By Khalida Sarwari
Chris Campbell is just weeks away from making his dream project come true. Sept. 25 marks the first day of a process to bring a story he’s been trying to tell for years to the screen.
Campbell, 22, is an aspiring filmmaker and student at the Art Center College of Design who moved from Saratoga to Burbank three years ago to pursue the craft. With just one semester remaining at the art center, the Saratoga High School and West Valley College alum decided to make a film he calls “a culmination of everything I’ve learned at school.”
Inspired by Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and Tarsem Singh’s “The Fall,” Campbell is setting out to make his own sci-fi tale that examines the relationship between a father and son.
“Though it’s a bit different and much lower budget, what I truly love about this genre is that it doesn’t need all the bells and whistles, it doesn’t need the lasers and the spaceships,” he said. “What I’ve aimed to create is just a heartfelt and moving character-driven story that happens to be set in a science fiction universe.”
Campbell’s short film is titled “Cade,” the name of the main character (played by Chris Cleveland) who, after unexpectedly losing his son, Stanley (Christian Toma), abandons his job and wife (Kersten Haile) to isolate himself in a cabin. There he attempts to re-create and implant his son’s essence into a robotic vessel as a way of giving Stanley a second chance at life. Though his efforts are successful, Cade realizes that being a father now is just as difficult for him as when his son was alive.
“I guess if I really dig deep into it, [the movie] came from my relationship with my dad when I was a kid,” Campbell said, explaining that his parents’ divorce put a strain on his family and created distance between him and his father. “Just the way I felt really troubled me, and that kind of idea–that subconscious idea of my relationship with my father–has translated into most of the scripts I’ve written.”
The film will be shot at a cabin in Big Bear. A large portion of Campbell’s budget will be going toward rental costs for the cabin and diner locations and accommodations for the cast and crew to live for the five days of shooting.
Once he completes the 25-minute film, Campbell plans to enter it in festivals in order to qualify for the short film category of the Academy Awards in 2016.
“It’s quite the dream, but we’re trying to shoot for it,” he said. “Why not?”
It all started many years ago when Campbell would binge watch movies at night while attending West Valley College with no idea what exactly he wanted to do with his life, until he realized one day he wanted to create the same escape that other filmmakers had made for him. Now, in his last year at the art center, he said he wants to be able to inspire those who feel the way he felt not too long ago, unsure and trapped in their own insecurities.
“This is my final year there, and I must leave with a bang,” he said.
Campbell is attempting to raise $5,000 on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo by Sept. 9 for his film. To contribute toward his campaign, visit Indiegogo and search for “Cade.”
Link: Young filmmaker’s dream project about to begin in L.A.
