My senior year at ACU, I knew I wanted to submit at least one film to the university short film fest. I had a great experience two years before with my film Face Down and won several awards. Since then, I found a love for writing screenplays, but had not had another opportunity to actually direct and produce any of the other things I had written. Since this was my last film fest to be eligible to submit as a student, my goal was to produce at least one of my 10 odd scripts.
Of course as a senior and a leader on campus, I was very busy and wish I had started on my films earlier in the year, but I finally made the time for it about 3 weeks before the submission deadline. I picked one of my scripts and got to work with production and post production. At the same time, one of my good friends (also starting late) asked me to give him feedback on his script. At the end of the three weeks, I successfully submitted two short films to the festival which were both accepted.
Say I’m Sorry
Say I’m Sorry
With my time constraints, I knew I needed to pick one of my scripts that would be simple and easy to produce in a short amount of time with a small cast and crew. Say I’m Sorry was one of my favorites because of its timely message about AI and its cute and endearing feel. Additionally, the middle act is basically a montage and it only called for two actors, so it would be comparatively easy to film and edit.
I had just gotten back from a week long trip to Paint Rock and I got right to work with casting and pre production planning. I had a partner, Jenn Dement, who agreed to take over cinematography so that I could focus on everything else, but on the day of filming, she got the flu and was unable to get out of bed. So on the first weekend back in Abilene, I filmed two thirds of the shots with a story board I had drawn up the night before. Luckily, I convinced my girlfriend, her roommate, and Emma Boerm to give me extra hands on set (my girlfriend’s house).
The following weekend, I filmed the last third of the shots (along with all of Ventriloquist), and then spent a week on editing and post production before submitting it on that next Friday. To finish the editing in time, I had to pull some long nights, but it was ok because I did it with all of my friends who were also editing their films. We all went to Rylee’s house and set up what I called “the editing dome” for the night.
There are so many things I wish I could have done better with this film. So many. Maybe with more time, or more people, or more resources, I could have made it exactly how I wanted it. However, despite the rushed nature of the project and its many flaws, I am proud of what I was able to make and the short story I was able to tell. I had a blast working on it with my friends and showcasing it at the historic paramount theater.
At the gala, Say I’m Sorry won an award for best original music (J.C. did an amazing job and absolutely deserved it) and best cinematography. The day after, I got personal feedback from the judges who included Randy Brewer (founder and executive producer of Revolution Pictures), Brent McCorkle (director of Jesus Revolution), and Sommerly Simser (Feature Film Production Finance at Netflix). Additionally, the film was selected by the judges to receive funding to cover future submission fees to other local and regional film festivals. I intend to make a few more improvements to the film and then give it a try on the film fest circuit. I am excited for the opportunity to show the film to more people and make connections in the film community.
My Ventriloquist and Me
In the same week I started work on Say I’m Sorry, my friend Rylee Spaulding asked if I would meet with him to give him feedback on his script. When we sat down to look at it he said “Ok, so you know that pixar short where the old man plays chess with himself, Jerry’s Game? Well, that but with a ventriloquist and his puppet!” I replied “That sounds interesting. So what happens? Can I read the script?” and he said “that’s all I’ve got.”
Well, as always, I can’t say no to Rylee. We ended up having a lot of fun spitballing the idea and then writing the script together. I came up with the structure and flow of the story and then let him go in and write the dialogue where he could put in all of the puppet jokes he wanted. From there we had to do a mad dash for two weeks to cast, secure a location, and other pre production work (Rylee made the puppet from scratch, and yes, green is the only color felt he could find). The weekend before the final film was due, we filmed all of the shots in two days and then spent the next week on editing and post production before turning it in on Friday.
It’s a miracle that it even made it to the finish line at all. Ultimately, it was definitely a project of love for Rylee and I, and I thought it turned out pretty funny. Going forward, I think the idea could become something good if we scrapped it and actually spent time rewriting and reshooting. However, I think we are both happy with how it is and would rather move on to other projects than redo this one. Rylee is one of my best friends so I am happy I could help make his random, crazy idea come to life even if it stressed me out for a couple weeks.
