost far too many Henry's.

Q: What do you hope to convey through your film?
Marc: Partly because of the lack of media attention on HIV/AIDS, the attitude in the community has become complacent lately, compounding the false assumption that the crisis is over. Our hope is that we honor the memory of those who have passed by motivating ourselves to take a more active role in helping those who still suffer.

Q: Who are your favorite filmmakers/what are a few of your favorite films and why?
Tom: My favorite filmmaker is Marc Saltarelli, the director of the two movies I wrote: Nourishment and Where We Began. I look forward to working with Marc on our next project, Remember To Breathe. My favorite gay-themed movies are Parting Glances, My Vie En Rose, The Life & Times of Harvey Milk, The Celluloid Closet, Angels in America, Brokeback Mountain, The Mudge Boy, Before Night Falls and Camp Out

Tom: After two successful collaborations, my favorite short film screenwriter is Tom OLeary. Some of my favorite filmmakers include Martin Scorcese, Gus Van Sant, John Schlesinger and Woody Allen. My favorite gay-themed film is Parting Glances. It was one of the first indie films I saw as a young film student, and it inspired my gay filmmaking career. It was a wonderful moment when Katharine Setzer of Montreal's Image+Nation Film Festival selected our film Nourishment to precede Parting Glances at its 25-year revival last November in Montreal.

Q: Anything else you'd like to provide on your film!
Marc: We owe our filmmaking collaboration to our wonderful producer Park Walkup, who was instrumental in selecting the haunting Mozart music that accompanies the film's finale.
Both Tom and I would like to encourage everyone to volunteer at the local HIV meal delivery agency in your area. To volunteer at Project Angel Food in Los Angeles, please call (800) 592-6435 - or visit the Web site at http://www.angelfood.org and see our awesome new volunteer video.