BOSTON, MA (March 13, 2015) – Award-winning, Boston-based, documentary filmmakers Amy Geller and Allie Humenuk spent over three and a half years filming “The Guys Next Door,” an important feature-length documentary that invites viewers into the home of Erik and Sandro, a married gay couple with two daughters birthed by their friend Rachel. In her 40s, Rachel is married to Tony and they have three biological children of their own. Click here to view the trailer.

Between 2011 and 2015, while Humenuk and Geller were shooting, this country reached a tipping point in the fight to legalize same sex marriage. Today, thirty-seven US states, plus Washington DC, passed marriage equality laws. And in June of this year, the US Supreme Court will make a groundbreaking decision on whether all 50 states must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Despite the swift-moving success of the gay rights movement to legalize same-sex marriage, gay families still face discrimination. Meet “The Guys Next Door:” Erik and Sandro are a loving couple raising two young daughters. This film highlights personal moments which reveal the beauty, challenge and complexity of being parents. According to Humenuk: “We believe that our characters’ openness, sincerity, and their sense of humor will foster empathy and understanding. If people see what a loving gay family looks like, it changes minds.”

Broadcasters and film festivals agree. After pitching the film at IFP’s Independent Film Week in New York City last fall, the filmmakers received requests from a number of prominent broadcasters and prestigious film festivals to see the next cut by September 2015. Geller and Humenuk need to raise $60,000 to finish editing the film, which they plan to release in 2016. On March 8 (through April 11), they will launch a Kickstarter campaign to seek backing from the public.

The filmmakers are particularly thrilled to announce the support of the legendary country band the Dixie Chicks. The pro-gay rights group donated a signed guitar to be included as part of the film’s Kickstarter campaign.

To date, the film has been funded in part by the New England-based LEF Foundation and a group of generous donors. The project is also supported by the IFP and the Center for Independent Documentary, the film’s non-profit fiscal sponsor.

FILMMAKERS

Amy Geller is an accomplished producer and line producer whose productions have been broadcast on PBS, the Documentary Channel, the BBC, Yes (Israel), and Turner Classic Movies (Spain and France). Her most ambitious independent production to date, “For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism” was broadcast nationally and internationally, screened at over 80 film festivals around the world, and is now available on Netflix and Hulu. Most recently, she served as Artistic Director of the Boston Jewish Film Festival from 2012-2014.

Allie Humenuk is an award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer whose films have been broadcast nationally and internationally. She was nominated for an Emmy for her camera work on the PBS series “Design Squad.” Her work has screened on: NOVA, POV, MTV, National Geographic, CBC, Discovery. Her feature documentary, “Shadow of the House,” was heralded as “one of the best films ever made on a artist and the artistic process” by Bo Smith, film curator at the MFA, Boston.

CAST

Rachel and Tony, a traditional married couple, live in the Boston suburbs with their three teenage children. But there’s nothing traditional about Rachel’s decision, at 41, to become a surrogate for Erik, her friend from college, and his husband Sandro. Not once, but twice within 2 years.

By helping her gay friends to have daughters, Rachel makes a deeply personal decision that has political implications. With the support of Tony and their children, she affirms gay rights and same-sex parenting.

Sandro grew up Catholic on the remote island of Sardinia in Italy. Fearful of being rejected, Sandro never came out to his mother, who died just weeks before he met Erik in New York City. Now a father, Sandro experiences a profound parental shift and begins to reevaluate his relationship with his mother.

Erik, like Sandro, has a complicated relationship with his mother Ellie. Her homophobic upbringing made her fear her son’s apparent homosexuality. She adored Erik but discouraged any perceived feminine behavior when he was a child. It was difficult for Erik to “come out,” in part because he internalized his mother’s homophobia. He does not want to pass this onto his children.

Erik and Sandro live in Portland, Maine with their two daughters – Rachel Maria and Eleonora.

For more information, please visit asquaredfilms.com.