From a first-time writer/director and a promising group of young actors comes a chilling story that probes the moral dilemmas teens face in the pressure cooker of 21st century society. Jacob Aaron Estes’ “Mean Creek” turns the classic tale of an American bully on its head. When a group of teenage boys and one bold young girl seek playful revenge on the kid who has tormented them, nothing turns out the way they expected. What begins as a trip down a river and a childish prank soon turns into an eye-opening encounter with the enemy – a harrowing journey into wilderness and an event that will force them to grapple with the very meaning of friendship and responsibility.

With “Mean Creek,” Estes (who won the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for his script) and his cast of rising young stars have created not only a suspenseful morality tale but a rare and revealing portrait of a new generation – capturing the swagger and hidden insecurities, the posing and the yearning to fit in, the savvy and the barely contained aggression and, perhaps most of all, today’s fierce search for moral ground without any clear compasses. Using a handheld camera and a raw, visceral visual style that sets the audience adrift with the characters, the film provides a gritty, authentic and thought-provoking peek into growing up.

It all begins in a small Oregon town, when shy Sam (RORY CULKIN) confesses to his protective older brother Rocky (TREVOR MORGAN) that he is getting pummeled daily by the towering school bully George (JOSHUA PECK). Together, they plan the perfect payback, inviting George on a birthday river trip tailor-made to end in the bully’s humiliation. Rocky’s pals Clyde and Marty (RYAN KELLEY, SCOTT MECHLOWICZ) and Sam’s budding girlfriend Millie (CARLY SCHROEDER) also join the journey, which starts almost immediately with misgivings. Seeing George in a new light, as a lonely kid desperate for friendship and attention, Sam wants to call the whole thing off. But the boat and the plot are already in motion, and no one can foresee the surprises and accidents that are to come.

Like an adolescent “Heart of Darkness,” this adventure down the river turns a shadowy corner, kicks off a search for personal redemption and leads to sharply contrasting decisions that will haunt each of the teens’ lives forever.

Portrait of An Unexpected Bully

There have always been bullies. But recent media stories have brought to light the serious and snowballing problem of extreme and violent bullying in American schools, already rife with cliques, in-groups and boiling social pressures. The latest figures from the American Medical Association suggest that one out of every ten public school students has been the victim of violent bullying and that up to 15% of all American teens have participated in the systematic bullying of another person.

Ironically, bullies are often kids who don’t fit in . . . and they in turn beat up, ridicule, intimidate and psychologically torment other kids who don’t fit in. It’s a vicious circle, fueled in large part by a youth culture characterized by rampant consumerism, sexuality and most of all the overwhelming pressure to dress like, look like and act like everybody else.

Writer/director Estes says, "Like many people, I have come face-to-face with all kinds of bullies throughout my life. The good news is that one of these bullies changed my life, inspiring the heart of the story behind Mean Creek." It happened on the local basketball court where Estes found himself battling an aggressive opponent who taunted him and attempted to injure him at every opportunity. “He would come to the court drunk and verbally abuse me in the ugliest ways imaginable,” says Estes. “He was a hateful guy who inspired a lot of anger in me.” Estes says his anger soon gave way to elaborate and escalating vengeance fantasies.

“Of course the only revenge plots I acted on were of a creative, non-violent nature, but the more I sought my revenge, the worse things got,” he recalls. “It was getting out of hand, and then suddenly I started to wonder about the guy who was the bully: Who was he? Why was he doing this? And why had I let him affect me in such a profound way? These were really interesting questions to me – and they became more interesting than just getting back at this guy.”

Estes continues: “At that same time, I had been trying to write a screenplay about kids’ lives in today’s world – about how they cope with making the tough decisions they have to make, how they develop a real sense of morality in a world filled with moral ambiguity – and I realized that this was a great match with the theme of the bully. That’s when I got the idea of a revenge plot that goes very wrong.”

As he wrote, Estes began to turn the typical notion of a black-and-white bully on its head. He created the deeply complex character of George, who comes off at first as a detestable villain, then as a poignant social outcast, and finally as the catalyst who changes the lives of everyone around him, whether defender or attacker. “I wanted to explore the bully as a human being rather than just the typical bad guy,” he says. “George is someone who desperately wants to be a part of something – he’s just like all the other kids.”

Further inspired by classic cinematic tales of modern adolescence – from “The Outsiders” to “River’s Edge” to “Stand By Me” – Estes also wanted the story to expose the complexity, intimacy and intelligence of the teenage world. Estes notes: “Teenagers are so often underestimated and misrepresented in media as simpletons and know-nothings with no sense of responsibility to the world they live in. I wanted to explore a world inhabited by the kind of kids I remember from my teenage years – intelligent kids, troubled but sensitive beings, people who knew that their actions might count for something. I wanted to see how kids like these would behave under intensely difficult conditions – how their sense of duty, their relationships and loyalties to one another could be tested in an extremely stressful, dramatic situation. I think these kinds of moral questions are something that teens, as well as parents, really want to see in stories right now.”

