Photography credits:

Eric Darling

Jody Schiesser

Kristina Palladino

Patrick Zhang

Special thanks to Minji Kang for permission to use this material.

“Requiem for Herstory”     2009     Costume Production

Photo courtesy of Ann Fuentes

When a group of soldiers stumble upon a dead woman and her living baby in a barn on their way to safety and a radio signal, a decision must be made.  Should the baby be left to ensure the soldiers’ safety, or is the morally correct choice to take the child along?

Photo courtesy of Ann Fuentes

The platoon decides against it, but one soldier who hasn’t been hardened by war like the rest of the men, pleads for the child and finally gains permission to bring it along.

Photo courtesy of Lia Towers

The film will be premiering at The Victory movie theater in Savannah, GA in November.  Save a spot for it on your calendar.

Photo courtesy Lia Towers

Director: Derek Underwood

Cinematography: Tomoaki Iwakura

Producer: Lia Towers

Photo courtesy Lia Towers

My contribution…Costumes.  Of course.  And makeup.

Photo courtesy Lia Towers

All the soldiers, one more time.

Photo courtesy Lia Towers

Photo courtesy George Gill

The film deals with a long growing father/son conflict set within the world of boxing, and how the two resolve their problems years after the mother’s death.  Above is Lori Day, who played the part of the mother.

Photo courtesy George Gill

For this production I was in charge of set design as well as costumes.  And, I even dabbled in make up.  A lot.

Photo courtesy of George Gill

This film is now in post production and festival bound upon completion.  I’ll keep ya posted!

Script excerpt from "Standing in Defeat", written by Kyle Leister

Photo courtesy George Gill

Director: Kyle Leister

Producer: Annika Pampel

Director of Photography: Swapnil Kumar

Also, a special thank you to Christine for all your hard work and guidance in helping to set the pace.

Anyway, I think I’m stating the obvious when I say that these movies have a huge budget because they produce and build things solely for the purpose of the film, and after it’s wrapped they cease to exist.  I was scoping out the set the other day and they actually built two sand dunes.  And had them roped off.  And monitored by 24 hour security guards.  Exactly.  

In the interest of keeping costs down, productions usually try to use local houses, bars, restaurants, people…There’s a seafood scene in this movie, and they’ve recruited some Savannah restaurants to participate.  One of them is One Eyed Lizzy’s, a tex mex restaurant located on River Street, whose mascot is a lizard wearing a red dress.  In reality, a host or server usually dons the costume, but since they’re going to be on screen this time, a new costume is needed.  This is where I come in.  

I’ll have sketches for “ya’ll” soon, and photographs of the finished product by this weekend.

Ms. Kang is an award winning director, with honors such as Best Debut Feature Film at 2009 Toronto Female Eye Film Festival and the Golden Ace Award at Las Vegas International Film Festival to her credit.  She was also nominated Best Young Filmmaker Award at 2009 Swansea Bay Film Festival in the U.K.  The above honors were bestowed upon her for her film “Actually, Adieu my Love.”  

You can view her website at www.minjikang.com.

Above are still photographs of “Requiem”, and here is a link to behind the scenes footage from this past weekends shoot.  Cheers!

www.requiemforherstory.com

Tagline:  Three rounds. Two friends. One hot f’ing wing. Prepare to taste the Wing of Death.

Synopsis: “Mark, a guy looking for a quick way out of a jam with the Mafia, enters his friend Jules into an illegal underground hot-wing eating competition. The problem is, Jules can’t handle spicy food. Pitted against the reigning champion, The Luchador, Jules must overcome his fears, and his ulcers, in order to save Mark from the Mafia and conquer The Wing of Death.”

Production Status: Pre-Production

c. Meret Goetschel "That's quite a shiner ya got there!"

The main focus here, as discussed numerous times with writer/producer Kevin Erhard, was to emphasize the country of Dakotia and it’s inhabitants through the use of loud colors and bold costumes.  Dakotia, home to the Silver Shavings Factory, mashed potato fights, and a not-so-mythical beast that is half man and half animal called the Manticore, is not your every day country!  

c. Meret Goetschel "I bet she tears all the tags off of her mattresses too!"

c. Meret Goetschel -Dressing John Macaluso/"Whambassador"

At a creative meeting with Kevin…

“So, Kevin, what did you have in mind for the royal family?”  

“Well, I was thinking Snuggies…but Orange.”

c. Meret Goetschel -The Royal Family-

Small characters like Chief Hungrypoodle played a big (and colorful) role here too.  

c. Meret Goetschel "We're sorry, but I'm afraid your apartment no longer counts as a reservation."

Kevin: I don’t know why, but for some reason I’m really feeling a kaiser hat with a spike for this character.  And a red flannel shirt.  And medals.  

Done and DONE.

c. Meret Goetschel "...For the sake of PURPONDUITY!"

Follow the adventures of Leigh as her dream internship turns into a nightmare worse than anything she could have ever imagined.  

c. Meret Goetschel "Well, you're going to have to talk to the consulate."

Coming soon to a channel near you!  Look for it.  Then, watch it.  On a regular basis.  Love it!  It won’t be hard, I promise.

c. Kevin Erhard "I need to go home...Back to America."

Director: Evan Watkins

Writers: Kevin Erhard, Lee Keeler, and Phil Keeling

Cinematography: Austin Saya, Stewart Yost

Synopsis: “A short film exploring the legitimacy/constitutionality of the Baker Act (Florida Mental Health Act of 1971) through the experience of Max Fletcher, a young man being held against his will at a behavioral center.”

Photo courtesy of Ann Elizabeth Fuentes "She's never going home. Family had her committed."

The film was set during the early 1990′s, and the cinematographer’s vision, as well as the director’s, was a very earth toned palette, and since we were shooting everything digitally, nothing could be pure white.  That meant hours spent tea staining patient gowns, and too many trips to the thrift store to count (thrift sore if you went as many times as I did), faking patient sticky socks, and lots of other good stuff.  Baker Acted was shot almost entirely on location at an abandoned wing of a local mental health institution. Baker Acted is being submitted to the student oscars, as well as numerous other film festivals around the globe.  

Photo courtesy of Ann Elizabeth Fuentes "There's been a mistake. I'm not supposed to be here."

Director: Derek Underwood

Writer: Derek Underwood

Cinematographer:  Tomoaki Iwakura

Photo courtesy of Ann Elizabeth Fuentes

Photo courtesy of Ann Elizabeth Fuentes