Michelle Arthur, center, on the set of “Rings of the Unpromised” with Marianne Beer, hair and makeup artist/wardrobe advisor; director of photography/first assistant director Andrew Giordano, and actor Keith Lopez.
SUBMITTED PHOTO BY SET PHOTOGRAPHER DAN KENNEDY, PRINCESS ARTHUR PRODUCTIONS
The perils and pressures of romance had become exhausting,
Michelle Arthur was sick of it. She was tired of society’s messages for young women about dating and marriage, that it would be easy to find a significant other and start your life. Rarely did people talk about the ups and downs, the heartache that went with the joys.
She wanted to turn those beliefs around.
“If we can save another young soul from going through the same bubble-bursting pain I had to go through, then we made her life more satisfying,” she said.
Using her own experiences as inspiration, Arthur has crafted a film meant to inspire and inform people about the realities of modern dating. “Rings of the Unpromised” is a feature that follows Arthur’s character through the tribulations of finding love, only to realize the most important promise to make is to yourself.
Through a special program at the White River branch of the Johnson County Public Library on Wednesday, Arthur will screen the film and answer questions from the audience about her career, her work and making movies.
“It’s really exciting to see someone local have such an influence in the film world. I wanted people to experience the kinds of things they can do here at the library,” said Linda Kilbert, manager of the White River Library. “Not that we were involved in the making of it, but we provided the resources to accomplish her passion.”
Arthur is quite familiar with the Johnson County Public Library, which made the program an obvious one for local audiences. The Indianapolis resident started coming to different branches in 2013, when she was writing the script for a previous film, “Fate’s Shadow.”
She found the libraries an ideal place to write in peace.
“The staff watched ‘Rings’ being created as I hunched over their computers with headphones and the volume cranked on 80 trying to listen for any unnecessary noise in the film or going back and forth over the milliseconds watching various takes to choose between the best ones,” she said. “Between their sharp computer equipment and research tools, I found (Johnson County Public Library) to be a great resource for producing, directing, writing, and acting efforts when I’ve been in town.”
Growing up in Indiana, Arthur never pictured herself working in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. But she realized that show business was an option through the influence of her second cousin, Todd Miller.
Miller was a tap dancer and actor who was featured in a number of famed productions, including “The West Side Story” with James Cagney and Doris Day, “A Star Is Born,” with Judy Garland and “Silk Stockings” with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.
His work inspired Arthur to try performing herself. When she moved to California in 1999 to work in magazine publishing, a chance meeting with a background artist on a commercial shoot invited her to a taping of the show “Family Law.”
The background artist convinced the second assistant director to add Arthur as an extra.
“After the shoot the second assistant director approached me and said, ‘I think you’re going to like this business!’ That was the door opener and I did several background gigs afterward,” she said. “Sometimes that meant doing magazine paperwork while in the holding tank between takes. Or it meant calling in sick from the magazine to squeeze in a film shoot, but I enjoyed every minute.”
Throughout her career, Arthur has appeared in dozens of TV shows, films and short productions. She has also written, directed and produced numerous award-winning movies, including “Fate’s Shadow,” “Fate’s Shadow: The Whole Story” and “The Wisteria Manor.”
While she was creating “Fate’s Shadow” and the longer feature version, “Fate’s Shadow: The Whole Story,” the idea for “Rings of the Unpromised” popped into Arthur’s mind.
Not that she was receptive at first.
“My initial reaction was, ‘No way!’ It really seemed impossible trying to get a first production off the ground. (Fate’s Shadow) honestly took everything I had mentally, emotionally, physically, etc.,” she said. “After I finished my sandwich, I recall glancing at social media and the first newsfeed post read ‘Have Faith.’ That image has guided ‘Rings,’ as we call it, when I teetered with this overwhelming sense that it would take nothing less than a miracle.”
The idea was to enlighten young women on what lies ahead with dating so they have more realistic expectations, Arthur said.
“My maternal grandparents met in grade school. My parents were high school sweethearts. I grew up with a misconceived notion it would be that easy for me and other girls to marry our own ‘Prince Charmings’ and live happily ever after,” she said. “Instead, I was blindsided and heartbroken repeatedly.”
In the film, the main character, Heather, is driven to toss her lover’s jewelry into the water every time a relationship ends. The audience never sees any of these men, but their presence hovers throughout the entire film.
“That intentional format gives viewers a chance to feel the same void Heather does, while simultaneously empowering her and the audience ultimately,” Arthur said.
Since its release earlier this year, “Rings of the Unpromised” has been well-received. The romantic drama has won awards at the World Film Carnival in Singapore, DRUK International Film Festival, Milan Gold Awards, Actors Awards in Los Angeles, Florence Film Awards, Vegas Movie Awards, 8 and HalFilm Awards, and most recently, the Cannes Independent Film Festival in France.
“She would come in regularly into the library, and at one point, she mentioned her involvement in making movies, including doing some of that work at the library,” Kilbert said. “She wondered if she could give back to the library with a showing of one of her movies. We worked it out from there.”
Though “Rings of the Unpromised” is unrated, it is recommended for audience members 18 and over, a statement from the library system said.
For aspiring filmmakers, or simply anyone who appreciates good art, Arthur hopes that people take away a handful of lessons from the movie — the significance of gifting jewelry, the importance of poetry in our lives, how love can happen anytime, regardless of age, and to not listen to naysayers.
Mostly, she wants people to stop defining themselves through their love lives.
“Pure joy is from within instead of being fulfilled solely by a partner,” she said. “Don’t waste your years in search of finding someone outside of you to be happy.”
IF YOU GO
“Rings of the Unpromised”
What: A screening of the romantic drama created by local filmmaker Michelle Arthur, followed by a Q&A session.
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday
Where: White River branch of the Johnson County Public Library, 1664 Library Blvd., Greenwood
Cost: Free
To register, go to pageafterpage.org
