Magic Castle Teens 'Make Believe' in Documentary

The documentary Make Believe follows six kids from the Junior Society at Hollywood's Magic Castle as they compete for the title of World’s Best Teen Magician. In the coming-of-age film, the teens learn life lessons and discover themselves, all seen through the quirky subculture of magic.  

A portion of Make Believe was filmed at the famed Hollywood institution and won best documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year, as well as the Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival.

According to director J. Clay Tweel, the film was conceived as a result of producer Steven Klein's personal experience.

“Steven was a teenage magician himself and he knew that he wanted to make a movie within the world of magic, but he didn’t really know what angle to take it from,” Tweel said. 

After stumbling upon a group of socially awkward teen magicians at Tannen’s Music Shop in New York, Klein returned home with the idea to make a documentary about the lives of teenage magicians.

“All of a sudden these three quiet, awkward boys picked up a deck of cards and went behind the counter and became these showman. Steven was very fascinated with the transformation,” Tweel said.

 Tweel and Klein agree that the film would not have been possible without the assistance of the staff at the Magic Castle. “All we knew is we wanted to make a documentary in the world of teenage magicians and it wasn’t until we went to the castle and met these teens that are involved in their youth program that we started to get an idea of what the characters within this world are like,” Tweel said.

In addition to the Magic Castle helping to provide the subjects for the film, staffers there also opened up their private back rooms for filming. Several of the board members from the Magic Castle, including former teen magician Neil Patrick Harris, were interviewed for the project.

The most rewarding part of directing Make Believe was capturing the teens' transformations on film, Tweel said. 

“Somebody that was shy learns all of a sudden to get a little more confidence or somebody that was trying to fit in finds a connection with somebody else and exchanges a friendship," he said. "Or in some cases, somebody that was possibly a little over confident learns that the golden rule is being humble. Whatever it is, we’ve caught some real kinds of life moments on screen and I think that was the most interesting thing to watch unfold.”

Make Believe, which will soon be released on DVD, is screening at the in West Hollywood on Wednesday and Thursday at  1 p.m., 3:10 p.m., 5:20 p.m., 7:40 p.m. and 10:10 p.m.

According to Klein, the run may be extended if ticket sales are steady.