USC Cinematic Arts | First Film 2014

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Drama Films:

A Different Tree (14:37)

A Different Tree tells the story of an eight-year-old girl's journey to build a relationship with her absent father, through a class assigned family tree.

Director
Steven Caple Jr.

Writer
Victoria Rose

Producers
Tarik Jackson
Corina Maritescu

Production Designers
Evita Castine
Diana Chao

Cinematographers
David Beier
Gavin Garrison

Editors
Saira Haider
Orlee-Rose Strauss

Sound Designers
Alexandre Peralta
Kelby Wood

Assistant Director
Adam Tyree

All That Remains (16:10)

A dying recluse sets out to learn about his estranged brother's life upon receiving a request to write his eulogy.

Writer/Director
Eddie Ng

Producers
Jeff Chanley
Dan Zhao

Production Designer
Diana Chao

Cinematographer
Jeremy Royce

Editor
Faroukh Virani

Sound Design
Diego Perez

Production Sound
Chiung-wen Chang

First AD
Leslie Marchand

Composer
Giuseppe Vasapolli

Bite Night (12:28)

A high school track star falls for a SUBWAY® sandwich artist, who turns out to have more bite than she expected.

Director
Magee Clegg

Writer/Producer
John Berardo

Producer
Jenny Koreny

Cinematographer
Jonathan Pope

Sound Designer
Zheng Jia

Editor
Rejh Cabrera

Production Designer
Joe Haugen

Hair Makeup/ SFX Makeup
Yusuke Tateishi

Composer
Giona Ostinelli

VFX Artist
Gregory Jones

Blowback (17:11)

A spy breaks up with his girlfriend after another false accusation of infidelity, and in her rage, she discovers his true occupation as a spy and blows his cover to the arms dealer who is looking for him.

Director/Story
Robert Yahnke

Screenplay/Story
Aaron Thomas

Producer
Carlos Dorsey

Cinematographer
Jack Alexander

Editor/VFX
Gray Marshall

Music
Colton Weatherston

Post Sound
Kevin Senzaki

Costume Designer
Takashi Morimoto

Production Designers
Todd Gibbs
Alison Isenberg

1st Assistant Director
Marco Bargellini

2nd Assistant Director
Laila Petrone

Crossing (17:35)

Set in World War One France, Crossing tells the story of a young French soldier who tries to piece together what happen to him.

Writer/Director/
Producer
Michael Pontvert

Producer
Luke Taylor

Director of Photography
Philips Shum

Production Designer
Michelle Waring

Sound Designer
Brian Lam

Composer
Gautier Galard

Editors
Kaushik Sampath
Michael Pontvert

Casting Director
Susanna Griffith

Fox The Gambler (18:21)

A short film about bowling and battling your demons, 'Fox The Gambler' is the story of Carl, a lifelong gambler on a run of bad luck who suddenly finds himself on the verge of rolling the perfect 300 game.

Director/Writer
Vincent Labriola

Producer
Will Goldstein

Cinematographer
James Tarlton

Editor
Kevin Michael West

Production Designer
Michelle Waring

Sound Designer
Brian Bibbo

Composer
Thomas Brennan

Casting Director
Nicole Marie Milakovich

Graphic Designer
Scott Wold

Fragments (18:13)

Kyle, a tormented war veteran suffering from PTSD and dissociation, attempts to come to grips with his traumatic past and separate reality from his memories and dreams, all the while attempting to reconnect with the love of his life.

Cinematographer
Michael Cox

Sound Designer
Abby Potts

Production Sound Mixer
Mark Witte

Post-Production Sound
Abby Potts
Alexander Weiss

Editor
Richard Santiago

Production Design
Simon Harding

Composer
Giuseppe Vasapolli

Writer/Director
Richard Santiago

Producers
Yili Li
Annalis Clint
Eric Van Aelstyn

Madrugada Quebradiza: The Break of Day (16:00)

Angelica Arroyo, a Princeton freshman home in East LA for winter break, struggles with terrors in the aftermath of a campus rape. As her nightmares and flashbacks worsen, she begins to questions her sanity and her future.

Writer/Director/
Producer/VFX
Leonora Anzaldua

Producer
Nicholas Lazo

Co-Producer
Ian A. Ward

Cinematographer
Michael Cox

Assistant Director
Amanda Overton

Production Designer
William Sammons III

Editor
Michael La Breche

Production Sound Mixer
Sahand Nikoukar

Sound Supervisor
Eric Adrian Marshall

Sound Designer/Mixer
Brandon Jones

Matchbox (12:22)

Michael, a troubled man running from the biggest mistake of his life, meets a young boy named Theo in a nearby barn. He soon faces a shocking truth that he can't run or hide from this time.

