Armstrong Street’s ’20, Livid’ part of Indiewood Film Festival

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Hollywood. The name evokes images familiar to most: the huge sign on the hill; the Walk of Fame with handprints of artists, actors, and musicians; and the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

This week, a pair of Kokomo filmmakers made it to Hollywood for a screening of their film in that famous theater. For the twenty-something creators, it is the big time, at least for now. Cousins Maceo and Raven Milligan and their production company – Armstrong Street – made their big-screen debut on Sept. 16 with their film, “20, Livid.”

The movie was accepted as part of the Indiewood Film Festival, which runs Sept. 11-18. Their film is one of nearly 450 works that are part of the festival, though only 58 of them are considered “feature-length” films; the category “20, Livid” fits.

The experience is something the pair is still trying to process.

“I’m hoping it allows us to make more,” said Maceo. “It’s difficult for me to hope I get rich and famous in Hollywood and make a bunch of movies. I don’t even know what this moment feels like yet. We’re going to Hollywood to watch our movie. I hope this just leads to making more.”

“Even if the movie hadn’t gone to Hollywood, I would still feel extremely proud that we made this movie that I have a deep love for,” added Raven. “I’m proud to have it out there. Hollywood is a huge bonus. It’s insane that I can put on our poster that our film is an official Indiewood selection!”

“20, Livid” is deeply personal for Raven and Maceo. As most creators are advised to do, they drew from their own experiences to create a coming-of-age tale that they believe will resonate with a large audience.

The film is about a 20-year-old college student named Lynn, who is examining her life and her desire to be an artist and a musician. Unfortunately, her decision to go to college and follow a traditional path proves to be restrictive as she tries to find herself.

“We felt like there aren’t many movies that exist about going to college that talk about how some people go to college and discover it is not for them,” said Maceo. “They aren’t ready for this kind of thing. We wanted to put that onto film to show a wider audience because we felt it. There has to be other people who felt it.

“The film isn’t negative on college. It’s simply painting an experience of somebody not enjoying it at first and possibly finding they can still push through. Maybe there are things to enjoy about college, but they weren’t looking at it correctly the first time. It’s about how it feels to be in that moment.”

“Even if you take away the premise, the college aspect of it, I think anybody can watch it and apply it to something in their life,” added Maceo. “Maybe you went into something and found out that’s not your path. It’s that fight and struggle to follow the road less traveled; of not being ready for adulthood when people think you should be.”

Maceo and Raven’s path to filmmaking started early. They’ve been creating together for years, and not just with video cameras. They also are musicians with their own band, Armstrong Street, which lent its name to their movie production company. But filmmaking is their passion.

“When we were little, like 10 or 11 or 12, we started with YouTube videos and making parodies of movies that we really liked,” said Maceo. “We called those ‘If It Were Real,’ which was straight-up stolen from a YouTube channel called Smosh. We just took movies or characters and concepts and did parodies of them.”

“We felt like we were making a parody. But if we look back at some of the videos, they’re just moments from the movie. We just remade it. That’s really where we started doing stuff.”

Raven explained that they eventually transitioned away from making music, but it wasn’t sudden. He had been working on a script but hit a creative wall. At the same time, Maceo was displaying his love for film by reviewing movies in the Kokomo Tribune.

“I couldn’t figure out what to do next, so I called Maceo,” said Raven. “He reviews movies, so who better to help write a movie than the guy who’s reviewing them?”

That pairing resulted in “20, Livid.” Maceo explained that the duo premiered the movie in December of last year at the Phi Delta Kappa clubhouse and published it on YouTube. Most of those in attendance were friends and family, but the room was full.

“There were some people I’d never seen before,” said Maceo. “They saw our poster and came and saw film. We were surprised by that. It was a lot of fun. We even did an interview afterwards on stage with the cast and everything.”

They knew just posting the film to YouTube and holding a screening wasn’t enough. Unable to place the film on a streaming service, they began submitting it to film festivals for consideration. And they hit paydirt.

“Having the premiere here in Kokomo and having it up on YouTube was a great feeling, but I wanted to be able to show it to more people and give it the opportunity that it deserved,” said Raven.

That opportunity is here. The film was screened at the festival on Sept. 16, and Armstrong Street was there for the event. Raven said the experience was surreal. Traveling to Los Angeles was something new as well, since neither of the young men had ever traveled west of the Mississippi.

For those interested in viewing “20, Livid,” it is currently streaming on YouTube. Find it by searching “20, Livid” or “Armstrong Street.”