General Information
- Genre: satire, drama, suspense, high-brow comedy
- Runtime: 12-15 minutes
- Shooting in Boston early January 2024
Concept
- A satirical take on male fragility, gym culture, & toxic masculinity.
- Focus on character– to humanize an inherently flawed/ unlikable protagonist.
- Tonally walking the line between drama and deadpan humor– think Ruben Östlund, Coen Bros, Atlanta, Barry, etc.
Logline
“An evening of ego-bruising leads a gym freak to take reckless action– and suffer the consequences.”
Short Summary
Set at an upscale Boston fitness club, the film follows a meathead named Brad as he embarks on a late-night lift-sesh shortly before closing time. Through a series of offbeat interactions with other gym-goers, Brad quickly finds himself emasculated and his ego bruised. When Brad suddenly finds himself alone at the gym after hours, leg-day swiftly devolves into a nightmare when a reckless attempt to prove himself goes terribly wrong.
Budget Breakdown:
Thanks to donors like you, we've already raised over $3,000 from our first round of funding! With the second round, we hope to fill the remaining $5,000 of our $8,000 target. Here's a rough breakdown of our anticipated expenses:
- Location expenses: $1500- $2,000
- Costumes: $500- $750
- Props: $500- $750
- Craft Services: $500
- Talent day rates: $2,500- $4,000
Total: ∼$8,000
Funds raised from round 1: ∼$3,000
Meet The Team!
Hayden Katz: Writer/ Director
Hayden Katz is a writer/ director hailing from Alexandria, Virginia. Captivated by moviemaking from a young age, Hayden grew up making short films starring his siblings on his parents' iPads. After a brief stint at a competitive engineering college, Hayden transferred to Emerson College in order to further hone his skills as a visual storyteller, pursuing a degree in Visual Media Arts with a focus on film production. Over the past couple years, Hayden has had the privilege to work across all aspects of film production, including work in sound design, editing, cinematography, and direction. More than anything, Hayden believes the key to storytelling is creating compelling characters, which he believes can only be achieved through persistent attention to detail throughout both the writing and directing processes. 'BRAD' marks Hayden's first outing as director of a large-scale college production, and he is more than thrilled to have the opportunity to bring his vision to life.
Miles Katz: Director of Photography
Miles Katz is a sophomore Visual Media Arts Major at Emerson College. Originally from the New York City area, he started his life in the entertainment industry in theater lighting, learning all possible about color theory and how to light a human face. Miles found himself on his first professional film set at the age of 16. From then on he worked on various shoots, starting as a PA and working his way up. When he got to Emerson, he hit the ground running with his first ever thesis film being hired as the gaffer. From then on it's been an upward slope as he’s perfecting his craft as a DP, shooting multiple short and feature length films. To Miles, 70% of being a DP is lighting the scene in a way that conveys the right mood. Framing, logistics, etc. only take up the the rest. He is very excited to work on 'BRAD' and thankful for the opportunity. More info on Miles can be found at his Instagram @mileskatz224
Emmet Arkin: Associate Producer
It is difficult to summarize the extent of Emmet Arkin's numerous and undisputed achievements. By the age of roughly six he taught himself to use a Pogo-stick with no hands. Emmet discovered his passion for the intricacies of filmmaking as his parents were finalizing their separation with a divorce, finding stop motion videos of Bionicle Legos and Hexbug toys to be far more entertaining than the morbid cessation of nuclear household family life. He has since written, directed, edited, scored and starred in dozens of short films you will never see. Emmet is tentatively pursuing a visual media arts major at Emerson College.
Aryan Khatri: Associate Producer
Aryan Khatri is a student at Emerson college pursuing a degree in Media Arts Production. He has a focus on screenwriting, directing and producing. Aryan’s desire to pursue film started at a young age and since, he has written, directed, edited and even produced his own short films while working as an AD, PA and AP on senior productions as well as other Emerson productions during his time in college. Aryan worked under award winning filmmaker ‘Rajesh Jala’ as an AD on his feature film, as well as ideated and worked with several media production companies (such as ‘Dream Slate Production’, BW sponsored ‘The German Polo Tour’). He sees himself as a global filmmaker with no restrictions in terms of genre or location.
Thanks!
We appreciate you checking out our campaign and hope you'll consider donating to help us bring this project to life! Anything you can give helps tremendously– even as little as a few dollars can go a long way! Plus, if you donate enough, you might even qualify for an exciting perk!
Other Ways You Can Help
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