Tiny Writing Exercise
By Jonathan W. Hickman, E! Insider, May 31, 2009
The words have to come from somewhere. Some thing, some event, some one has to inspire them. Some writers wait a lifetime for inspiration that never comes. Steve might be one of those doomed writers.
In the short film “Captain,” the hapless Steve (Jack Sundmacher) has been exiled from a writing class taught by award-winning crime novelist Carl (Bjorn Johnson). Steve exhibited promise in class, but Carl decides that the only way to challenge Steve is to force him to leave class and not return until he demonstrates a serious commitment to writing. But this exercise isn’t working for Steve, who is reaching a breaking point.
When Carl asks Steve to watch his diminutive puppy named Captain while Carl and his wife Trish (Nicole Stuart) are out of town, Steve is perplexed by the request. Why has Carl chosen Steve for this task? Why does this pigmy-like puppy need to take anti-depressants? And why is Trish so flirty? No matter, Steve needs the cash, and maybe some of Carl’s talent will rub off in the process.
Mainly an opportunity for good actors to display their talents, “Captain” is more form over substance. Case in point, Nicole Stuart flexes her appealing body while doing a bit of yoga or Pilates in a scene that works by introducing sexual tension on top of Steve’s disorientation. What is being said in that scene is really irrelevant; the tone struck works regardless whether it promotes the plot. But there is something subversive afoot.
“Captain’s” narrative is quirky enough to hide the mystery over the short film’s 14-minute running time. But the real delight is watching the actors spar with one another. Written by stars Stuart and Sundmacher, director Max Cady knows how to get out of the way and permit his actors to feed on the built in short-hand understanding of the material. Writers will relate to Steve’s plight and instantly understand Steve’s interest in finding inspiration in another writer’s method.
Of note is the puppy in the film. The dog is very tiny and irresistibly cute. And just to satisfy my curiosity, I will contact the filmmaker and see if he can tell us more about it and send me a photo. This small star does manage to nearly upstage the other actors at times. And Captain is exactly the right name for this little guy--a star in the making.
Actress’ Short Film Picked For Dances With Film Independent Festival
By Steve Simmons, Beverly Hills Courier, June 4, 2009
When the independent “Dances with Film” festival opens this weekend in Santa Monica, Captain, a film by Nicole Stuart and friends, will be among those competing in the shorts category.
Stuart is an actress and popular Pilates instructor with numerous Beverly Hills celebrity, agent and business clients.
The festival, running today through June 11 had more than 1,200 submissions, “So we’re excited to be part of it,” Stuart said.
Captain is the dog who stars in the series she and writing partner and actor Jack Sundmacher created about an aspiring writer who takes jobs walking dogs.
After meeting Sundmacher 10 years ago in an acting class and reading his initial treatment, she realized it would make a great story for a pilot and hopefully a series—in the vein of Entourage or Curb Your Enthusiasm—or maybe even a feature.
“Jack an I thought why wait around waiting for a project when we can create something funnier and smarter that we don’t have to audition for.”
Like most aspiring filmmaker she and Sundmacher, who also stars in the film, relied on friends for help. Fellow actor Bjorn Johnson appears as an eccentric writing teacher, a character Sundmacher based on a UCLA writing teacher in lives in Beverly Hills.
Johnson helped Stuart and Sundmacher find new director Max Cady, after the original director pulled out two days before filming was scheduled to start. Caitlin Renee Campbell served as producer.
Initial response to the project has been positive, Stuart says. “The characters are zany, but real. And it think people relate to a dark comedy.”
Stuart, originally a Las Vegas dancer, was trained by the famed Mari Winsor in Winsor Pilates.
Her ultimate goal to act and teach Pilates. “I want to open a studio and have a few a few regular when I'm not working.”
Movie Review: CAPTAIN
By Debbie Lynn Elias, Film Critic, May 31st, 2009
There are two things that jump out at you during the 13:22 minutes of CAPTAIN, a leading contender in the Short Film Competition at this year’s Dances with Films Film Festival. First, is the exquisite cinematography of Emily Topper and second, although only on screen a scant few seconds, the oh-toooo-cute and adorable CAPTAIN. Both are images and qualities that stay with you after the film’s end.
