Get to know the short film: KONG’s, 10min, USA, Crime/Thriller

Playing at the April 2017 HORROR/THRILLER FEEDBACK Film Festival.

KONG’s, 10min, USA, Crime/Thriller
Directed by Ian Schiller

When a low criminal makes his move against an old friend, it thrusts him into the deep end of a criminal world where his next move could be his last.

Director’s Statement:

I live in Santa Cruz Ca, a town where the tech billions of the Silicon Valley is held at bay by a redwood forest and a winding road through the mountains. It’s a town where vacationers and day trippers brave the pass to enjoy it’s beaches and millionaires overbid themselves to buy beachfront property.

However, beneath this sunny veneer lies a shadow culture, people living outside the margins of society. Transients forced on busses to Santa Cruz from less accommodating locals. Lurkers existing as they have and will – skating, surfing, partying, living for the next swell. Living by the money of random jobs and petty crime. Kong’s is a Neo Noir inspired story about one such criminal who makes a desperate move in an attempt to escape his status.

My location, Kong’s exists in real life. It’s is a dingy seedy convenience store in a gentrified community. A convenience store wearing the patina of the early nineties where the rich and street punks alike come for their beer and late night ice cream. It was here I realized I wanted to explore the intersection of Santa Cruz’s two worlds and investigate the darkness just underneath the surface.

In writing the story, the original concept was to place the film in one moment of time. To see events unfold nearly in real-time yet deliver a complete three act story within the confines of a short. Moreover to create a story starting at a high point of tension and each subsequent character adding to the tension.

In many ways I’m an outsider in my own town and I’ve always been fascinated by the characters I come across. Kong’s and the characters in the story, while fictional, embody the unseen strata of Santa Cruz. One where most turn a blind eye and are secure to think does not exist.

Film Type:Short

Runtime:10 minutes 17 seconds

Completion Date:August 15, 2016

Production Budget:70,000 USD

Country of Origin:United States

Country of Filming:United States

Film Language:English

Shooting Format:Red

Aspect Ratio:2:4

Film Color:Color