a Callner Brothers musical
Mailman
Mario
and the
When his eccentric grandfather dies, a sheltered, musically gifted, and highly-imaginative teenaged orphan is forced to move in with his only connection to the outside world - the town’s directionless mailman, reuniting the high-schooler with the small town that alienated him (and his “cursed” family) in the first place.
The Story
At the end of a purposefully-forgotten dirt road in a picture-perfect southern town, Mario Rodrigo is doing just fine.
Sure, Mario is locked up with his delusional Grandpa in his secluded home, both convinced of a family curse thanks to the absurdly tragic deaths of Mario’s parents - if you’ve never heard of anyone dying by hot potatoes, well, now you have.
And sure, Grandpa swears that Mario’s guitar-playing will kill any living-thing other than himself, a prophecy forcing Mario to hide his one true passion and greatest skill.
But overall, Mario and Grandpa are happy.
They have Mailman, who brings over groceries, supplies, and even gifts. They have their imaginations, making sure to take at least one “adventure” a day. But most importantly, they have each other... until they don’t.
In the summer of 1999, Grandpa dies, leaving seventeen-year-old Mario in the sole custody of the only other person they interacted with, Mailman.
And so begins Mario and Mailman’s story.
A story where Mario is forced out of his fantasies and into the real world... specifically, into the faith-based community that still believes he’s cursed.
Even more frighteningly, Mario is forced into the everyday struggles of being a high school teenager... of making friends, enemies, and falling in love.
A story that opens Mailman’s eyes to his routine loneliness, a blundering love affair, and his one-sided relationship with the town’s estranged alcoholic - a woman far too interested in the well-being of Mario to be coincidental.
A story that parallels the countdown to “Y2K,” showing the power of imagination (for both good and bad), of love lost and family found, of acceptance. ​
The Tone
A celebration of love, family, and film, Mario and the Mailman is like if the Coen Brothers and Taika Waititi made a coming-of-age musical. Mixing together Big Fish, St. Vincent, Superbad, and Perks of Being a Wallflower into an imaginative, nostalgic, and heartwarmingly funny musical.
The Music
All of the music stems from Mario’s imagination. And because Mario only knows how to play guitar, in the final film, the music will mostly be limited to guitar and vocals – including an incredible church choir.
That said, while the scratch tracks below are good representations of overall tone and structure, they’re still very much works in progress... made evermore apparent by the fact that Ben is currently playing all of the parts.
Sorry and... you’re welcome?
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{If the player below doesn't show all 11 tracks, here is our SoundCloud.}
The Filmmakers
Ben and Adam Callner are an award-winning directing/producing duo who share the same parents.
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Making their start in commercials, their work has won numerous international awards and has been featured in pop culture publications and trade magazines all over the world.
While their short film, Adman, won “Best Comedy of the Year” for Short of the Week and was nominated for a “Best of the Year” Vimeo Award, their quarantine film, Apartment 8 1/2, won numerous phone calls from concerned family and friends.
Thank you
for your consideration.
THE CALLNER BROTHERS ARE REPRESENTED BY LIGHTHOUSE MANAGEMENT + MEDIA
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FOR INQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT:
JUSTIN WOLF - justin@lighthousemm.com
JAMES THOMPSON - james@lighthousemm.com