SF5:

The Running

View the trailer!		Production Stills
Download: QuickTime - 739KB
Downloadable clip requires

For some basic info on the project, go to the earliest entry.

Latest News:

October 4, 2001:
Finally, The Running will be screened again in New York, this time in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn. It'll be at the Blah Blah Lounge on Tuesday, October 9, at 8:30, where several other shorts will be screened. For info on how to get there, check out their website.

In other news, The Running has also been submitted for consideration in the Skyy Vodka Short Film Awards, which will keep our production staff well toasted if we win, not to mention publicity in Variety.

September 1, 2001:
This summer was busier than anticipated, so The Running hasn't been publicly screened since its premiere in New York over two months ago. But now, as this is being written, tapes are being sent to both the Asbury Film Festival (November 2001 in New York) and that pie in the sky called Sundance (January 2002). If it is accepted into the latter event, a 16mm film print will need to be made, but it will certainly be worth it. Of course, there's also the Sundance Online Film Festival, which will most likely be a second attempt.

So, since these film festival folks might be seeing this site, we now have the production stills posted here.

June 6, 2001:
The final cut of The Running is now complete, but its online premiere will have to wait. First, it's off to the world of film festivals, then we can have the big launch.

For now, you can view the new trailer, featuring actual clips from the film. No more just talking to the camera, but a sweet little 30-second film in its own right.

Still to come: production stills!

May 1, 2001:
Principal photography is finally complete on SF5: The Running (the title is now official since we weren't able to think of a better one). We had three full days on the set in New York, plus one crazy morning of location work in Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey. Some extra footage shot at the Delaware Water Gap will even be used for SF11: a short travelogue parody that will be exclusive to slithyfilms.com.

So, the post-production has begun. There is much editing to be done, both visually and on the soundtrack. Hopefully, the process should be complete before the end of the month in order to make some festival dates.

The stills and trailer promised earlier are still coming, just not as soon as previously predicted. It was a fun, creative set, and it looks like the fruit of our labors should be quite enjoyable. Keep coming back; there's much more to come!

April 17, 2001:
The first day of shooting went fairly well, and all suspicions of a great cast were confirmed. And, despite the holiday, the set was able to procure bagels for breakfast and pizza for lunch. That's why the interiors are being shot in New York; such amenities are difficult to find in rural Pennsylvania.

In other Slithy Films news, we have now started production on a new documentary (SF10, for those of you keeping track), which will be shooting concurrently with SF5, and for a few weeks longer. In fact, while Matt is shooting SF5 in New York next Sunday (4/22), hired guns will be shooting SF10 in New Jersey.

Later this week, we'll post some production stills of SF5, and cut a new teaser (or possibly even a full-length trailer) as soon as possible.

April 9, 2001:
The teaser is now (thankfully) out of date as SF5 is ready to start production. Shooting will begin in New York on Easter Sunday -- with all hopes to avoid any symbolism because of the coincidence. The parts are all cast after a lengthy and exhausting casting process, and the final draft of the screenplay is ready to go.

Here's the cast:

• Andy: Charles Roden
• Jim: William Oliver Watkins
• Recruiter: Christine Goodman
• Receptionist: Lauren Snyder
• Applicant A: Stewart Shaw
• Applicant B: Ruth Darcy
• Applicant C: Carmen Lynch
• Applicant D: Rich Wrightson
• Applicant E: Ray DeJohn
• Applicant F: Gianna Esposito
• Applicant G: Eugene Kopman
• Applicant H: Kelly Chippendale

Principal photography should be completed by the end of April. With SF8 and SF9 now in the digital can, the editing on SF5 can begin right away so that the final cut should be ready to submit to film festivals before summer begins.

More updates will come once shooting begins.

February 21, 2001:
Slithy Films' fifth production is a dramatic short, tentatively titled The Running. It's been in pre-production for several months (hence allowing SF6 and SF7 to be completed already), and is currently in the process of casting. After posting an ad in Backstage, we received an avalanche of submissions, and the process continues to find the right actors for the film.

The story centers on two college students, Andy and Jim, who are driving home to New Jersey from their central Pennsylvania university. On the side of the highway, they notice a strange building, and they decide to check it out. Once inside, they find themselves in a surreal situation.

Right now, director Matt Heffernan and screenwriter Lauren Snyder are auditioning people not only for these leading roles, but also for the strange characters they meet. We have entirely too many people auditioning as it is, so we will no longer be accepting new submissions specifically for this project. By the quality of the talent we have seen so far, SF5 looks like it will be a very good film.

Shooting will begin in April 2001, and will wrap (hopefully) before the end of the month. Once the final cut is complete, the film should be no longer than 30 minutes, making it a suitable length for the Internet. The technology right now does not really allow feature-length films to be distributed successfully, making one half-hour the de facto standard for maximum length. The online release of this film will coincide with the official launch of slithyfilms.com this spring.

After that release, SF5 will be making the rounds at film festivals both local and abroad over the next couple years. Our hopes are to get into Sundance for 2002, but since it is a short, we can't expect to sell it to a theatrical distributor. That won't stop us, however, from getting recognition and possibly selling the film for television or perhaps another Internet portal.

Keep coming back for more news and info regarding this exciting project!

Back to Slithy Films home page

webmaster@filmhead.com