A commitmentphobic slacker becomes a birth coach…for men.
“ManDoula” is a raunchy buddy comedy, about the displaced heir to a strip club empire who becomes the student of an embittered birthing coach, or Doula.
This film is in the vein of “Knocked Up” and “The Hangover”.
“ManDoula” follows the journey of Nelson, kicked out of the strip club franchise that his father began, as he meets Clark, who runs a birth center. Clark seeks to make Nelson his protégé in the “Doula” business. Problems occur when Nelson discovers that Clark has been using him for his own purposes, so he quits, and other complications ensue.
Particularly hysterical are the “Man becomes Doula” training sequences, where Clark goes to extremes to teach Nelson some empathy for women. For example, Clark straps electrodes on to Nelson’s stomach and zaps him to simulate the pain of contractions.
About the Writer: Laura Somers
Born in Houston, TX, Laura Somers holds a BFA from NYU’s TISCH School of the Arts. Her work has been declared by American Theater Magazine as “hot…hip…a fresh eye toward its subject matter and the inventiveness and bravery to help its audience see it with fresh eyes”. She studied Screenwriting through UCLA’s Professional Program and Film Studies at LACC, while learning production working in the art department, as a producer’s assistant and editor. Her productions have received grants from IBM, the Austin Arts Commission, Banana Republic and Vanity Fair. In 2009, she received an artist development fellowship from Film Independent.
Click the Link below to see the One Sheet or Sizzle Reel:
ManDoula – One Sheet – Open as a PDF
Sizzle Reel Video - Vimeo Link
ManDoula – Back Story : A Note from the Writer, Laura Somers
ManDoula began when I rented a room from a middle aged, patchouli wearing childbirth coach (Doula). She had a habit of zeroing in on people who were usually smack dab in the middle of a life crisis. Her M.O. was to put all of her energy into their personal transformation.
When I moved in with her, my life was in need of some spring-cleaning. I was new to Los Angeles, had no job and no prospects, and I was fresh out of a bad breakup. I was a perfect candidate to be next in line for her self-appointed makeover program. For months this woman would critique my dates, my hygiene, my dress, always qualifying it with she “was preparing me to be a better partner, and a better person”. And since it seemed to me that I wasn’t making much headway in the life department, I willing played Eliza Doolittle to her Henry Higgins.
This loosely autobiographical story is inspired by the life lessons she attempted to impart on me. A mixture of seriousness and comedy, ManDoula‘s wacky, playful tone pokes fun at those in my generation who find themselves walking the line between emerging adulthood and extended adolescence.
This script was written because I believe a story this personal can become universal. The experiences I had while living with the Doula, the stories many of her professional peers shared with me, and all the humor gives the script legitimacy that audiences around the world will be able relate to.
A Note About Men and Fatherhood
When I lived with the Doula, I often sat in on her childbirth classes, observing parents as they prepared themselves for this next stage in their lives. As a Doula, my roommate’s focus was intent on getting Mom and Dad whipped into shape. She believed that if the parents’ relationship failed, everyone loses, and she put all her efforts into drilling that message into her students’ heads. The fathers always seemed awkward, while to the mothers child-rearing seemed to come a little more naturally.
I once witnessed a father who could only bring himself to watch his newborn son from across the room. He stood in the doorway, unable to cross the threshold to take his son into his arms. I think it’s a very telling symbol about how so many men relate to their children. They’re often standing on the outside of parenthood, looking in. Time after time, people tell me that they wished their Dad had played a more active role in their lives.
Obviously, the Man-becomes-Doula perspective is something that easily lends itself to comedy, and humor is always a great way to put a mirror up to society.
The basic story of ManDoula is about Clark coaching Nelson how to love Ava, and through Nelson loving Ava he becomes equipped to be a better father to his own child. Nelson and Ava’s story reflect contemporary relationships: young men stuck in a state of arrested development, avoiding making any adult choices for fear that they will make the same mistakes their parents did, and young women who are more than ever choosing non-traditional routes of motherhood to “have it all – almost” when the fairy-tale doesn’t emerge.
