Press Kit - Premium Films

BEST WISHES FROM MILLWOOD - Press Pack
2015 AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER: BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM
BEST WISHES FROM MILLWOOD - Production Details
Genre:
Short film; Comedy; Sci-Fi
Country of Origin:
United States
Runtime:
12 min 30 sec
Shoot Format:
2K Arri Raw
NLE System:
Avid
Sound:
Dolby 5.1 & Stereo
B/W Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
16:9
Subtitles:
No
World Premiere:
2015 Austin Film Festival
*Audience Award: Best Narrative Short
*Jury Selection
Logline: An unhappy housewife is visited by a bicycle-riding stranger with wish-making
cookies. Synopsis: Evelyn's morning starts like all her others in the sleepy community of
Millwood, when her lumpish husband (Vern) leaves for the day to do handywork around
the neighborhood. As soon as he goes a strange bicycle-riding woman knocks on Evelyn's
back door. She calls herself Birdsong and is selling wish-granting cookies to qualified
customers. Evelyn buys two. Her two wishes are: a mink coat and Vern's death. Immediately there's a THUMP on the front porch, and Evelyn discovers a mailbag
outside her house stuffed with a mink coat. She hurries to her friend Nettie's house.
Making the assumption the cookies work, the two women decide to go out and save Vern
from any lurking dangers.
BEST WISHES FROM MILLWOOD - Creative Team & Cast Bios
MAX BAKER - Writer / Director
Max Baker grew up in London. He moved to Durant, Oklahoma when
he was 21 and has lived in Detroit, Portland OR, Chicago, Pullman,
WA, Los Angeles and New York City, where he currently resides. His
acting credits span theatre, film and television. He has written several
full-length plays and is the lyricist for indie NY City rock band eelwax
jesus. In 2014 he wrote three short films. He used to play chess.
EMILY TARVER - Actor (Role of EVELYN) / Executive Producer
Emily Tarver is an actress/writer/comedian/musician/producer lady.
Emily was going to be a psychiatrist, but she took an improv class her
senior year at the University of Texas at Austin and it exploded her
brain...so she moved to NYC to study improv. Tarver was most recently
seen on ABC's Blackish, TruTV's Friends Of The People and Vh1's
Best Week Ever. Emily has been studying and performing with the
Upright Citizens Brigade NY Theatre since 2004. Emily does stand-up,
improv, sketch and musical comedy with her band Summer and Eve.
Emily is in a million commercials and stars in the upcoming series
DONNY! on USA. Emiliy appears in the new Poehler/Fey movie
SISTERS, premiering in December, and is currently filming season 4
of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK! NADIA QUINN - Actor (Role of NETTIE) / Executive Producer
Nadia Quinn is an actor, singer, writer, producer, and photographer
based in New York City. In 2010, she made her Broadway debut in Alex
Timber’s BLOODY BLODDY ANDREW JACKSON. More recently,
she has been seen on TV in LOUIE, SMASH, YOUNGER, THE
MYSTERIES OF LAURA, and THE BIG C, as well as in the films
TOP FIVE, KITTY, and THE FLOWER SHOP. In 2009, she founded
the folk-pop-comedy-quartet Summer & Eve, which has performed at
UCB, Joe’s Pub, ArsNova, and last year's viral web hit, SUMMER &
EVE EXPLAINS THINGS, a series of digital shorts produced by
AboveAverage. REBECCA KAASA - Actor (Role of MYRA BIRDSONG)
Rebecca Kaasa is an actress and musician living and working in Los
Angeles. Rebecca has starred in many commercials and has recurred on
some pretty cool TV shows (Gossip Girl and As the World Turns to
name a couple). Rebecca has an MFA from the University of California
and also studied improv comedy at the People's Improv Theatre in NYC.
She is starring in Best Wishes From Millwood which will have it's
official debut at the Austin Film Festival 2015. Rebecca can also be seen
in the films NY I Love You, Joke Writer and Piece of Mind. Oh, and
Rebecca is also in a really cool comedy folk band called Summer and
Eve. www.summerandeve.com www.rebeccakaasa.com
MATTHEW McCARTHY - Actor (Role of VERN)
Matt McCarthy, born in Providence, Rhode Island, is a comedian,
writer, improviser and actor living in Los Angeles. McCarthy is best
known for appearances on The Pete Holmes Show and
CollegeHumor.com and as host of the We Watch Wrestling Podcast on
Feral Audio. He has appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie, Bored
to Death, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Conan, @midnight and in the Adam
McCay/Will Ferrell film, The Other Guys.
JENNIFER BARTELS - Actor (Role of JANET PLASTER)
Jen Bartels is an actress and funny lady who resides in LA and NYC.
After receiving her B.F.A. in Theater at East Carolina University, she
studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York,
performing on numerous improv and sketch teams. Jen was cast in the
FOX Reboot of IN LIVING COLOR, MEN IN BLACK 3, and was
featured as one of NY Daily News’ Top Five Funniest women. Jen just
finished her second round of episodes for truTV’s sketch
how, FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE where she serves as writer,
performer and executive producer. You can currently catch her in
LADY FREAK COMEDY at UCBLA with the talented Grace Parra.
She also co-created the series EXES with UCB director Mike Still.