Estes’ first draft of “Mean Creek” garnered an invitation to the renowned Eugene O’Neil Theater Center’s National Playwright Conference, where Estes developed and completed the script. He was then accepted into the American Film Institute’s directing program, which turned out to be a fateful turn in the development of “Mean Creek.” There, he would form a close relationship with the film’s eventual producers: Rick Rosenthal, who was Chair of the Directing program at the AFI’s Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies (CAFTS), and Susan Johnson and Hagai Shaham, who were fellow classmates. (The film’s cinematographer Sharone Meir was also an AFI alum, although he attended many years before Estes.)

Rosenthal actually read Estes’ script as part of his application to the AFI. “I remember sitting at the dining room table reading it and thinking, ‘This is really great,’” he says. “I mean what a journey these young characters take in less than 90 minutes and you’re carried along with the suspense as they go through the very complex process of developing their morality. But since the screenplay was part of the application process, I didn’t feel it would have been right to e-mail him how great the script was – I mean, what if he hadn’t been accepted?”

Nevertheless, while Estes was studying directing at the AFI, the screenplay for “Mean Creek” won the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, an international search for new talent administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This brought Estes attention from Hollywood, and another director soon optioned the script. But in the wake of Columbine, Estes’ unblinking tale of kids facing the aftermath of a violent moment seemed far more risky, and the option was dropped. This only inspired Estes, who realized he now had the skills to bring his own vision of the film fully to life. Estes and Shaham brought the screenplay back to Rick Rosenthal and Susan Johnson who had just formed Whitewater Films, a production company devoted to giving a voice to new talent. They were thrilled to have the chance to work with Estes as a writer/director. Says Estes "After seven years of maybes, nos and false starts, Whitewater films said yes to this risky, difficult project. I really have to thank them for having the courage to say yes without any assurance except their hearts that the project would succeed. They took a huge risk to finance Mean Creek with a first time director like myself, which shows a lot of character." “I told Jacob that if he wanted to make a down-and-dirty independent film, we were the people to help him do it,” says Rosenthal. “Ultimately though, I think the film became up-and-dirty. Although it was very low budget, we were able to attract a very talented, experienced young cast who brought the story to life with extraordinary skill.”

Having attended AFI, Estes and the producers already had a lot of common creative ground. “We spoke the same artistic language,” says Rosenthal. “We all share a very strong love of filmmaking, in all its aspects, and the committed work ethic to back that up.” “Mean Creek” also synched up perfectly with the kind of projects Whitewater hoped to produce. “We’re interested in great, dynamic storytelling that has something to say,” says Rosenthal. “’Mean Creek’ is a very entertaining story that also takes a deeper look at the big choices we face in life. It’s very gritty and real, but I think it has a very positive message about the struggle to do the right thing that will appeal to all kinds of audiences.”

A Group of Fearless Young Actors

From the start, Estes and the producers knew the film would hinge on finding a group of young actors who could embody the naturalism, physicality and emotional fearlessness required of the characters. Things started off well when the highly regarded teen star Rory Culkin came on board in the role of Sam, the kind-hearted student who unwittingly sparks a revenge plot that gets out of hand. Once Culkin was cast, the filmmakers and casting agent Matthew Lessall sat through auditions with some 500 young actors and actresses to find the other leads.

Early into the audition sessions, the filmmakers discovered new face Scott Mechlowicz for the role of the troubled but smolderingly charismatic Marty. “We were incredibly taken with Scott,” explains Rosenthal. “He really has that star quality, that kind of young Brad Pitt-Matt Dillon essence, and though we saw many wonderful young actors, nobody popped off the screen like he does. I think this is a real breakout role for him. He and Rory were both such strong personalities, we then matched the rest of the cast to them.”

For Estes, the key triumph of the casting process was finding Joshua Peck to play George, the motor-mouthed, emotionally erratic bully upon whom the entire weight of the story hinges. “I knew I needed a brilliant young actor to play George,” says Estes, “and I feel really lucky that we found him.” Estes continues: “I feel now that if I hadn’t found Josh, I could never have made this film. No one else of his age that I’d seen came even close to capturing the combination of palpable sadness and ugliness and need necessary to portray George. Josh did all of that and then some. He even did his own camerawork, shooting George’s video diaries himself – and proved to be quite a good cinematographer.”

