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Jamestown producer wins international award
“The Overman,” a short film co-produced by Gery L. Deer of Jamestown, has win an award at The Indie Gathering International Film Festival, Convention and Competition. The independent film won Best Experimental Micro Film (under five minutes) for “its use of advanced live-action scenes featuring firewhips.”
The award presentation will be made at the Aug. 14-16 conference near Cleveland.
Another area connection: the film was written and developed by Rich Hoffman, originally of Middletown. The situation and characters in the movie come from Hoffman’s novel, “The Symposium of Justice,” published in 2004.
Hoffman not only co-produced and directed the film, but plays the lead character. Photography was completed at the GLD Enterprises & Productions Whip Artistry Studio in Greene County in March, 2009.
According to the publicity release announcing the award: “The featurette combines live action with the latest in high-definition computer generated imaging, The action sequences and fire weapon stunts took more than 12 hours to complete; the background footage was filmed a short time later on location in Mexico by Hoffman and his wife, Wendy, then added digitally.”
Here’s how it worked: actors worked on a green screen-covered set performed among imaginary Mayan ruins. Later computerized software recognized the green background and made it transparent, replacing it with digital effects.
“This was an ambitious project and I’m glad it got some recognition,” Deer said. “The sets may have been computer generated, but the fire whip stunts were performed live and all of the effects are real.”
Deer served as technical advisor on the whip sequences, and also oversaw production. His work has been featured on stage and screen including the 2003 Universal Studios movie, The Rundown, NBC’s America’s Got Talent and The Bonnie Hunt Show.
Hoffman and Deer both say they see this project as a means to an end. “The hope is that the final product will draw new business for the cast and crew in this sluggish economy where production capital is hard to raise,” says Hoffman. “This will be a great way to show what our group can do.” Hoffman’s previous script, “The Lost Cannibals of Cahokia,” won the highest award for a feature screenplay in the horror category at the 2006 Indie Gathering.
Both artists will be presenting lectures at the Indie Gathering and “The Overman” will be released to DVD following the premier at the conference. The video version includes outtakes and behind the scenes footage. To see photos or get more information about the project go online to www.gldentertainment.com and click on Hoffman Collaboration.
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