Poster of 'Sands of Mexico' by Lily Burns (Art BFA 12).
Recent CalArts graduate Samantha Hatch (Film/Video MFA 10, BFA 07) has turned her 20-minute thesis film, Sands of Mexico into a web series. Hatch finished her graduate project one semester early and under budget, so she used the extra time to write, produce and shoot the now 40-minute web series.
Filmed in Manzanillo, Mexico, the story opens on recent college graduate Daniel (Will Green [Theater MFA 10]), who’s at a crossroads in life, still reeling from his mother’s death. Hatch collaborated with a number of other current CalArts students and alumni in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
On the Sands of Mexico website, she explains why she chose to show the work on the web rather than another medium or venue:
Currently this media is in its infancy. Most of what is available is in a single-genre based context. Also, much of what is out there is poorly written and has low-production value. What I am trying to do, is take the media to the next level… With interesting setting, richer characters, more engaging stories. I believe this will set a new standard for web content. The first two episodes were shot on HDV (high-definition video) and the last 4 were shot on the Canon 7D full HD camera.
We posted episode 1, “It’s all Relative” below:
Cast
- Will Green (Theater MFA 10)
- Jennifer Rouleau (Theater BFA 10)
- Vincent Mentry (Theater BFA 08)
- John Beach (Theater BFA 09)
- Abica Dubay (Theater BFA 09)
- Jonathan Olmstead (Music BFA 10)…composer
- Conor Keenan (Film/Video MFA 10)…director of photography for the first two episodes
- Yoko Okumura (Film/Video BFA 10)…director of photography for the last four episodes
- Patrick Janssen…(Theater MFA 10)…camera assistant
- Rich Gavin (Film/Video BFA 10)…sound production
- Ben Huff (Film/Video MFA 07)…sound design
- Loren White (Film/Video BFA 06)…digital imaging technician and color correction
- Kris Harris (Art BFA 08)…credits