The whole ensemble came together piece by piece – with each young actor chosen for their ability to give starkly natural and complex performances – including Trevor Morgan of “The Patriot,” who plays Sam’s older brother, and Ryan Kelley, who has appeared on “Smallville,” as Clyde. Last but not least, the filmmakers began a lengthy search for an actress to portray the one female among the boys: Culkin’s conscientious young friend Millie. “We were looking for someone who could not only match Rory Culkin physically but who could capture the very essence of 13, of being right on that cusp between total innocence and the angst of adolescence,” says Estes. “The very last girl we saw was Carly Schroeder [of “Lizzie Maguire”] and she was amazing. She had an unusual combination of self-confidence, maturity and importantly a great sense of childishness, in the best sense of the word, that I felt would allow her to make huge changes in the course of the story.”

Producer Susan Johnson remembers that Schroeder demonstrated immediate bravery. “When we asked Carly how she would feel about being away all summer in a cast of all boys, she informed us of her brown belt in karate,” Johnson recalls. “We knew right away Carly had the right attitude for Millie. And I think it was a great experience for her as well. We laugh that we both learned more about boys during the shoot than we ever imagined was possible.”

Once the cast was set, it was apparent to everyone involved that they had created an ensemble with its own high-energy dynamic. “We not only put together a group of people with real chemistry, but a group that each brought their own memorable and distinctive colors to the whole,” says Johnson. Sums up Estes: “I felt extremely lucky to work with such an extraordinary group of actors all of whom proved themselves to be willing to go into very difficult and dark places with a great deal of trust and respect for each other as people and as actors. Everyone was a complete joy to work with, totally committed to the project.”

In addition to the cast, the filmmakers have an accomplished group of behind-the-scenes talent. Joining cinematographer Sharone Meir are veteran filmmaker Greg McMickle as production designer and Cynthia Morrill making her debut as costume designer after assisting on such films as “The Last Samurai.” Madeleine Gavin (“Manic,” “Signs & Wonders,” “Sunday”) also contributes her vast experience in independent film as the film’s editor. “Madeleine has a tremendous eye for storytelling,” says Johnson. Finally, Tom Hajdu composed the starkly emotional score for “Mean Creek.” Notes Rosenthal: “Tom’s score is at once supportive of the story and compelling in its own right – it’s the best of both worlds.”

On The River

Before production even began, Estes knew it was vital to have his young cast completely prepared for the emotional and physical challenges ahead. Shooting a low-budget, fast-and-furious independent film entirely with actors under the age of 18 was not going to be easy, and Estes wanted their performances to remain instinctual and inspired in spite of the tough work ahead.

He brought the entire cast up to Oregon’s wilderness a week before shooting began and started by playing theatre games with them with an emphasis on fun and camaraderie. “I wanted them to trust me right off the bat as their friend and their guide on this journey, so we started our rehearsal week with a game of whiffle ball and I immediately assumed the role of the coach,” says Estes. “Later, we started talking about the characters motivations and some of the themes in the story. We did rehearse a few of the more complex scenes just to work out the blocking, but for the most part we kept the process casual and exploratory. The result was that the actors felt free to be spontaneous with me on set and that translated to the screen.” Adds Producer Hagai Shaham: “We wanted to give them time to bond as cast and director, but we also had to teach the cast about the river. It was important to the film that issues of safety were not scary, but became second nature to them.”

“We all lived together in one big apartment complex and that only added to the incredible bonding that went on between the actors. Any down time was spent in the complex’s pool. They formed their own kind of summer-camp atmosphere. Instantly it seemed as if they had been friends forever – and that feeling came out in their performances,” says Johnson.

Once production began, approximately half of the film was shot on the water – using the swampy Lewis River near the Oregon/Washington border as well as portions of the Clackamas River just Southeast of Portland. Shooting on the water is challenging under any circumstances, but the “Mean Creek” crew faced daunting obstacles beyond those that nature provided: little money, short days and a cast that had to work under strict child labor laws. “One of our main sources of support was a couple of guys who owned commercial fishing boats. Without those guys, we would have literally been dead in the water,” laughs Estes.

Another thing that kept cast and crew together under tough circumstances was a communal spirit. “There was a real old-fashioned kind of indie filmmaking going on where everybody pitched in to help in all kinds of different ways,” says Rosenthal. “Even our cast’s parents pitched in.”

Although the production used platforms and flotillas as camera-boats, Estes himself spent a good portion of the shoot standing in the frigid water – wearing a wetsuit to keep from freezing – so that he could be near the cast in the boat. “I could have stayed in the camera boat but I felt a need to be close to them when we were shooting such intense and emotional scenes,” he says.

Director of Photography Sharone Meir shot “Mean Creek” almost entirely with natural lighting and with a handheld camera that seems to be a part of the teens’ inner world as opposed to a non-reactive observer. “I wanted the film to feel like a raw experience,” says Estes.

One element that did work in the production’s favor was the usually mercurial Pacific Northwest weather. “It was basically a miracle that we got almost no rain during the 24 days that we shot,” comments Estes. “But the really amazing thing is that just before we shot the final scenes, on the one day we really needed it, we got rain and this incredible bank of mist that sets the mood for the climax. We really felt then that someone was looking out for us.”