Mitchell Branget is a passionate, Canadian writer, director, special effects/makeup artist, and production designer. He is currently attending the University Windsor, studying for his Masters degree in film production. While at the university he has written and directed a number of award winning short films such as Die Kiste: The Crate, and Dreamer’s Journey and has worked as a special effects artist on over 17 films and has directing experiences ranging from shorts to commercial advertisements.
Director Statement
Dreamer’s Journey was the final ‘calling card’ film I had the privilege of creating during my undergrad at film school. Dreamer’s Journey was filmed in six days with a student level budget($3.5k CAD), as this film was originally created for a ‘Senior Project’ class I was registered in while finishing my undergrad in film school. This film is a true passion project in every sense of the word, and the phenomenal dedication from the cast & crew is captured in the very essence of this film. We hope you enjoy our madness, thank you. Mitch.Branget
Dreamer’s Journey is a psychological horror film centred around the concepts of sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and repressed memory. Is Daniel unlocking the truths of his past, or simply losing his mind to madness ?
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:
Best Horror Short Film: KOREATOWN GHOST STORY
Best Thriller Short Film: THIS MODERN MAN IS BEAT
Best Performances: FIRST TIME
Best Cinematography: ….AND THEN THE DARKNESS
Best Sound & Music: THE WILD WOMAN AND THE PAINTER
Theme of night: Exposing unfairness.
NOTE: Festival took place during the COVID-19 virus lockdown so all screenings were held in private.
Minsun Park & Teddy Tenenbaum are a writing/directing team with combined experience in features and television, including pilot sales, staff writing, feature spec sales, and feature and television assignments. They have written separately and together, and currently write both as a team and as solo writers. They specialize in genre writing, including horror, thriller, and action, typically with a humorous edge. With Minsun’s background as an Asian-American woman born in Korea and Teddy’s experience as a White dude from Ohio, they cover a lot of bases.
Director Statement
In addition to telling a story that is a metaphor for how new generations of Americans feel trapped between the cultures of their parents and that of America, our goal was to assemble a cast and crew that included both a majority of underrepresented minorities in the film industry, as well as women in most of the key production roles. Our cast and crew was 60% underrepresented minorities, 60% women, and 50% Asian-American.
In this supernatural horror tale based on a Korean ritual starring Margaret Cho and Lyrica Okano, a woman entertains a macabre offer that would let her pursue her dreams, for better or for much much worse.
One October night, a man returns home and finds that someone is disappointed he didn’t leave any Trick or Treat candy. Maybe they want something else instead…
ERIN (WRITER, DIRECTOR, SUPPORTING) Hailing from midwest WI, Erin currently lives and works in NYC where she spends most of her time watching movies and people. Erin met Sophie Mitchell while studying acting at the William Esper studio and the two quickly began developing the idea for The Wild Woman and the Painter. When she’s not working events, Erin makes films with her pals and tries to write screenplays for bigger, longer movies. Erin is currently a production and development assistant in NYC where she is learning the ins and outs of indie film development and production.
SOPHIE (WRITER, LEAD) Sophie grew up in the countryside of Free Union, Virginia with her parents and younger brother Keenan. Though quiet growing up, Sophie was always interested in performing. At thirteen, she began singing alongside her mom in variety shows for nursing home patients and she and Keenan spent their summers making movies with a hand-me-down camera. After high school, she worked as a professional baker and had her screen debut as the werewolf Angela in the comedy “Faux Paws” before moving to New York City. In 2015, she graduated from The Esper Studio’s Acting program where she met fellow filmmaker Erin Whited-Ford. Sophie currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her partner and their two cats where she continues to write screenplays, bake, and teach herself guitar and oil painting.
Director Statement
After meeting as actors and realizing that we had both recently escaped unhealthy relationships , we (Erin and Sophie) decided to read Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ book “Women Who Run with the Wolves,” a collection of myths and stories that dissect the female psyche at various life stages. The book became a tattered, dog eared bible of sorts and after realizing the parallels between our lives and the tale “Bluebeard,” which depicts a man consuming and destroying the lives of naive young women, we decided to write our own version of the story.
We began throwing around ideas for a film that illustrated the psychological experience of losing one’s soul fire, one’s wild woman, to this predatory like force.
In its early stages, the script had our heroine living with a physical and emotional abuser to visualize her loss of self power. As we evolved in our artistic lives and personal lives, we began to see our protagonist as not only a naive young lover but as an artist struggling with creative paralysis. The predatory force morphed into the overbearing Demetri character whose insatiable ego and possessive tendencies cause submissiveness in our protagonist.
Through working on this project we have traversed the peaks and valleys of creative doubt and undeniable fulfillment, much like our Painter in the film. With this work, we hope to display the gifts one can uncover by listening to one’s deepest self , creating art from that place, then deciding who gives a f*** what happens after?
During an impromptu visit to her parent’s farm, a struggling young artist rediscovers her creative identity with the help of a wild stranger in this feminal, visual poem.
THIS MODERN MAN IS BEAT, 17min., USA, Thriller
FIRST TIME, 3min., UK, Thriller
….AND THEN THE DARKNESS, 13min., USA, Thriller
NO TREATS, 1min., USA, Thriller
KOREATOWN GHOST STORY, 14min., USA, Thriller/Horror
THE WILD WOMAN AND THE PAINTER, 14min., Fantasy/Thriller
