Joe Forsberg Tackles Bullying with His Film ‘Zero Tolerance’

As you’re very much aware, bullying has become quite an epidemic and I’m sure some if not many of you have experienced some sort of bullying throughout your life, heck I have, and yes, it sucks. But of one the ways to tackle it is to make people more aware that it is still happening and the consequences are very much real, and in honor of bullying awareness month, we are pleased to share with you the official trailer and poster for Joe Forsberg’s latest feature, Zero Tolerance, along with a few questions to the man himself.

The film is written, directed and produced by Joe Forsberg.

Clare Kramer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bring it on), Yancy Butler (Kick-ass, Lake Placid), Madeline Carroll (Machine Gun Preacher, Flipped), Natalie Scheetz (Madison County, Shadow Theory, Siberia), Chris Bouffard (You or a Loved one), Anthony Quinn (Boy Meets World), and Lindsey Lamer (Girl Meets World) star in the film.

Synopsis: When a young teen takes his own life after years of relentless bullying, his family chooses to pursue their own justice after authorities and the school don’t take action. While seeking revenge they must decide the value of a life and determine who the true victims are.

As mentioned above, I had the privilege of asking Joe Forsberg a few questions;

[Horror-Movies.ca] – Hey Joe, what led you to your feature Zero Tolerance, and what can you tell us about the movie?

[Joe Forsberg] – It was definitely the increase in bullying and school violence that really pushed me to make this feature. I always had the idea in my mind, but unlike other stories I have, I felt this one needed to be a priority. Every week we hear about a suicide or some sort of violence at school as a result of bullying, and every story is the same. We here what happened, what the schools response is, and that’s about it. At no point has anyone taken responsibility or been held accountable for their actions, and as a result, there is no resolution for this epidemic. I really wanted to make sure that we focused on how suicide and bullying effects everyone involved and the pain it leaves behind.

I chose to also explore revenge because that’s human nature and the violence behind it is really the only way to get the attention of children and teens. This story is extremely powerful and I did a lot of research and interviews to make sure I made it as accurate as possible because I wanted to give this topic the respect it deserves. The film focuses on a family who loses a loved one to suicide and shows the path each family member and friend takes to get answers and closure, whether that be revenge or creating awareness. There are definitely some twists and turns and yes it is violent, but we also made it a priority to show that we do not condone violence.

[Horror-Movies.ca] – I was going to say that there seems to be a tighter grip on bullying, but with the advent of social media it has become so difficult to eradicate as many are now bullied 24/7. Do you think Zero Tolerance will help raise more awareness?

[Joe Forsberg] – This has become an epidemic and I think everyone is aware that it has become a huge problem. Society understands why kids are bullied, how kids are bullied and the results. To make a film only focused on that would be a waste and not make a powerful impact. I wanted to create awareness on how it effects families, friends, schools, and explore how they deal with the loss of a student or loved one. I want bullies to see everything that happens so that they recognize what a piece of shit they are. I don’t want them to be scared of violence, I want them to be scared about the day that they will have to take responsibility for their actions. We don’t get to decide the value of a life, we don’t have the right to make people feel like pieces of shit just so we can make ourselves feel better.

[Horror-Movies.ca] – You have a great cast attached, how was the casting process for you?

[Joe Forsberg] – Honestly, my favorite part of filmmaking is the casting process. I get to see how each person chooses to bring a character to life and it also helps me fix any dialogue issues that I might have. I think any writer/director will tell you the biggest benefit of doing both is that you have a clear vision in your head of who is capable of bringing each character to life. Now I didn’t have to go after big names to make this movie a success, but for certain roles I had to. When you go through 30 or 40 submission on backstage, you get an idea of what will work and not work.

I go through 25 submissions for Claire’s role and realize, okay, this isn’t working, I need someone who is proven. One of the benefits of using backstage or IMDB is being able to find young talent and giving them a chance to prove themselves. Rylee Button had no experience acting but she submitted an audition that blew me away and I had to have her in my film. Unfortunately, there are not a million Rylee’s out there. I think anyone that has worked with me will tell you that I am not afraid to take chances, I am not afraid to put myself out there and get shot down. I will ask Jennifer Lawrence, Sarah Michelle Gellar, I don’t really care. Now with that said, you also don’t want to send out a million emails with a million offers because that is going to make it seem like you don’t know

what you are doing or what you want. Luckily Sam Dobbins was able to hook me up with Mark Robert who is an agent and he really helped me understand the casting process a little better, which obviously had a huge impact on the film. Withouth him this would’ve been a very different cast, so I owe him I a lot. Clare Kramer and Madeline Carroll are actresses I have been a fan of for a long time, watching them bring the characters to life was so surreal. Madeline is beyond talented, I could not imagine anyone else playing that part. There were times where she made me cry, she gave us everything she had on every scene and I can’t thank her enough.

Her mother and her were even kind enough to give us advice while filming and help me better understand the business. Claire Kramer and Yancy Butler brought a lot of energy to set and were a lot of fun to work with. They made my job as a director very easy. With that said, we were also lucky enough to have Sam Dobbins and Natalie Scheetz, who were in my film Shadow Theory, return and take on some crucial roles. When you have them on your team, it relieves so much stress because that’s one less thing you have to worry about. Bea, Chris, Lindsey, Kelly, Brennon, Anthony, Dani, Mason.. everyone was amazing..this was a team effort, a few individuals are not going to make a movie, there has to be chemistry on set to make a movie as powerful as this and that’s exactly what we had.

For more information on the film, hit up their official Facebook page.

If you’re being bullied, and you need help, please seek out the Stomp Out Bullying page.