Olivia Newton-John’s family continues to cherish her memory.
A year after her death, the star’s nephew Michael Easterling and his wife Jaala Ruffman Easterling released their new film deltopia, on which Newton-John was executive producer.
“She never got to see the last movie, but we had a screening, and her best friend Nancy said, ‘You know what Olivia would say? This is Fat For the next one [generation],'” Jaala tells PEOPLE. “It was great to hear that from her best friend.”
Deltopiaout now, is a coming-of-age story inspired by events that took place during Deltopia — a real-life weekend party that draws thousands of students to Isla Vista, a town bordering the University of California, Santa Barbara, every April — in 2014. That year, things took a turn for the worse. when partygoers and police clashed in the street, leading to more than 100 arrests and dozens of injuries.
IN Deltopia, co-written and directed by Jaala and Michael, a group of recent graduates join the party to celebrate their newfound freedom. But nothing prepares them for what is to come.
“When Fat when it first came out, it was considered a bit controversial,” says Michael. “This movie has that coming-of-age feel to it fat, and also has fun and good times that you see Fat.”
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Since Newton-John died of breast cancer aged 73 in August 2022, Jaala and Michael say they have missed her “every day”.
“She was an angel on earth,” says Jaala. “But we are so blessed to still be able to listen to her music and watch her movies.” Adds Michael: “She inspires us every day to keep creating and moving forward.”
PEOPLE: Did you always know you wanted to make a movie about the real-life events that happened in Deltopia in 2014?
JAALA RUFFMAN EASTERLING: Well, we’ve always wanted to make a coming-of-age movie about teenagers graduating from high school and coming out of adolescence into adulthood. We were working on that idea for a while, and then Mikey found these crazy videos of the riots in 2014, and we were like, “Oh my god, this is such a cool metaphor for their fight against oppression, man.” We said, “They have to go here.”
MICHAEL EASTERLING: Filming based on a true story really made it come together and make it feel real and authentic. We said with amusement, “This is the perfect place for our characters to go and explore and figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives.” We both come from music videos, but our goal has always been to make a feature film. The achievement of making the film and selling it to Lionsgate was huge for us. And now to see how well people receive him is not even a dream.
Deltopia movie poster.
Lionsgate
How has the fan response been so far?
ME: Unbelievable. I mean, we’re thrilled to hear how the audience reacts to it. I really think it’s one of those movies that will end up being a cult classic that teenagers will be talking about for a long time.
Something like a movie from 2003 Thirteen.
JRE: Exactly! Catherine Hardwicke directed it and she is amazing. Growing up, I used to go to Blockbuster, and when I found the independent film section, my life changed. I said, “Oh my God, these are different. They feel entitled.” They make you feel weird, they make you feel uncomfortable. They address real anxiety. I feel like there’s a difference when you watch an independent film that really feels authentic and raw. That’s what we were trying to do Deltopia.
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How do you balance each other with work?
JRE: We’ve been working together for a long time, so now we kind of have a rhythm. It’s really about trust. I mean, we both do everything, but one of us will take the lead at different times. When someone wants to get another chance, it’s never, “Oh, I don’t know if we need it.” We know there is a reason, we believe in each other and we fight for it.
ME: That’s the balance we’ve been working on over the past 10 years of making music videos. Sometimes I like to immerse myself in the cinematography, and then Jaala will kind of bring me back and say, “Let’s focus on the story, the characters, the dialogue.” It’s a really good balance.
JRE: I also think it’s really cool that we have a male voice and a female voice, so you have authentic characters all over the place. I’m so happy we’re a duo because there would be a lot more pressure. I like having a partner.
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Footage from the movie Deltopia.
Lionsgate
Your daughter Gia was only 3 months old when you shot this film. How did you manage everything?
JRE: It was crazy. I’m glad you asked about it because it’s such an important thing to talk about. I pumped on set. Thank God we have my mother, my grandmother, so she took care of her. But I was full of energy on the set all the time. I had cordless pumps. People thought I was stuffing my bra, and I said, “No, it’s not a fashion statement. I’m feeding my daughter.” In the evening, we went home to the three-month-old child. It was kind of crazy, but I’m so thankful we made it and had Grandma there.
JA: Yes, we are very happy for grandma. For the first few months of her life, we would want to be there every day, so it was hard when we had to FaceTime or look at pictures and just miss her so much. But now he has a good relationship with his grandmother. They got really close the first few months. At first, she didn’t miss us too much.