JASON KAMINSKY - Producer
Jason began his career in the theatre and worked for three seasons
producing new work for Summer Play Festival (SPF) in New York. In
2008, he moved to Los Angeles to attend the Peter Stark Producing
Program at the USC School of Cinema. Since receiving his MFA,
Jason has worked for Sundance Institute, Mad Chance Productions at
Warner Bros., and in live-action feature film development at Walt
Disney Studios. He has produced several shorts including the animated
film Traffic Cone and the 2013 AFI DWW film, Wild & Precious. He
recently worked on the upcoming web series, The Skinny, for
Refinery29 and Wifey.tv. He is married to writer, Stephanie Kornick, who makes him laugh
every day.
SAM SCHECTMAN - Producer
Sam Schectman worked under Sara Colleton, Executive Producer of
the Showtime series Dexter. As her Story Editor he embedded himself
in the New York City publishing world, tracking new literary material
and guiding producers and execs through various stages of creative
development. In 2010, he moved to Los Angeles to focus on physical
production and developing his own material. He directed the award
winning short film, The Agency, and has served as Assistant Director
on over fifty productions, including feature films, music videos, and
commercials. Sam is currently directing and producing trailers, live-action content, and
interactive experiences for Electronic Arts as they launch the highly anticipated Star Wars:
Battlefront.
MARTIM VIAN - Director of Photography
Martim grew up in Lisbon, Portugal, where he studied cinematography
at the National Film School Conservatory, and began his professional
career as a camera assistant. He continued his education at FAMU (the
Czech National Film School) and AFI, where he completed a Masters
in Cinematography. As a DP, Martim has shot a variety of
commercials, music videos, short and feature films. His credits include
national and international broadcast commercials for clients like AXE,
PURINA, SKITTLES, DISNEY, SONY, ENERGIZER or LEVIS, and
music-videos for HAIM, MS MR, BASTILLE, JEREMIH, and
WEIRD AL. He is a member of the Portuguese Society of Cinematography - AIP.
MARGAUX RUST - Production Designer
Margaux Rust received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and
Design, with a focus in sculpture and site specific art. While at MassArt,
she received the Helen Blair Crosby award for excellence in sculpture. In
2008, she moved to Portland, Oregon where she opened and curated an
art gallery and vintage interior design boutique. That community and
venue were a surprise springboard into production design. Margaux has
since designed many narrative short films including Luke Wilson’s
“Unemployed” (2015); 2014 Project Greenlight Finalist Arturo Perez
Jr.’s “Less Than One” (2013), “Dan Miller” (2015); and ComicCon
International ‘Judge’s Choice’ and ‘Best Action Film’ recipient “Rope a
Dope 2”. Margaux is currently living and working in Los Angeles, CA.
SHERRI CHUNG - Composer
Sherri is film composer, singer, songwriter, and classically trained
pianist since the age of 5. After graduating with a BM in Music
Composition and Theory at Jacksonville University, she transplanted to
Los Angeles in 2008, where she attended USC’s graduate course in
Scoring for Motion Picture and Television. Her credits include
orchestration on numerous television shows and films, including
“Haunting in Connecticut”, “Agent Carter”, “Galavant”, “Horrible
Bosses”, and “The Princess and the Frog”. Sherri’s composing credits
include scores for both short and feature films, documentaries,
commercials and television shows. Her music can be heard on CBS,
NBC and the Disney channel, and her voice can be heard on ABC’s “Resurrection” (2014), CW’s
“Arrow”, and NBC’s new “Blindspot”. For the past 5 years, Sherri has worked with Walter
Murphy and orchestrates for his shows “American Dad!” and “Family Guy”. She also currently
writes additional music for Blake Neely on the new shows “Blindspot” and “Supergirl”.
CHRISTOPHER WINTER - Sound design and mix
Chris has been a post sound professional for over 20 years. He got his
training as an audio engineer at The Grove School of Music, and later
worked in recording studios as a second engineer while playing L.A.
clubs in underground rock bands. When the digital revolution in post
production began, he got his opportunity to break into post sound
editorial due to his technical expertise with equipment that was
previously alien to the cutting room. He immediately became fascinated
with the psycho-acoustic illusion that is film sound and he never looked
back. He currently freelances out of his home sound design studio in North Hollywood, CA.
MORGAN HALSEY - Editor
Morgan is a native Angeleno, and grew up in a Film centric household. Her fondness of Film and TV sparked at an early age, and that eventually
manifested into her interest in Editing. She is the daughter of Academy
Award winning film editor, Richard Halsey and Film Editor Colleen
Halsey. Morgan continues to live and work in Los Angeles. ALFONSO CARRION - Editor
Alfonso is extremely excited to share Best Wishes From Millwood with
everyone. He wants to thank Morgan Halsey for an incredible experience
co-editing the film together. He will remember the enjoyment of cutting
the montage with Morgan the most and had a great time piecing together
everyone's performances. Alfonso is currently working on the latest
season of Netflix's House of Cards and has worked on numerous indies
under legendary film editors, Richard and Colleen Halsey, ACE.
Production Photos
Link to Trailer
https://vimeo.com/144173921
IMDB Page
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4049044/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Contact Info
For general inquiries, please email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BestWishesFromMillwood
Twitter: @MillwoodFilm