Writer
Will Weggel

Director
Ali Kareem

Producers
Namrata Abhyankar
Barret Hirschberg

Cinematographer
Alan Boyu Wang

Assistant Director
Anh Phan

Production Designer
Remington Dewan
Diana Milena

Editors
Hunter Bermudez
Miguel Bituin III

Sound Designer
Congyu E
Rocky Faraj

Mimic (14:57)

Writer/Director
Braden R. Duemmler

Producer
Jessica Stephens

Co-Producers
Michael Lei
Ryan Mahuron

Editor
R.J. Daniel Hanna

Director of Photography
Jimmy Jung Lu

Sound Editors
Michael C. Martin, Jr.
Brian Lam

Production Designer
Lia Burton

Composer
Gavin Keese

Ordained (14:48)

On the night before his ordination into the priesthood, Robert, a young seminarian, struggles with feelings of desire and uncertainty.

Editors
Arun Narayanan
Hannah Phenicie

Director
Orlee-Rose Strauss

Writer
Joseph Sousa

Producers
Ashley Chrisman
Tim Smith

Cinematographer
Ryan Griswold
Charles Mazery

Production Designer
Kerry Yang
Leandro Tadashi

Assistant Director
Shaun Duffy

Sound Designers
Yeming Chen
Jonathan Maurer

Paper Lotus (30:00)

A struggling Taiwanese-American accessories designer tries to reconnect with her demanding father while navigating her grandmother's traditional Taiwanese funeral.

Cinematographer
Michal Dabal

Sound Designer
Agnes Liu

Editor
Bret Cornish

Composer
Ryo Shiina

Animator
Cecilia Fletcher

Production Design
Lia Burton

Writer/
Director
Kai-Ting Tiffany Wu

Producers
JC Chang
David Chen
Jennifer Ng

Production Sound Mixer
Rebecca Chan

Post-Production Sound
Agnes Liu

Present Trauma (14:46)

A psychological drama about Keith, a Marine veteran struggling to cope with family life after a combat tour overseas. When Keith decides to take in a stray dog , it ends up changing his life in a way that he and his family never expected.

Writer
Jeff Chanley

Director
Mark Manalo

Producers
Tim Astor
Thembi Banks

Cinematographers
Noah Kistler
Guan Xi

Assistant Director
Matthew Halla

Sound Designer
Alex Parslow
Jacob Strick

Editors
Lindsay Armstrong
Matthew McGregor

Production Designers
Takashi Uchida
Stephanie "Yaya" Valentin

Recoil (18:48)

When discovering a deep space distress call from his estranged brother, Marshall must choose to save himself or venture into the unknown Recoil effect for a chance at redemption.

Writer/Director/
Producer
Evan Matthews

Producers
Eric Matthews
Christina Granados

Cinematographer
Howard Newstate

Editor
Josie Azzam

Composer
Gareth Coker

Supervising Sound Editor
Jessie Pariseau

VFX Supervisor
Tarek Saleh

Casting Director
Erica Berger

Suffering (15:00)

After a chance meeting, Nan decides to take the advice of conceptual artist Juliette and become a suffering artist herself. But things don't go exactly as she'd plannedâ€¦

Director
Kyle Frederick

Producer
Emily Peters

Cinematographer
Christopher Kurose

Sound Designer
Alana Waksman

Editor
Jesse Robinson

Production Designer
Angel Herrera

Art Director
Prerna Chawla

Costume Designer
Kate Fry

Composers
Alexis Marsh
Samuel Jones

The Furries of War (17:24)

An exploited prime-time television actress must defend her career and maintain respect when her celebrity co-star returns from rehab with a Y2K-obsessed cult.

Director
John Berardo

Writer
Annabel Seymour

Playwright
Kelsey Garden

Producers
Magee Clegg
Patricia Pham

Cinematographer
Brian Frager

Production Designer
Saira Haider

Editor
Kristina Lyons

Composer
Alexander Arntzenn

Sound Designer
Zheng Jia

Unorthodox (23:10)

A coming-of-age story that examines the nature of faith, guilt, and religion through the eyes of a twelve year old Orthodox Jewish boy growing up in Los Angeles.

Director
Patrick Waismann

Writer
Chai Hecht

Producers
Allison Friedman
Rebecca S. Katz

Editor
Maury Shessel

Production/Post Production Sound
Michael Holcomb

Production Designer
Susie Lynch

Director of Photography
Jonathan Barenboim

Composer
Nick Kenworthy-Browne

First Assistant Director
Joshua Kinne

Wini + George (11:46)

A young misunderstood boy and a kind-hearted bag lady bond over dolls and the wonder of life.

Writer/Director
Benjamin Monié

Producers
Connor Flanagan
Jenny Koreny
Lindsey Villarreal

Cinematographer
Janine Sides

Post-Production Supervisor/Assistant Director
Adhish Yajnik

Editor
Irene Young

Production Designer
Kali Heitholt

Composers
Sam Jones
Alexis Marsh

Sound Designer
Brian Lam

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