‘The Pool’ is a short film which reflects the transience of our experiences, the depth of human connection and our capacity to cope with grief and loss.
The story starts with our protagonists, Ari and Connell, falling in love by the poolside.
In Act II, the Pool observes Ari and Connell’s 2 children growing up. However, after one of the children drown while Connell and Ari are distracted, the Pool becomes neglected and has to live with the guilt of being a murderer.
In Act III, after Ari has a stroke, Connell cleans up the Pool and Ari eventually agrees to step into the pool, confront her feelings about it and do rehab exercises in it. In this Act, the Pool witnesses the fragility of human beings and the depth of love and connection that can exist between two people even after something as tragic as a stroke. By the end of this Act, the Pool redeems itself by allowing Ari to float and, for a brief moment, forget what she has lost.
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We are a group of filmmakers who strongly believe visual storytelling can make a lasting impression on its audience’s lives and change them, whether it be their daily routine, their perspective on a certain issue or even just to educate them on a particular topic. With this mentality, we intend to use The Pool as an innovative way to raise awareness about pool safety and strokes, and in turn, change people’s habits and perspectives.
We will be submitting our short film to festivals around the world and after the festival run, we will be sharing it with various stroke organisations’ members.
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We are trying to raise $20,000 to help us with a variety of costs associated with producing a short film:
– Catering costs for cast and crew
– Production design and art department.
– Camera equipment hire;
– Post-production costs: colour grading, sound design and mixing; and
– Paying cast and crew a token payment for their time and skills.
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Our current timeline is:
Pre-production: Nov 2020/Feb 2021
Shoot 1: 3 x half days in Feb 2021
Shoot 2: 3 – 4 days in March 2021
Post-production: April 2021 to June 2021
Completion: June / July 2021
Keep up to date with the film on our website.
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Our team:
Writer / producer / co-director: Erica Long
Co-director: Cristobal Olguin
Producer: Esme Wong
Co-producer: Talin Agon
Associate Producer: Margaret Thanos
Production Assistants: Jeanette Stephen and Mairin Angel
The Pool (voice): Lara Lightfoot
Cinematographer: Susan Lumsdon
Camera assists: Davis Fang and Anthony Mannion
Lighting assists: Diego Murillo and Andrew Lin
Sound recorder: David Do
Editor: Kern Sharma
Production designers: Justine Scali and Sid Pitot
Art director: Trishia Suministrado
Set dresser / buyer: Shraddha Birla and Margarita Gershkovich
Costume designer: Rosie Wylie
Art department assists: Oliver Milgate, Tarryn Morrow-Saba, Amy Rutstein, Cass Li, Shaina Cabusi
Social media: Chloe Anshaw
Make-up: Sophie Tabrett
Script supervisor: Emily Speight
Clapper: Caroline Levien
