Sarah Megan Thomas sets rowing rom-com in Philadelphia

IF SARAH Megan Thomas' dedication to "Backwards," the film she wrote, produced and starred in was ever questioned, then the revelation that she hates Tootsie Rolls would assuage any doubt.

In one scene, Thomas' character Abi is so distraught after missing out on her chance to row in the Olympics that she proceeds to eat Tootsie Roll upon Tootsie Roll until her cheeks start to puff out like a squirrel preparing for a long, Tootsie Roll-less winter.

"I didn't know you hate them!" said locally-based director Ben Hickernell. "I thought you were spitting them out because I made you do so many takes. I kept telling you to stuff more in there."

"I probably should have [written in] Hershey Kisses," Thomas said.

But Thomas, who grew up in the area and went to the Shipley School, needed catchable candy because in one scene, her high-school boyfriend Geoff (played by every girl of a certain age's hypothetical high-school boyfriend, James Van Der Beek) tosses Abi her favorite candy and effectively resparks their relationship.

It's Geoff that Abi turns to after she quits the U.S. rowing team, after being relegated to alternate status for the second Olympics in a row. Geoff, as the athletic director of the fictional Union Academy, hooks up Abi up as the crew coach for the girls team.

"It's a bit of an unconventional sports story, and that first act is about not reaching your goal and what's next," Hickernell said. "I think that's something a lot of people can relate to. You don't always get the first thing on your mind but you can still win."

That relatability was key for Thomas, who said she met with a lot of directors who wanted to take the movie in a darker direction.

"I loved sports films growing up and I wanted to create a sports film that fathers can take their daughters to and teenagers can watch," Thomas said. She loved Hickernell's most recent film, "Lebanon, Pa." and believed that Hickernell understood what she wanted to do with the film, her first as writer and producer.

That immediate connection with the material also helped in casting Van Der Beek. Hickernell said that as a new dad, Van Der Beek was in the right place in his life to connect with a story he believed was about enabling other people's dreams. While other women might swoon over Van Der Beek due to his career-definining role in TV's "Dawson's Creek," Thomas didn't share that history. "I was more of a '90210' girl," she said.

But Thomas didn't have her mind set on Beverly Hills when writing the film, which is set and shot mostly in Philadelphia. "For me Philly was a character," Thomas said.

Her local roots opened doors for her at places like the Vesper Boat Club, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and at Shipley. Even the Stotesbury Regatta gave them a chance to shoot races that eventually ended up in the film.

While Thomas didn't hire Hickernell because he was from Philly, it certainly helped. "Sometimes the universe is just telling you something," she said.