Sarsaparilla Sam, an animatronic cowboy at a popular family entertainment center, yearns to perform something other than the stage show he's been programmed to act in for over 30 years. Sam's constant creative endeavors upsets the manager of the family entertainment center, Gil Grimley, who firmly rejects any new ideas that Sam presents him with. Behind Gil's back, Sam disobediently sets out to write a new show that he plans to perform despite Gil's disapproval.

Imagine the advanced technology and philosophical questions presented in a TV show like Black Mirror combined with the characterization, hopefulness, and whimsy of a Pixar film.  Despite the foreign technology and cerebral themes, "Under Refurbishment" will be filled with joy, wearing its heart on its sleeve in every single frame of the film. The cinematography, sound design, and art direction will transport you right into the fictional "Sarsaparilla Sam's Saloon". 

All characters have not been casted yet. All photos used to depict characters are strictly for conceptual purposes.

Sarsaparilla Sam

Sarsaparilla Sam is an artificial intelligence designed to appear about 30 years old. Though Sam is the embodiment of an idealistic, All-American cowboy on stage, he's soft spoken, curious, and intellectual off-stage.

Gil Grimley

Gil Grimley, mid 50's, is the stern manager of "Sarsaparilla Sam's Saloon". He's an intelligent businessman, and doesn't tolerate anything less than perfection. He's remarkably unremarkable in terms of appearance, but his intellect matches that of a Fortune 500 CEO.

Buford

Buford is an artificial intelligence designed to appear about 60 years old. Onstage, Buford plays the part of a melodramatic, villainous prospector whose only goal is to steal Sarsaparilla Sam's pizza. Offstage, Buford is a kind and gentle ally to Sam.

June

June is an intelligent and curious 10 year old girl. She's Sarsaparilla Sam's biggest fan, and sees him for who he really is, on and off stage.

Under Refurbishment is the culmination of the our years spent in undergrad. This project is the official senior thesis for Griffin Douglass (Writer/Director) and Holly Chang (Lead Producer), which is required for all graduating Cinema and Media Arts Majors at Biola University. Our desire is to bridge the gap between current CMA students, CMA alumni, and talented individuals in and outside of Biola University. With this diverse array of expertise, we hope to create a work environment that uplifts each person and their skill, while collaboratively crafting this film. 

Our team wanted to find a way to promote small artists that we believe deserve more recognition and that heavily inspire us. Sarsaparilla Sam's story inspired us to uplift other artists with the platform that we have, which led us to collaborating with various artists that we will be promoting throughout our Indiegogo campaign. Each week we will be announcing a collaboration on our social media pages, where you can purchase various apparel hand crafted by our Artists of the Week! When you purchase their work or even attend an event supporting these artists, the funds will be split, meaning 50% of your purchase is going to the film and 50% is going directly to the artist. Follow our social media pages, support artists supporting artists, and get some amazing hand-crafted art inspired by Under Refurbishment!

Our team includes current senior CMA students and various Biola alumni—all majoring in Business or Cinema and Media Arts. They have gained much experience in the past years, having worked on numerous student and industry projects. Our producing team, Holly Chang, Emilio Mazariegos, and Dylan Greenly, have now produced two student films with over 15k budgets and one feature film, Love You Anyway (2021), which was featured in the Hollywood Reporter.  

Griffin Douglass, Graham Skinner, and Katelyn Moger have won multiple awards in film festivals, such as the Newport Film Festival and Student Los Angeles Film Festival. 

Griffin Douglass's Reel

Graham Skinner's Reel

Notable projects that members of this team have made:

Until the End of Time, Silly Human, Never Felt Better, Death of an Artist, Bowlts, Incalculable Unknowns, Healing, Amelia: The Twin, and Love You Anyway (2021).

This an incredibly ambitious project with a $32,500 budget that has been meticulously calculated to ensure that we deliver a high production value film that exceeds the modern expectations of a student film production within a tight budget.

Our budget will be going towards hiring actors from The Screen Actors Guild to ensure fantastic performances and crew that are Biola alumni and current industry professionals that can bring the expertise to our project needed to succeed.

In order to create the used, whimsical look of Sarsaparilla's Sam Saloon, we will be building an intricate show stage with heavy art decorations. In addition, the animatronic's hair, make up, and wardrobe need extra attention to achieve the look of an authentic, used animatronic in vintage cowboy clothing.

We have decided to rent industry standard equipment, such as an ARRI Alexa and lenses, to achieve the look that we need.

Additionally, we are budgeting for post-production, which will include music composition, minimal VFX, professional sound design, and a professional color grade.

Lastly, we are accounting for Covid testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to make sure that we keep our cast and crew as safe as possible throughout our shoot. 

With your contribution, we will be able to produce a short film that we are committed to taking into our future careers in the industry. By investing in young artists, you are investing in the future of the film industry, and we encourage you to become apart of our story. 

Under Refurbishment has been in development for two years now and has been in pre-production since June 2021. Our plan is to shoot in late March and go into post-production immediately after. We hope to submit to film festivals in Fall 2022.

It's our sincerest hope that this film serves as a launching pad for our careers in the film industry, and we hope to set an example for future film students by creating a healthy, respectful, and fun project and set. Most importantly, we strive to break down walls and create a safe space for our team to express their ideas freely with each person being valued as a person first before their talent. We want to live out our film's call to give artist's more creative freedom while creating Under Refurbishment.

We thank you for taking your time to consider contributing to our project.

Please consider contributing, becoming a part of the Under Refurbishment team, and helping bring our dreams to a reality. 

Follow our social media pages on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to keep up to date with our project!