NYU Narrative Production (Student Short Film)

Logline: After his deceased father’s watch is stolen from a notorious drug dealer, Alex and his deadbeat brother Jayden venture to get it back.

 

Synopsis: Alex, a high-schooler getting over his father's death, goes to buy weed from Mark,  a neighborhood drug dealer. Instead of making a transaction, Mark remorsefully steals Alex's father’s watch. Defeated but persistent, Alex goes to his older brother Jaden for help. They formulate a plan: go to Mark’s house with a baseball bat, knock on the front door, and demand the watch back. However, upon getting there and meeting Mark’s neglectful stepmother, Patricia, they believe getting the watch back is a lost cause. As victims of Mark’s kleptomania have visited his house over and over again in an attempt to get their belongings back, Patricia has grown impatient. She scolds Mark-- not for stealing, but for having to deal with interacting with Mark’s victims. This plight leads Mark to chase down Alex and Jaden, who are arguing about the neglectfulness of their dead father. Mark interrupts them and condemns them for going to his house and interacting with his stepmother. He agrees to give the watch back on one condition- to never go back to Mark’s house again. They comply, and Mark angrily throws the watch and bikes away. However, Mark’s throw breaks the watch and cracks the glass. The watch isn’t in the same condition as it was before- dirt, grime, and sweat soak the watch with impurities. After Jaden forces Alex to realize that their dad would rather watch the New York Jets game over driving him to prom, he throws the watch into the ocean- signifying his decision to let go of his grief.

 

Why We Need Money: Let’s be honest, living in New York City isn’t cheap. With an already overwhelming amount of student debt, utility bills, groceries, and paying rent hanging over our team’s heads, supporting our project would help us gain the resources we need. The fundraising would allow us to keep the gears tearing. Such as feeding our cast and crew healthy with nutritious meals, keeping them hydrated, maintaining consistent COVID testing during the shoot, and transporting the team from different shooting locations. It would also help to rent vans to move equipment and rent indoor shooting locations, which have become increasingly expensive to pay for out-of-pocket due to COVID. This is a passion project which is fueled by the perspectives of a neighborhood in South Boston that the director grew up in and the wild west of adolescence. Run rampant by neglectful parents, unmotivated kids who don’t see a brighter future, teenagers developing substance dependencies at early ages, and decisions motivated by emotions rather than rationality. Any donation would be greatly appreciated and would help show this perspective of young culture in urban settings on a larger scale to a greater audience.

 

Writer/Director Bio: Since working at Artists for Humanity, a non-profit art organization in Boston, Massachusetts, Nico Love, 20, specializes in visual storytelling through filmmaking, animation, painting, and photography. Nico’s inner-city upbringing contrasted with his suburban high school led to his passion for skateboarding as a form of escapism from these different social classes; creating videos and art as a reflection of this duality (some skateboard videos ended up on websites like Quartersnacks, a famous skateboard blog). After living in Boston for the majority of his life and moving to New York 3 years ago, Nico is currently an undergraduate at New York University majoring in Film and Television. He is in collaboration with LAAMS NYC, an art gallery/clothing store focusing on independent designers and local artists, to create an animated mini-series for them while also making content that lets his own voice be heard. In the future, Nico aspires to be a part of major film productions while also having installations of his own in art galleries. He has an upcoming art installation in The Living Gallery come late November and is extremely enthusiastic about his future projects.