A frustrated writer, to make ends meet, Steve has been relegated to the job of a dog-walker. Staring at a blank computer screen for endless hours, he gives new meaning to the term “writer’s block.” Mentally tormenting himself over the fact that he is 36 years old and written nothing while F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby” at age 29, you get the idea as to the extent of self-flagellation going on. Making matters worse, a few months earlier he was kicked out of a writing class because, as his instructor Carl put it, he wasn’t living up to his potential and was one of Carl’s greatest failures as a student. So imagine Steve’s surprise when he gets a call out of the blue from Carl and his wife, Trish, asking him to babysit their beloved little baby Chihuahua, CAPTAIN.
Trish is the epitome of the term “vacuous ditzy blonde.” Prattling on whenever she opens her mouth, she is beyond obsessive about CAPTAIN, not to mention insulting to Steve with little digs about his failures as a writer and as Carl’s student. With multiple medications, multiple food groupings and selected toys all lined up on the kitchen counter, plus a myriad of instructions (including singing a Tom Jones song to CAPTAIN), I was waiting to see Trish come down from the dancer’s pole ensconced in her living room to knit little garments for CAPTAIN. Carl, on the other hand, beyond bearing a strong resemblance to a bearded Jeff Daniels, is what one might imagine an old school frustrated actor turned writing teacher to be - semi-intoxicated with eyes half open, drink in one hand, dramatic speech patterns and grandiose arm movements flailing about with sloshing drink. Together, they make Steve more than appreciate his companionship and conversation with his dog-walking charges.
With the puppy-sitting deal in place and Steve confident in his upcoming duties, he heads home for the day. But later that night, a tearful, bedraggled looking Trish shows up at his house yelling, “You killed CAPTAIN.” Shocked and bewildered, Steve hadn’t even begun his puppy sitting as yet, how could he have killed CAPTAIN?
Nicole Stuart and Jack Sundmacher are triple threats, wearing hats of not only producers and writers, but also starring as Trish and Steve. Conceived as a short story by Sundmacher based on his own weekend of cat sitting for a teacher’s cat, it was Stuart’s idea to bring the story to life as a screenplay. Clearly incorporating her own life growing up in Las Vegas into the story (hence the dancer’s pole and Stuart’s exhibition of her pole mastery), Stuart’s ditziness, while engaging, gets annoying, but she fuels the lighter comedic element of the film which as a whole is a dark, yet entertaining comedy with a wickedly surprising edge. Sundmacher brings a palette of emotion to Steve exhibiting angst, frustration, flippancy, bewilderment, sorrow and mortification in the course of less than 15 minutes, much of which is only enhanced by some excellent camera work. Bjorn Johnson steps in as Carl. Former acting teacher and director to Stuart, their familiarity with each other off screen brings an ease and compatibility to their on screen relationship, with each complimenting the eccentric off-beat persona of the other.
But the real star of the film is CAPTAIN (aka Oro) - the most precious little pup to hit the big screen in a long time (in other words, move over Papi and Chloe, there’s a new top dog in Beverly Hills). Given the rumor that Sundmacher and Stuart are working on a feature length version of CAPTAIN which would undoubtedly include the very extended backstory given in the production notes of this film (but which I will not divulge to you now lest it spoil the feature), I can only hope that we see a lot more of CAPTAIN in the future. He just melts your heart.
As this is a short film, the “backstory” is minimal with everything occurring in the here and now, yet the script is well crafted so as to provide enough information necessary to understand the film completely - and leaves you wanting more.
Director Max Cady came on board just two days before shooting started. Clearly, he got up to speed in record time given the quality of the final product. Interesting camera work, superb cinematography that is crisp, clean and vivid complete the package.
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! The prize you seek should be won (with apologies to Walt Whitman). CAPTAIN, a “Must See Festival Film” at not only Dances With Films but every other festival in which it appears, is top dog.
Trish - Nicole Stuart
Steve - Jack Sundmacher
Carl - Bjorn Johnson
Directed by Max Cady. Written by Jack Sundmacher and Nicole Stuart.
