“In the heart of every woman is the memory of a rose.” -Jean Gordon
In September 2010, I commenced work on the short film “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” in Philadelphia with my co-director, co-designer, and shining star, Phaedra Mae Restad. The film is comprised of narrative and documentary vignettes that explore the symbol of the rose and its human companion, the woman, as they have appeared together in the art, history, religion, and folklore of the world.
Over the last four months, Phaedra and I have raised live insects in her bedroom, built sets in our living room, prepared banquets of rose treats, dyed yards of lace in our bathtub, and traveled all the way to Tyler, Texas for the making of this film. We are so thankful for the help and support that we have received from friends, family, and total strangers. We still have quite a bit left to shoot and are always looking for more talented folks to help out on set. For more information, or if you are interested in becoming a part of the project in any way, please email us at sgrtr.film[at]gmail.com and we can send you a full treatment, more production stills, and future shoot dates.
In May, I worked my first job as production designer on a short film called “Proposals,” written and directed by David Ehrlich. The film follows a young New York couple who stage fake marriage proposals in fancy restaurants in an effort to score free meals and revive their wilting relationship. One of the biggest challenges for me was producing a distinct ambiance for each of the six different restaurants featured in the film, three of which I created from scratch in one location.
I was prop master and the sole art crew on this music video for the Morning Benders’ song “All Day Day Light” directed by Jack Ferry. We shot the video this summer, but it spans all four seasons thanks to the magic of rear projection, dry autumn leaves, and fake plastic snow. Our budget didn’t allow for a professional snow machine, so I built an “old fashioned snow bag” from a design I found in a book on classic Hollywood special effects. As you can see, it was a snowy success!
In February, I art directed a series of four promos for Mother New York, each featuring a key member of WNBC’s Channel 4 news team. This spot, starring anchor Chuck Scarborough, was shot on location at a diner in New York’s Financial District where I rearranged tables and chairs, dressed the scene with available props, and styled food and beverages; a set of tasks that l would become quite familiar with on many location restaurant shoots in the future.
It was a pleasure to work with New York creative duo Labour on this series of seven ads in which they propose possible tastes for Stride Gum’sMystery Flavor. As prop master, I bought, found, and made more than fifty props in three days. I also managed props on set and made sure that they got chopped, whacked, and chewed to the directors’ satisfaction.
This commercial, produced by Greencard Pictures for NBC’s morning news show Today In New York, is one of my favorite things that I have worked on. Appropriately abbreviated “T.I.N.Y.,” it features a miniature model city by production designer John Furgason that I spent most of a week helping him build out of foamcore. I also worked as his assistant on set, operating the model’s moving parts and bringing it to life for the camera.
I was John Furgason’s assistant again in August on this series of three commercials for GE’s Ecomagination Challenge produced by Greencard Pictures. The commercials, which urge people to invent new ways to tackle environmental problems, also required a high level of inventiveness from the art department, as the special effects were all achieved in camera and depended heavily on creative prop modifications.
“Looking Glass” is a short screenplay about a young woman who discovers a two-way mirror through time in her childhood home. I wrote it for a contest on Massify.com in May 2009 and made the pitch video with public archive footage and sound by Hermit Thrushes. The script received an honorable mention and is still available to read at massify.com/projects/lookingglass.
“Ghost Story” is my BFA thesis film from the University of Colorado at Boulder, completed Spring 2008. It is a magical realist coming-of-age story shot entirely in my hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado and stars two of my favorite people in the universe, Bradyn Kawcak and Phaedra Mae Restad.
