Filmmaker Debra Markowitz has spent more than three decades bringing stories to life across Long Island, shaping the region’s film industry as Nassau County’s former film commissioner.
Now, she’s continuing that work from behind the camera, telling one of her own stories against the same backdrop. Her latest feature,“Wait List: A Love-ish Story” premiered on April 2 on Amazon Prime Video and will soon be available on YouTube, Google Play, Tubi, and other streaming platforms.
The Long Island-shot romantic dramedy follows an unconventional age-gap relationship between Lisa Chase (Bec Fordyce), a recently divorced woman navigating a new chapter of her life, and Carter Morgan (Travis Grant), a young man who has long harbored feelings for her – his childhood best friend’s mother – and decides to pursue this attraction.
“Before I became a filmmaker, I was the film commissioner, helping everybody else film on Long Island,” Markowitz said. “When I started making my own movies about 14 years ago, I realized this is where most of my cast and crew are, and where I already had the relationships to bring projects together.”
Over her 33-year tenure leading the Nassau County Film Office, which she founded, Markowitz helped grow film and television production across the region, overseeing more than 1,000 production days and generating over $400 million in economic impact. As president of the Long Island Film-TV Foundation, she launched the Long Island International Film Expo to support independent filmmakers, now in its 29th year.
Markowitz’s filmography spans genres, often leaning into heavier subject matter, including “Brimstone” and “From the Embers.” With “Wait List,” however, she said she was drawn to something more uplifting, inspired in part by the kind of feel-good films popularized by director John Hughes.
“At this point in my career, ‘Wait List’ was the absolute perfect film for me to do,” she said. “It felt like there were very dark times happening, and I wanted to do something light and fun, something that makes people smile and feel good.”
The film was produced through Intention Films and Media, the company Markowitz runs with her business partner and husband, John Marean. It began as a one-day short written with specific Long Island actors in mind, but once the cameras stopped rolling, she said she became so invested in the characters’ storylines that she wrote an entire feature in the next four days.
“It’s certainly a rom-com, but it doesn’t follow the standard form,” Markowitz said. “Everything is earned, and the things they go through are very real.”
For lead actor Travis Grant, a Merrick native and comedian, that approach is what sets the film apart, allowing its characters to fully confront the consequences of their choices.
Source: LI Press