JRE: We actually refused to have a baby for a while because I was like, “Let’s make a movie first, let’s make a movie first.” And then COVID happened, so our film was paused, and we said: “We don’t know when we’ll make the film now, so let’s have a child.” So we did it. Girls out there, you can do anything. You can be a mom, you can have a career, you can have everything.
ME: Olivia was a perfect example of how to be a mom and have a career at the same time. In fact, when Jaala was pregnant, Olivia was the first person to notice her bump. She noticed her glow – it wasn’t even a bump yet. It was like, “Are you pregnant?” And then we said, “No.” And then two days later we said, “Yes.” Olivia was able to meet Gia and have that little relationship before she died.
JRE: Yes, we lived with Olivia when we had Gia. Olivia said, “You can do anything, Jaala, you can do anything. You can have a child, you can have a career. You don’t have to compromise.”
How did your love story begin?
ME: I’m originally from North Carolina and around 2008 my mom had brain cancer. I was there with her as she went through it. During that time my uncle [John Easterling] started dating Olivia. Around the time she passed, my uncle John was with Olivia at the Great Wall of China, but he flew back to be with my mom during her last days. After she died, my uncle said, “Do you want to go to California and just hang out?” He gave me the opportunity to come to California and I lived with John and Olivia in Malibu. I met Chloe there [Lattanzi], Olivia’s daughter. We started getting together and shooting some music videos and hanging out and Chloe’s best friend at the time was Jaala. Jaala shot music videos and short films, so I saw her work before I met her. When we first met I said, “Oh my God, you’re this amazing director,” and she said, “Oh my God, I feel the same way about you.” She saw some of my music videos and stuff, and we hit it off right away. We met and connected through Olivia and her daughter.
JRE: I’ve been best friends with Chloe my whole life, and Olivia has always been a second mom to me. When we got married, me and Mikey, me and Chloe became cousins, and Olivia was my aunt. So basically, we have Olivia, Chloe and John to thank for the two of us being together and having our careers and everything. It just goes to show how one bit of love can lead to so much more. I think it’s pretty nice.
Chloe Lattanzi on grief and keeping Olivia Newton-John’s mission alive: ‘This work helps me not lose it’
When you think of Olivia, what is the memory that always brings a smile to your face?
JRE: For me it would have to be my nights with Chloe and Olivia. We lived together for the last two years of Olivia’s life, actually. We all lived together on a ranch in Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, and every night me, Chloe, and Olivia made dinner together. That was the best. We had a lot of fun.
ME: She really was a second mom and it was a lot of fun when we lived there. She had these two ponies named Harry and Winston. I would take them down to the pen for her and run into this huge sand pit every morning and she would have so much fun when she could get down. She’d say, “Meet me down there at 7 in the morning so you can start the horses.” She would always film it and just laugh a lot.
JRE: And she was very funny. So funny. I don’t know if many people know this about her, but she was always cracking jokes. She was very funny, so I miss her jokes and laughing with her. I literally don’t know of a better man who ever lived. It has to be worse with Mother Teresa.
ME: She had no ego. When we were shooting her music videos, she would go around and shake everyone’s hand on the set. She knew that each person’s work was so important. Her album Grace and gratitude taught us a lot. It’s a really healing album.
JRE: What Mikey said about how she behaved on set, that’s something that was instilled in us from the beginning. If you get that big, there are reasons you’re there other than your talent. You are a good person.
JA: She brought me backstage once to meet Tina Turner and they were best friends. They were the coolest icons next to each other.
Can we expect more collaborations between you and Chloe in the future?
JRE: She’s so talented and we actually have one of her songs Deltopia. It’s on the soundtrack. She plays a small episodic role Deltopia, the same. He has some other great songs coming out. It’s actually some of her best stuff that’s coming out soon, and it’s stuff that Olivia has heard that she’s been so excited about as well. I’m so stoked that Chloe will be releasing it soon.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know about Deltopia?
JA: You see some sex and drugs and rock and roll in the movie, but at the end of the day, I think it’s about love and friendship and making mistakes and trying to grow up and be a better person.
JRE: Luna Blaise, Madison Pettis, Charlie Gillespie, Hart Denton, Greer Grammar, Will Peltz, they all gave such amazing performances and are going to be big stars. Everyone should go see it!
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Source: HIS Education