LIGHTS, CAMERA, DETENTION
An ’80s Classic Gets Reimagined on Bainbridge
BY CHRISTY CARLEYPHOTOS COURTESY ILLUMINARE PRODUCTIONS
Emma Cameron didn’t always think of herself as a writer. But when she sat down to write the screenplay for “Detention,”—set and filmed entirely on Bainbridge—Cameron said that writing became like an addiction.
She began with the characters: four island teens, their families and a therapist who happens to also be an exhausted new mother. Once she got to know them, the dialogue—from playful banter to difficult conversations—came naturally.
“Detention,” in which Cameron also acted, produced and directed alongside her husband, Mark, has been dubbed a “modern day Breakfast Club.” Like the John Hughes film, it centers on the lives of teenagers who show up to their school library on a Saturday, each with a unique reason for being there, complicated by a personal backstory. But unlike those in “Breakfast Club,” Cameron’s protagonists eschew labels, such as “nerd” and “jock,” from the get-go. Both the characters and the actors playing them display emotional depth and range early on. They’re not perfect, but they are kind.
The nuance of each character is complemented by the specificity of time and place in the film. These are not timeless archetypal high schoolers. They are high schoolers of the 2020s. And they are very much on Bainbridge Island.
During the pandemic, Emma and Mark Cameron—who co-own Illuminare Productions—produced a commercial for the mindfulness-based social and emotional learning (SEL) program Conscious Classroom. While filming, Cameron worked with a handful of island teens, later leading them in improv workshops and helping them write monologues. It was there that Cameron learned about the contemporary high school experience on the island: the academic pressure, the social groups.
Inspired by their work with Conscious Classroom, Cameron’s film departs from the plot of the “Breakfast Club” by transforming Saturday detention into a group therapy session with a disgruntled psychologist played (hilariously) by Cameron herself. The teens engage in trust falls, breathing exercises and visualization. It’s a parody of SEL that lands the film squarely in the 21st Century. When the sleep-deprived therapist finally dozes off, the students set up a kind of baby-camera with their phones in order to escape the confines of the library.
While it may touch on universal themes, “Detention” remains a film rooted in place. Cameron estimates that about 90 percent of the cast is local to Washington.
Cameron moved to Bainbridge eight years ago from Los Angeles and says she feels like she’s “won the lottery.”
One day, while driving past the high school, she had the idea of making a film there. “Detention” is Cameron’s first feature-length film, so a film shot primarily in one room (e.g. a school library) seemed doable. But as the characters and plot of “Detention” expanded, so did its filming locations. We watch as the teens drive through the forest and along waterfront roads. We see them inside their homes, at Pegasus Coffee House and Point White Pier.
“Detention” opens with sweeping aerial shots of the island, its beauty balanced by the dry humor of Cameron’s narration. She winks to local viewers with jokes about roundabouts and city council meetings. Pickleball also features prominently and in the film, it’s an official high school sport. But behind the closed doors of stunning, waterfront homes lurk the same problems that plague families everywhere: illness, infidelity and addiction to name just a few.
Cameron calls her production team “legendary” and raves about the chemistry of the cast. She also notes the generosity of islanders. Fairbank Construction donated an SUV and an ADU to use during filming. Pegasus and Bene offered coffee and food. Island businesses and homeowners donated their spaces.
“Detention” is one of a handful of movies filmed on Bainbridge in recent years. Rachel Noll James’ projects “Ingress” (2023) and “Inheritance” (2024) were both shot on the island, as was the pilot for Anisa Ashabi’s series “Finding Chaz,” which was screened at the Lynwood Theater in 2025. “Detention” had its island premier in August and will be shown at the Seattle Admiral Theater September 26 and 27 before hitting theaters across the country and as far away as London.
Cameron says she has a future project in mind that takes place “in the same world” as “Detention,” though a portion of the film will be set across the Agate Pass Bridge—“out of the bubble.” She’s finished a draft of the script in another writing marathon, but filming is on the back burner for now while she catches her breath.
“It’s really fun,” she said of the new project. “There’s a lot of music, a lot of dancing and a lot of emotional stuff. I can’t wait to shoot it.”
