A short, genre-bending, community-based fiction film upending the spaghetti westerns of the 1960s and 70s.
Starring 17 kids, Ben the Dog, and the voices of the VT String Project—a School of Performing Arts-sponsored community enrichment program for local youth.
Tagline: “A short film about a girl who knows her physics.”
One judge’s comment: “…One of the most creative western shorts I've ever seen mixing spaghetti western with the silent film while paying homage to everything Clint Eastwood and making it all seem logical as a kid's film!?! Absolutely delightful! The cinematography, editing, and music aid in creating the mixture of worlds and it didn't even bother me when you broke from the silent film to allow the characters to actually speak because I was already committed to the world you created.”
Sep. 23, 2021 VT News article: https://liberalarts.vt.edu/news/articles/2021/09/spaghetti-western.html
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Official Selections and Awards
Richmond International Film Festival: https://riff.eventive.org/films/60d4e3b97fc37700c5257fb1
Southern Shorts Awards, Atlanta, GA, 2021
- Official Festival Award Winner, featured in the Spring Season Film Festival
- 3 Two-Star Awards of Merit: Director, Production Design, Screenplay. 7 One-Star Awards of Merit: Producer, Costuming, Actor, Music, Editing, Sound Design, Cinematography.
Cowpokes Int'l Film Festival, Electra, TX, 2021
- 9 award nominations, 7 wins: Best Director (mini short), Best Mini Short Western, Best Originality Film, Best Family Film, Best Children’s Film, Best Western Mini Short Actress and Best Young Actress: Hadley Teaster
73rd UFVA (Virtual) Conference 2020
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Written by Gerald Teaster
Produced by P. Booth Teaster
Assistant Director - Gwen Ogle
Animator and Editor - Andrew Huang
Director of Photography - Justin Perkinson
Directed and Co-Produced by C.E.Dye
Starrring
Hadley Teaster
Amelia Arndt
Lily-Anne Cate
Ayla Clay
Graham Heisel
Sylvia MacNab
Isaac MacNab
Taylor McGuire
Brayden McGuire
Addie Mecom
Bridget Miller
Abigail Napolitano
Madison Nolen
Luca Ripepi
Beckett Socha
Sage Stern
Tanner Zoellner
and Ben the Heeler
Associate Producer - Allison Lee Craft
Script Supervisor - Trent Neely
2nd Assistant Camera - James Jaffee
Production Assistants - Jacob Kansco, Nadia Dawson, Kayla Hall, Ethan Hayes, Virginia Gray, Andrew Perkinson, Evan P. Teaster
Art Direction - Becki Jones
Assistant Art Direction - Wally Jones
Catering Staff - Kathleen Stadler-Thompson, Randy Thompson, Debbie Nicols
Filmed on location at
Heartstrings Pet Lodging and Spa, Blacksburg, Virginia
The Park, Roanoke, Virginia
Music
Brett Van Donsel - Rattlesnake Railroad
Motion Array
Luluproduction - Japanese Taiko
DeWolfe Music
Ena Baga - In A Mess
Keith Papworth - Have Gun
Tim Souster - Hot Desert
Andy Quin - My Old Rag
MISTY (Vocal)
Composer: Johnny Burke and Erroll Gardner
Co-publishers:
1954 Marke-Music Publishing Co, Inc (ASCAP) administered by WC Music Corp.
Spirit Two Music, Inc. o/b/o Reganesque Music Company
© Octave Music Licensing (ASCAP) All rights reserved and administered by Downtown Music Publishing LLC
My Dad's Songs/Pocketful of Dreams Music (ASCAP) (Administered by Songs of MOJO, LLC.) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
Vocal Instructor - Kathy Strong
Vocal Recordist - Rachel Hachem
Singers
Ashton Price, Carlee Cook, Charlotte Reany, Finn Smith, Jaelyn Clark, Liam Baldwin, Lydia Pratt, Moonsie Zhang, Richard Zavaleta, Samuel Kamienski, Turner Gusler, Veronica Garcia
Special Thanks to Molly Wilkens-Reed - VT String Project, Joelle k. Shenk, Joeloe Productions LLC
No dogs, cowboys, or ladies were hurt in the making of this film.
Total Run Time: 9 minutes
© MMXX PEHG Productions
