Although Cynthia Breed (Kitty) had once considered working as a television newscaster, after a teaching career she was planning on going back to the nursing career she’d left years ago.
Her husband Stephen Franklin Blanton had been writing screenplays for years. He once managed a repertory theatre and had completed a college program for working in the film below the line. Although he worked in a different industry, he dabbled in film projects from time to time.
When the pandemic came to Florida, commercial media production ground to a halt.
No one was working and Stephen decided it was a good time to film an indie project.
He adapted a short film from an existing script and connected with some of his former classmates and people he’s worked with on various projects. He formed a production company and made plans to shoot a short film.
“Under a Bad Moon” became a reality. Stephen found and enlisted a crew and a former classmate who was a casting director helped him find actors. At this point, Cynthia was enlisted to provide craft services during filming and to train their dog specific behaviors for his part as the lead actor’s dog.
The film was ambitious for a short, with five locations including a local laundromat and filming on local lakes and waterways. There were seven experienced actors and a small crew. When a script supervisor was suddenly needed, Cynthia was able to find one within hours via her Facebook contacts.
As is the case in indie films, most crew members wear multiple hats, especially during a pandemic. Cynthia noticed areas that needed additional crew and took them on. By the time the film was in post-production, she was given the title of producer and a film credit.
For a short film born during a pandemic, Under a Bad Moon has done well. It has a high film festival selection rate using Film Freeway’s statistics.
Cynthia continues to work on social media for the film and selects film festivals to enter. Currently, she is working on film festival strategy and writing her own personal project.
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