Summary info for schedule – will be hidden on film page

The Pic

Filmmaker(s)

Frances Chewning – director

Running Time

Short Film

7.5 minutes

Genres

Narrative, Short

The Pic

Jen is a single mom devoted to her daughter Cleo. Steve is a single dude who spends his evenings watching animal documentaries and eating cheeseballs. They are friends that go way back. One evening, out of the blue, Jen receives a shocking series of explicit photos from Steve.

The next day she calls him, expecting that the photos must have been a mistake. Steve answers, eager to know how Jen liked them. Upon learning that she didn’t, Steve is overcome with confusion, embarrassment and shame as they both try to figure out how they could be on such profoundly different wavelengths. Bit by embarrassing bit, they uncover the true story and also how much they truly care for each other.

Filmmaker Notes:

This short film was inspired by a real event that called me to make a romantic comedy. Most of my favorite romantic comedies are from the ’30’s and ’40s, and I wanted to create a contemporary take on that using my own indie, feminist sensibility and connected to my own life. For example, instead of gorgeous young rich people, I wanted to depict “average,” semi-middle-aged non-rich people. Visually and stylistically, I was inspired by the films “Annie Hall,” Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s “Party Girl,” and Mike Leigh’s “Happy Go Lucky.” My production designer & costume designer, Meghan Czerwinski, and Director of Photography, Brittani Burgess, were instrumental in helping me create the right look and tone, and I couldn’t have been more fortunate than to cast the hilarious and thoughtful Dan Lippert in the lead role opposite me. I had an amazing team of women as almost every department head, and I love knowing that a female POV is present on many layers while telling this story.