The Story
This is Control is about loneliness and the lengths someone will go to fight it. It explores how different people view relationships and how this is molded by their past experiences. How a need for control and manipulation leads to self destructive tendencies.
Sam is the new kid in school. He struggles making friends but desperately wants the typical high school posse that everyone else seems to have. One day he meets Andie, a stoic and mysterious girl who gives Sam the friendship he greatly wants. Andie’s controlling nature leads her down a path of manipulation with Sam as an easy target.
Why This Film?
My name is Jacob Schermerhorn, I am currently a senior at the University of Kansas and This is Control will be my final Capstone project for the film program. This story has been something I had been planning since I started studying film at KU. It deals with ideas and themes that I enjoy exploring and have experienced in my friendships and relationships. I want to be able to display the complexities of friendships and relationships, a topic that has always fascinated me.
A majority of the film will be shot in my hometown of Wamego, Kansas. This is a detail I knew I wanted to include since the idea came about. I want to replicate the visual experience I had growing up in a midwestern small town. A setting that feels so small and contained when growing up.
“Coming of Age” films have always been some of my favorites. No matter the audience, these films are able to connect with the viewer. Everyone has once been a naive teen, where relationships (platonic and not) are the most important aspect of everyday life.
Filmmaking has always been a passion of mine. I grew up making videos with my family’s old camcorder and the toys I had around me. Once I entered high school, I started making shorts with my friends. College has shown me my passion for cinematography and having my hands on the camera. This film will be my first short film directorial debut, which my four years of film school has prepared me for. I wanted to wait to direct a film that I had a personal connection with and I could make my own. Thanks to our wonderful writer Celia Tise, the story was translated from my ideas into a fully fledged script.
What We Need
Films are made up of a lot of moving parts, and each part comes with a cost. We need the funds to make sure our film helps these parts run as smoothly as possible.
Contributions to this film will go towards the items listed below:
Paying actors
Feeding crew
Paying location fees
Renting equipment
Props / Costume
All of these parts are equally important to our production and every bit of your contribution helps immensely.
Other Ways to Help
If you are unable to donate, or want to help us more, please consider sharing our Indiegogo page! This will help get our film in front of more people who may want to help us tell our story.