Everest Collegiate grads' short film, 'After You,' wins awards in Royal Oak film festival in August
ROYAL OAK — Two young filmmakers originally from the Detroit area are tackling the tough topic of authentic masculinity and male/female relationships in a recently produced short film called “After You.”
Shannon DiSalle and Chris Bradley both grew up in the Clarkston area and attended Everest Collegiate High School and Academy. They recently graduated from John Paul the Great Catholic University in California. The college states its mission is to “Impact Culture for Christ” by “bringing together storytellers, artists, designers, leaders, and entrepreneurs in the pursuit of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.”
DiSalle and Bradley, who are newly engaged to be married, put together the film as part of their college senior project.
In the film, Bradley plays the main character, Ronny, who witnesses a date rape situation and must decide between taking the easy way out, or doing what is right.
Bradley said they both wanted to come up with a project that “really challenged us.”
“I felt a tug on my heart, along with Shannon, to really create something truthful, unique and different,” he said. “Today in our culture there is no push for men to be true, good men. We need men to stand up, to work together with women to fix these issues that are going on right now.”
DiSalle, who directs the short film, said she and Bradley brainstormed ideas, and one image kept coming up — a young man chasing after a car. They felt the image conveyed the idea of “someone chasing after something so important to him.”
“We took that image that really resonated with the both of us,” she said. “We wanted to tell a story that took that theme and tied in masculinity and femininity. The story had a lot of room to grow. It was like it was revealing itself to us.”
The film was nominated for 10 awards at the “I See You Awards” festival that took place in Royal Oak in August.
The film took home several awards, including “Best Picture,” the “People's Choice Awards” and “Best Cast.”
DiSalle was honored for her role in the film with the “Best Director” award, and Ben Roberts earned “Best Soundtrack” for his audio production work.
“After You” lasts 15-minutes and will be shown along with other contenders at the Emagine Theater in Royal Oak on Aug. 22. Their film airs at 1:40 p.m. Those who attend can vote for their favorite. (Click here to get tickets, which cost $17 each.) Awards will be presented to the winners on Aug. 25.
DiSalle, Bradley and two other students who worked on the project talked about their work in a promotional video (above). Other team members in the video include the lead producer, Erica Kovacic, and director of photography Jacob Hotovy.
DiSalle said working on the project was “one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.”
More information
For an in-depth article on DiSalle and the film project, click here: https://www.iseeyouawards.com/post/2019/03/30/shannon-disalle-making-her-dreams-come-true-one-film-at-a-time
This article was first published at https://www.worthythings48.com/post/local-filmmakers-tackle-tough-topic-in-award-nominated-project. It is reprinted with permission.
