Vassar graduates premiere short film at SXSW

Making an appearance at this year's South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas was probably not a huge deal for the likes of Quentin Tarantino or Ryan Philippe, but for many independent filmmakers, it is a momentous occasion. Such was the case for Seth Cuddeback '08, Aaron Naar '08 and Woodrow Travers '09, three Vassar alumni who are also the directors of the independent film company Shoot the Sky Productions (STSP). Their seven minute short film Kelp made its premiere at the prestigious festival on Sunday, March 14 with a well-received morning screening.

"It's done really well here," said Naar on the film's run. "People really liked it. We played at the end of this program of heavy-hitting dramas about the Iraq War, so people enjoyed a little bit of levity I think."

Levity is one word that could describe Kelp. The bizarre film tells the story of a man who has a near-drowning experience in the ocean, but is saved by a bed of kelp. He literally falls in love with the kelp and brings it into his home, prompting his wife to leave him.

"It was shot in two-and-a-half days," said Cuddeback, who co-directed and co-wrote the film along with STSP partner and filmmaker Benjamin Dohrmann. "It was pretty chaotic. We didn't pay anybody; that was kind of the coolest part about it. Everybody [on the crew] just really liked the concept, so they worked for free. All we paid for was our equipment."

The film's premiere has garnered the small company some major attention from industry professionals at the festival. STSP has been offered such services as a pro bono lawyer, film distribution and agency representation.

"Since coming to South by Southwest, we've gotten a lot of interest from production companies that are offering co-production services and financing," said Naar. "So we're really excited about that."

STSP is making a name for itself in the industry today, but its more humble origins date back to the trio's early years at Vassar College. Naar, Cuddeback and Travers began working on films beginning in spring of 2006, when they co-produced a movie for a 48-hour film festival in New York City that won the audience award. They went on to produce a number of films at Vassar, including a documentary called Los Hombres del Lago about an endangered village in Bolivia. The film was accepted to the HotDocs Canadian International Film Festival, one of the largest documentary festivals in North America. In addition to his work with Naar and Cuddeback, Travers also notably co-founded the Vassar Filmmakers and interned for director Ron Howard during the filming of the 2009 blockbuster Angels and Demons.

Since the creation of STSP in 2008, the three filmmakers have continued to produce documentaries and short films. Some of their more notable productions have included Fades with Age, a drama about the loneliness of aging, and Death Ranch, a bloody psychological western. Both films have had successful runs at festivals across the country. For these and the rest of the films that STSP has produced, Vassar students have been invited to help on the set and get hands-on film production experience.

Said Naar, "We're trying to proactively get students involved because I think it's a rare opportunity when someone says, ‘Come work on a professional production. There are no requirements except enthusiasm.'"

The company hopes to expand on the involvement of Vassar students with the creation of an internship program through the College. The idea came about when Travers visited Vassar for a series of lectures on assistant film direction and getting jobs in the film industry.

"About a hundred people in total came, and there were a lot of people who expressed interest [in internships]," said Travers. "They said, ‘I just want to find an internship. I want to do something in film during my summer. Is there any way to get involved?'"

The three filmmakers hope to extend the same opportunities they had to Vassar students through such an internships program. STSP was given extensive support from various professionals during its first two years, something the company wants to reciprocate for other industry hopefuls.

"A lot of people out there are receptive and understand where you're coming from," said Naar. "Maybe they started out doing free work, or something like we're doing, so they'll say, ‘Yeah, I'll help you out!' That's what we're trying to do as well."

Besides their success at South by Southwest, there have also been other encouraging developments for STSP. Naar and Cuddeback have set up shop in Los Angeles and Travers was recently accepted into the Director's Guild of America New York Assistant Director Training Program in New York City. This development has divided the company between two coasts, giving it greater access to resources. With this in mind, the company has a long-term goal of becoming a full-fledged, self-sustaining production company.

"Right now, we're just working for ourselves," said Cuddeback. "We have to supplement Shoot the Sky work with other work."

STSP also has the long-term goal of creating feature-length narrative films. Currently they have two films in development: David and the Kingdom, a documentary on a former hunter who has since devoted his life to healing animals, and Mateo, a feature-length documentary on a white mariachi singer in Los Angeles.

"Each of our projects keep on escalating," said Naar. "We keep getting bigger and better."