Mission
CHAR-LEN houses and nurtures new found creative processes through an eclectic mix of elemental and innovative play shaped from both historic and contemporary styles and techniques honoring humanity and truth in storytelling.
Our Story
A Cottage Industry: a Visionary Haven Founded In 2020
Just after WWII, John’s grandparents, Joseph and Isabelle Simmons built this summer cottage and named it after their two daughters, Charlotte (John’s Mom) and Lenore (John’s Godmother).
The Cottage was the hub of celebration, retreat, rumination and creative play. For summer after summer, his family returned to the cottage, with their primary sources of entertainment being a cultural mix of novels, comic books, a 78rpm phonograph, an AM radio from the 1930s, an ocean, and all of the anticipated visits from family and friends, offering the discourse that continues to inspire John’s creative life.
The seeds of many projects were nurtured inside of Char-Len. John says, “In my heart I will always remember it as a kind of creative retreat where practical means were found to see imaginative projects flourish.” With Char-Len what seemed impossible became quite possible with the support of collective thought and action.
Nature, of course helped more than he realized in seeing things through. At night, dreams were directed and jostled by the pull of the ocean tides. The memory of Char-Len still holds the promise of playtime. Play is a vital and powerful thing.
A new film slated for the Spring of 2022
The Unsymmetrical!
The Unsymmetrical!
Before a sexually liberated world came into play, another world, a parallel one existed where men and women groped for a means to identify themselves. Where nature’s conservation played second fiddle to a politically power hungry conservatism.
The premise…“In a recognizable parallel universe, citizens of the world are chomping at the bit for the purplish poetry of Rex Timberlake. Because of the unorthodox means used to publish endless volumes of of Rex’s salacious work, The Timberlake Factory is now being held accountable for an eco-disaster of apocalyptic proportions. Four people of powerful means must come to face with their responsibility to themselves and to nature by facing their true sexual identities.
The Unsymmetrical is a serious comedy of manners reflecting the lives of four people through the shards of a shattering culture.
Char-Len’s 2021 Campaign
Char-Len’s BIG Reveal!
Char-Len’s status has changed considerably since we had our first Indiegogo campaign over two years ago. With your help, we’re now recognized as an international award winning production company. Again, please realize that this could not have happened without the support and faith you placed in our enterprise back in 2019.
I’m asking that you do what you can to help us in our attempts to raise our budgetary goals this coming 2022 in support of our next film project, The Unsymmetrical.
The Unsymmetrical is a ‘serious’ comedy of manners with roots in mid 20th century pulp melodramas. It’s my rather eccentric riff on suppression, crudity, and the hypocrisy that often lies beneath the guise of what’s politically correct. You’ll find information about this and all of our upcoming projects in the Indiegogo Overview that will begin to run tomorrow afternoon. But, I digress…
We sincerely hope that you’ll find it in your hearts to support us. As always…Be well…And remain engaged.
Yours,
John Alban Coughlan, Producing Director of Char-Len, a Cottage Industry
“In Dollars and Sense, the photography, the writing and especially the performances come together to create a short but shattering portrait of a sundered relationship between two men who are both self-deceiving in totally different ways. The effect is almost unbearably poignant.”
-Joe Keenan
Emmy Award Winning Writer/Producer and Novelist