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George is every man. Dealt a bad hand by life, he is almost at the end of his rope–both literally and figuratively.
Fired by a jerky boss who had no appreciation for the talents that George brought to the company, instead, wanting a team player, someone who could fit in with his fellow employees after work when they would go out drinking, he fires George. To heap on another indignity, George finds that his wife has run off with the guy hired to replace him.
George sees but one way out. As bad as his circumstances are, just as he is about to step off the edge of his world, George receives a phone call and is invited to witness the suicide of the man with whom his wife had run off.
This is the of idea behind Bryce Crook’s directorial debut, “Georgy.” A dark comedic short, it features some of Michigan’s finest acting talent. “Georgy” stars Mark Boyd as George, Harley Wallen as Mr. Fischer (George’s ex-boss), Aphrodite Nikolovski as Lisa, Joe Piazza as Host of Fun w / Knots, Jimmie Chiappelli as Steve, Kris Reilly as Mark (the man with whom George’s wife has run off), and includes Heather Fairbanks , Ammar Nemo, and Daniel Fernando Acosta, among others. That’s a whole lot of talent to pack into a twenty minute short.
“Georgy” has received Special Mention at the 2018 Global Shorts, Los Angeles
This short addresses the reason why suicide is not the answer. As much as life sucks, suicide is an end, not an alternative. Lived another day, one finds that as one door closes, another may open.
I thought this was funny, in a very dark comedic sort of way. Who wrote this screenplay?
Thank you. That’s what I was going for. I wrote it and directed it.
Yes, I see that you directed it. But looking at the IMDB page, I don’t see any credit given to the writer. As you wrote it, what was your inspiration?
My inspiration was George Carlin. I thought he was amazing at getting people to laugh at things and subjects that you never thought could be funny; and that’s what I wanted to achieve. So, I picked suicide.
Yes, that is something that few people find funny. I think you captured the characters in this dark screenplay well. I found I kind of sympathized with George. While life had dealt him a stinging blow, he wasn’t a complete loser. He was able to tie a better noose than the guy who was offering the informational video. Although he was just about at the end of his rope–both literally and figuratively speaking– it’s ironic that he was invited to witness the suicide of the guy who ran off with his wife. Tell me how you developed these characters.
Although a short film, each of these characters seemed so relatable.
Well first off I wanted each character to bring something to the table. I didn’t want any characters to just be there as a prop for other characters. Most of the characters come from an embellished version of people I’ve met in the working world.
So yeah I’m hoping people would relate to some of the characters or at least recognize them a little.
I see Nancy Oeswein cast these roles, and she could not have done a finer job. As a first time director, did you find it easy to work with these more experienced actors? Were you the least bit intimidated?
Nancy did a great job at casting. I did find it easier to work with more experienced actors. I knew that with this type of subject and and tone that it had to come off just right for it to work,. But when Nancy showed me who she had in mind for the roles I relaxed a little bit and got even more excited. I was a little intimidated, but knowing that I could fully trust my actors and my crew helped a ton; also after meeting some of the actors that calmed my nerves down.
Incidentally, I misspoke. I see that this is not your first film. In fact you have had experience operating a boom, working with sound, and and you have had some experience editing. Talk a little about your prior experience.
Yes I do have other films I’ve made and other credits, I started making marketing videos in the mid 2000s and then moved to the Detroit area to go to film school at the Motion Picture Institute which I made some small classroom short films.
At MPI, I graduated with a certificate in Editing and Directing. My first decent size short film was my final thesis film, my original concept for the thesis film was “Georgy,” but at the time there were some recent events that took place where I got asked not to do that film….so at the last minute I put together a dating comedy film called “Table or Booth,” which although there were bright moments in the film, it had some problems and I wasn’t happy with the final cut of the film.
I directed a superhero film that was written by one of the actors at the school for their thesis film. I also edited and did sound on my friend’s thesis film called “Retail,” for which he won best film at graduation.
After leaving MPI, I wrote directed and edited a horror film called “Trespass” which turned out pretty good. I was a pPA for one of the “Transformer’s” movies.
I then worked on the film “Legend of Dog Lady Island” where I was the boom operator and also where I met Nancy.
So, you have had quite a bit of experience. What can we expect from you next?
I just recently finished my first feature script which is kind of a feature version of “Georgy” with some changes; so, some great things could come from that. There is also a horror film concept that has been calling my name for a little bit…..but I won’t stay away from comedy. I have a great idea for a comedy series, so I plan to keep busy.