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''The Off Hours'' is an American film written and directed by Seattle filmmaker
Megan Griffiths Megan Griffiths (born April 22, 1975) is an American film and television director who resides in Seattle, and is a board member of Northwest Film Forum. Early life and education Megan Griffiths was born in Ohio, lived in Moscow, Idaho in her tee ...
. The full-length feature film is akin to real life events that happened at a truck stop. It was distinguished due to its adoption of environmental and socially acceptable settings, which has won recognition by the Sustainable Style Foundation with a SSF Tag award. The film was premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
in Park City, Utah on January 22, 2011.


Plot

The official website describes the film: "In ''The Off Hours'', Amy Seimetz alluringly commands the screen as Francine, a waitress whose liberation from her mundane existence is long overdue. In the restless world of the night shift at a highway diner, Francine's life consists of casual encounters and transient friendships. What she wants is out of reach—or is it that she's lost track of wanting anything at all? When a banker turned big-rig driver becomes a regular, he sparks hope in Francine. As change begins to invade the quiet diner, Francine is reminded that it is never too late to become the person she was meant to be."


Production

Griffiths, the film's writer and director, was inspired to begin writing this story after spending several months working the night shift at a film lab in 2003. Griffiths has worked on set in many capacities, from producer to cinematographer to assistant director. She noticed that those employees who worked the night shift seemed to have similar personality traits. The script thus evolved from her interest in the night shift culture. Fund raising for the film began in 2007. The film was shot in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
in Burien, South Park and Georgetown with many local enthusiasts supporting Griffiths. ''The Off Hours'' was the first film to receive the "SSF Tag" from the Sustainable Style Foundation, an organization that promotes environmentally friendly practices. The film was able to meet the demands for the SSF Tag by using second-hand furniture for set design and second-hand clothes for costume design. The film was also shot digitally, which avoids the toxic materials found in traditional film.


Release

The film premiered at the
27th Sundance Film Festival The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah. The festival opened with five screenings, one from each ...
on January 22, 2011, in NEXT, a non-competition category focusing on low-budget, independent filmmaking.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Off Hours Films shot in Washington (state) 2010s English-language films Films shot in Seattle American drama films 2010s American films