The New Year is a short drama based on the story "Happy Old Year" by Tim Pratt and is a personal first as a completely independently produced short film and the first to fall under my Mellow Valley Pictures banner.

THE FILM

2016 Judge's Choice/Official Selection - Double Image Film Festival
2016 Official Selection - East Lansing Film Festival

MY STORY BEHIND THE STORY

The film New Year centers around the opportunity for second chances. The main character Dave, has a chance to start over once a year, face the world as new no matter the circumstance he is dropped into. In a way, New Year provided me with a new opportunity as well.

New Year is a project that fell entirely unexpectedly right into my lap. I had met the director, Ben, only once before seeing his post looking for crew on Facebook. After a friend had joined on, he recommended me as a producer and the rest is a blur.

This film was my first truly independent project, not tied to a school or class, and it ended up being the first to fall under my new production banner, Mellow Valley Pictures, teamed up with Benjamin Digital and Deep Root Films from Benjamin DeHart and David Root, respectively.

Spartans working to create film with 'creepy, obnoxious' character

Working on The New Year has provided me with new confidence - to pursue more ambitious projects, to trust myself creatively and trust my colleagues as we work together, and revealed the confidence of others in me, from fully-funding our Kickstarter in roughly 48 hours and even more personally in the people I work with who have already expressed an interest in coming back for more when the next project rolls along.

The New Year was my entrance back into the production cycle after a period of a few months where I was working on a single video project in a more corporate setting. It provided me with some much needed fresh air to go out, stay creative, and stay active in my narrative filmmaking pursuits.

New Year turned out even better than I expected and I am glad that people have been nothing but excited to see it. I think this film showcases the hard work of many talented individuals both in front of and behind the camera.

I would also like to say thank you to everyone who made the premiere a success, to Celebration! Cinema for hosting us and to Kyle Brow, Tim Montoya and Calvin Bellas for sharing their films with us as well.