Videos > Shorts > Lion and the Phoenix

The idea for this film was born about four years ago when I was living in San Diego. Late one night, I received a phone call from a friend who had gotten into a situation and needed me to pick her up. As I drove along the empty San Diego highways at about 2 in the morning, I began imagining a typical film-noir storyline in which a person gets a surprise phone call in the middle of the night and leaves their house in order to attend to the phone call. The person gets side-tracked and ends up headed in an unexpected tangential direction that ultimately leads back to his/her home. I initially wanted to develop the storyline into a feature-length film and began plotting out a narrative structure along with a couple of friends (including Julia Fries who ended up being one of the actresses in the short). Ultimately, I decided to shoot the film as a short, so here it is.

Part 1 wmv - In the midst of a dream I awoke to find myself disconnected from...

Tracks by Depth Affect and Ilya.

Part 2 wmv - A phone call jolted me out of my reverie and onto the street where I fell into a struggle.

Track by Urban Wandering.

Part 3 wmv - After engaging in a symposium, I found myself ushered back to my house where I fell from whence I came.

Tracks by Adrian Collazo and Xerxes

Credits

Produced, directed, written by me

Co-directed by Leila Makki

Actors: Julia Fries, May Yoon, George Koveos, Brian Chien, and myself.

Musical Credits:

Dialect
Produced by Depth Affect
From Mesquin Eye
Licensed through the Internet Archive

Isola
Written and performed by Ilya
Second Nature Records

Stray
Produced by Urban Wandering
Licensed through the Internet Archive

Out my Name
Produced by Adrian Collazo
Licensed by artist

The Day we Met
Produced by Xerxes
Licensed through the Internet Archive

Talk Talk
Produced by Markus
Licensed through the Internet Archive