A country gripped by crime and the essence of brutality lay at the heart of Vinny O’Brien‘s thriller short ELLIE.
John (O’Brien also starring alongside his writer-director hat) lives with partner Sandra (Ashley Verser) in a rural farm estate with the love of a family in tow, especially towards his cute daughter Ellie (Penelope Kapudija). However, bad things are about to come to the fore in this idyllic haven with the arrival of baddie Thomas (Thomas Johnson) who is determined to use John and his brood for his own dark ends. However, Ellie may just have something to say about that….
Lean and tightly-shot short thriller, with some excellent stuntwork that takes one back to the heady days of Grant Page on the sets of MAD MAX and MAD MAX 2 (THE ROAD WARRIOR). Neil Watson‘s striking cinematography evokes the style of lenspeople David Eggby and Dean Semler who respectively created the visual essence of Oz legend George Miller‘s calling card to Hollywood. A cover of Tracy Chapman‘s FAST CAR lends a bit of reflection to a great score by Jonathan Shane.
Well worth a bit of everyone’s time.
Credits:
Cast:
John – Vinny O’Brien
Ellie – Penelope Kapudija
Sandra – Ashley Verser
Thomas – Thomas Johnson
Thomas Stunt Double – Ryan Rasberry
Stunt Driver #1 – Rex Reddick
Stunt Driver #2 – Mike Ferragamo
Stunts – Yoko Hamamura
Stunts – Maverick Vivas
News Anchor V.O. – John Lange
Production:
Vinny O’Brien – Director & Writer
Neil Watson – Director of Photography
Jeremy Marinas – Second Director
Producer – Vinny O’Brien
Producer – Michale P. Blevins
Producer – Mikki Rosenberg
Producer – James Churchman
Production Manager – Ken Preacher
1st AD – Joel Burnham
2nd AD – Brittney Sugar
Camera A – Neil Watson
Camera B – Vanessa Zamarripa
Camera B – Chris Corpuz
Camera C – Cameron Early
Camera C – Veronica Smith
A First AC – Eric Abraham
B First AC – Chris Corpuz
Additional AC – Shah Guarev
Camera Cart – Shawn Lane
Key Grip – Mike Davis
Script Supervisor – Jason Avalos
Sound – Dennis Grzesik
Gaffer – Christian Carwazza Town
G&E Swing – Raymond Sanchez
Makeup – Nikki Parissi
Production Assistant – Alpha Miknass
Production Assistant – Matias Salas Silva
Production Assistant – Isaac Hull
Production Assistant – David Kinchen
BTS Photography – Blake Vigil
Post Production:
Key Editor: John Lange
Editor: Alex Brisker
Assistant Editor: David Hooper
Colorist – Maria Jose Gomez
Score Composer: Jonathan Shane
Re-recording Mixer – Gabe Gelbrecht
Key Sound Designer – Gabe Gelbrecht
Muse VFX
VFX Supervisor: Stefan Bredereck
VFX Creator: Kieth Colina
Music:
Song Composer: Jessy Covets
Cover of ‘Fast Car’ by Tracy Chapman, performed & reproduced by Jessy Covets
ELLIE won the Thriller Short Award at the Los Angeles International Film Festival 2023.
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