Fifty & Five | Short Film

STATUS: Completed. Festival Circuit.

Role: Director, Writer, Producer, Editor

Filmed for Los Angeles County Museum of Art "Veterans Make Movies" Program.

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10378888/?ref_=nm_knf_i2 Synopsis: Catching up with beers and a bonfire - some Veterans find home isn't home for themselves or those they fought for.

Independently Produced.

Pre-Production, Production, & Post: May - June 2019

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Trivia:

• Opening scene: Symbolize unwanted ideas or thoughts and it is time to get rid of current perceptions.

• Title Meaning. Fifty represents the current Fifty states in the United States of America, while the Five represents the inhabited territories owned by the United States.

• The Fire can symbolize knowledge and wisdom, but also rebirth. Fire can consume or provide warmth and is also a place of stories and the passing of said stories from generation to generation.

• The land and the sea in the film represents arriving home but also feeling at a distance from home. Those who have sought this place (United States) as a home and those who have fought to defend it.

• The lone chair between the characters is those who have gone MIA, KIA or have taken their own lives for the sake of freedom- civilian or veteran.

• The empty chair symbolize the narratives of unheard, missing, and Veterans who have passed on.

• Throughout the film, the ocean sits in the background to show the divide between home and a foreign country.

• The sound of the boat is a reference to those who arrive by ship or want to call this place home.

• All the actors are Veterans. Pete served in the U.S. Navy. Delis and Kayleb served in the U.S. Marines.

• In the final shot, the audience finally see the "home" they fought for and what their service symbolizes.

• The plane at the end symbolize Veterans leaving and arriving home and possibly still dealing with those emotions.

• The fire represents a burning desire and emotion unheard.

• Rip-its are an energy drink given to many branches of service deployed overseas.