Raising money to make a film is a notoriously difficult thing to do. Filmmaking is not a cheap process, The cost of making a film and building a reputation without industry connection can skyrocket. This didn’t stop UVU Digital Media students Cody Navarro, Everett Fairbourne, Julie Mae, Stephano Doors, Daxon Geldmacher, and Kari Angelica Pena who are setting out to raise money for their capstone film They kicked off this process by holding a proof of concept and skill display with a film festival dedicated to short films. With a homecoming dance theme, the festival featured a place for pictures with props, a popcorn machine, mood lighting,and dangling star decor in the screening room.
But what was most notable about this event were the 6 unique films, by 6 talented filmmakers.
SOMEHOW. – dir. by Stephano Doors
The first film of the night was a black and white drama following the argument of a couple that eats away at their relationship as the film progresses. Stephano Doors, the director, made the choice to keep the dialogue muffled, to capture the emotion behind the argument rather than the literal argument itself. Doors used his film toexplore what breaks down a relationship, what goes on behind closed doors, “people that I’ve seen, who you would think are like the perfect pair, then I hear about them breaking up and I’m like, how?” Doors says. SOMEHOW shows you the emotional state of its characters, without knowing what exactly they are arguing about you can come to your own conclusions about the meaning of this film. Like a Promethean Curse – dir. by Kari Angelica Peña
Following Somehow the audience was greeted by a comedy. The film followed the over-compensating actions of Leo, who finds out his ex is coming to a party he’s at. Director Kari Angelica Peña cited the 2020 film Shiva Baby as inspiration; the grounded comedic performances, the claustrophobic, and awkward setting point back to its origins. Peña wanted to capture someone who struggles to be emotionally vulnerable, trying to act macho in the face of rejection. Speaking about the main character Peña says, “he like kind of has this tough big boy act going on, but clearly he’s writing this in his diary —you wanna have this kind of projection of yourself that other people see that’s like, yeah, whatever, I don’t even care”. The film is funny but also poignant, bringing a thoughtful commentary on how you can end up going overboard when trying to come across nonchalant.
Prized Possession – dir. by Julie Mae
The third film veered even further into comedy; in fact, it’s a straight up farce. Prized Possession is a satirical take on a noir film, in which a detective accuses a mobster of stealing his Criterion Collection Blu-ray of The Notebook (and killing his wife), the confrontation transforms into a love story between the mobster and detective. Booming laughter filled the theater during this viewing with members of the audience wheezing from their enjoyment of the film. Director Julie Mae put this film together in a relatively short period of time. It was impressive to see how much she was able to accomplish with so little time. Mae explained “The biggest challenge I had was time and resources. I only had a week or two to put this all together, including the writing.” Mae and her co-writer, Grace Fillmore, wrote the script over three days, and shot the film in a single day. They displayed true filmmaker resourcefulness by utilizing a pre-built set designed for another production at UVU, in addition, Mae drove all over Utah County collecting costumes from people who responded to her ISO (in search of) posts on Instagram. Mae’s commitment to the craft was evident based on the audience’s reception of Prized Possession.
Fox – dir. by Cody Navarro
Next up was an experimental film called Fox, which follows a woman being tormented by an entity appearing to her as a man with a fox mask. Director Cody Navarro based this film on a short story written by his brother, in which the conversation at the heart of the narrative is taking place in two locations simultaneously. This is a challenging concept to bring to film, but Navarro impressively builds a reality within this film that captures the surreal quality behind this story. The film makes impressive and innovative use of editing, in fact, Navarro says “Editing this thing was crazy. [The] timeline is just— I’ve been told it’s a hot mess, but it works.” I can see where some might call it a hot mess, the frequently changing aspect ratios with confounding location changes feel disjointed, but in a way that works to the films favor. Navarro mentioned taking inspiration from David Lynch films, which similarly use space in time in a confounding way, and I find this film to effectively deconstruct what is familiar and expected of filmmaking.
Porphyria – dir. by Daxon Geldmacher
Following was Porphyria, a horror film about a priest being haunted by a vampire inspired by early silent films. The director, Daxon Geldmacher described the vibe of this movie as an arthouse director in the 60s making and homage to 30s horror. Geldmacher dedicated himself to keeping authentic in the production of this film, particularly in the sound design, stating “It looks like an old movie, but we needed it to sound like it was recorded on tape, and then the tape had degraded over a couple of years.” This was achieved in the film excellently with the vampire’s voice recorded in this retro distorted uncanny manner, contributing to unease around that character. This paired with grainy black and white photography really contributes to this film having the feel of a classic silent horror film.
Desert Silence – dir. by Everett Fairbourne
If there’s one word to describe the final film of the night, it would have to simply be cool. Desert Silence is an action/horror film set in frontier America, following a cowboy avenging the death of his family who were attacked by Skinwalkers. Everrett Fairbourne took inspiration from The Revenant in directing this film, something evident in its use of wide lenses and the gritty and violent scenes but also quiet and reflective moments. What was supposed to be a one-night shoot in the desert turned into a 3-day shoot, where Fairbourne and the crew worked extensive hours working on this film. “This is easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” recalls Fairbourne, “filming in the desert’s really hard — making sure everyone’s staying hydrated, but then just shooting at night, especially when you weren’t planning on it, it’s a mental game at that point of just like staying positive and keeping it— the momentum going.” But their hard work pays off. From the gorgeous cinematography, the creative and resourceful costuming, and epic story with a heart, this film is exceptionally well made.
But before any of the films, there was a short teaser for these filmmakers’ upcoming capstone project, titled SKIN. With Cody Navarro directing, this film is an ambitious story based off Irish mythology of a creature called a selkie, reminiscent of siren and mermaid lore. “we’re taking that, that story from Ireland and just twisting it a little bit where it’s a dark romance.” says Navarro, “it’s twisted between this fisherwoman and the selkie— we’re really just walking the line of who’s the real monster in this situation.” The goal for production is 3,000, which at the time of writing has nearly been reached. If you are looking to support this film and these student capstones, feel free to donate here: https://gofund.me/020729327 . Or if you are an aspiring actor, the film has just begun casting!
The festival ended up completely selling out; the screening room filled so full they had to pause halfway through to make sure the fire exits were cleared of people. In addition to showing a film, Julie Mae also came up with the idea for this event and organized it along with Everett Fairbourne and Rayna Sannar.
Mae recollects after “Three days before the event, we knew we had only sold 24 tickets. We wanted at least 60-100, so we went to classrooms, emailed professors to put it on Canvas, handed out little flyers, posted on social media- everything we possibly could to get people to come. I really encouraged younger cohorts in our program to come and see upper class man/alumni work. We didn’t have a way to keep track of tickets, so we had no idea how many we sold. 30 minutes before the event started, we were told that WE SOLD OUT. We had over 130 people there. I was not expecting that turnout, but it was so awesome!”
This event was clearly a success, not just in making an exceptional turnout and raising funding for their capstone, but by bringing laughter and sharing art with fellow students. Mae speaks with massive gratitude for this opportunity, “This event reminded me of why I love film so much. Film connects us, no matter the genre or format. We get to experience the inexperienced, and we get to feel the unfelt. Film is a way to understand each other, whether that’s through laughter, through squirming in seats, or through shared tears. Hopefully, this inspires people to continue to provide places like this!”
