SARAH K. WORK

ELLIE & RAY

ABOUT

Ellie, a young, hopeless romantic holds on to her loving relationship, doomed by war, while her mother tries to bring her back to the harsh reality of life.

Drama, Romance, War.

SYNOPSIS

Ellie, a young, hopeless romantic is in a loving relationship with Ray, a kind man who is send to war. She holds on to and is devoted to him unconditionally, while her mother Margaret tries to prepare her for him not returning. Margaret plans to have her marry Henry, a man not send to war due to his illness, as he is a true gentleman, who conveniently also has money and will provide stability. Ellie has to decide if she wants to stay detached from reality and get lost in her fantasies, or if she wants to say goodbye to her dream world, and Ray.

INFLUENCES

The intentions behind the visuals and style of this short were mostly to find a working compromise between the old and the new. Using the new formats, new technology and the new approach to film and acting, while keeping in mind the old settings, wardrobe, social norms and other nostalgic elements. The below mentioned movies were the biggest Inspirations and all brought their own elements to this short.

Gone With The Wind (1939): The overall romantic feeling, the theme of a woman torn between her ideal world and the harsh reality she lives in.

Casablanca (1942): The 40's aesthetic, the war, the music. The behaviors of women in society.

Dogville (2003): The stage-like setting.

La La Land (2016): The cinematography and the fantastic feeling.

CAST

ALEXANDRA SHYDLOVSKA

as ELLIE

Alexandra is from Vancouver, British Columbia. She always knew that acting was a passion of hers, so once she finished school, she decided to move out to Los Angeles to pursue her dream in film. She since then has been a part of the short film Coma (2015) and the TV movie Midnight Sun (2012). She had an amazing time working on Ellie & Ray, she learned a lot while shooting, and not to mention, everyone on set was absolutely amazing and she hopes one day we can all work together again.

SAMMY ANDERSON

as RAY

Often credited as a Writer, Director and Actor, Sammy began his career in small town Indiana, working on everything from short films to stage plays, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a larger stage. Since arriving, he has studied the Meisner technique at Ruskin School of Acting, Improv at The Groundlings and Voiceover at The Voiceover Connection in Burbank. Beginning his “professional” career in 2017, he has been seen in over a dozen films of every variety, such as The Delivery (2019) and Devil’s Cove (2017), offering a wide range of characters. Ellie & Ray immediately piqued his interest when he realized the role of Ray was unlike anything he had portrayed before and offered its own share of unique challenges, including striking the balance between humanity and fantasy. These challenges, coupled with singular direction and chemistry between both the cast and crew, lead to one of the most enjoyable professional experiences he has ever had on set.

SANDRA BOWES

as MARGARET

Sandra Bowes was raised in Washington, D.C. and attended the University of Pennsylvania where she found her acting passion studying with Ilona Gerbner and later with Phyllis Behar in NYC where she performed in numerous productions. She married and lived in the Toronto area, became a Canadian, had two children and focused on being a mom. Acting was put on hold until her nest was empty. Now, free to devote herself to her craft, she has performed in numerous theatrical and film productions such as the short film Hide And Seek (2018) and the upcoming The Binding of Danny. She thoroughly enjoyed her time on the set of Ellie & Ray and is looking forward to working with the cast and crew again in the future.

COSTA NICHOLAS

as HENRY

Costa Nicholas is fresh to LA. A Cape Cod native; after getting his BFA from Salem State University, he would go on to spend the next 7 years working and training his acting skills in NYC. In August 2017, all the pieces fell in place; he packed up a truck and with car and motorcycle in tow, drove from NYC to LA to begin the next chapter of his life and his career. Since coming here has won an Award of Merit for The End of the World (2018) and has starred in the award winning short film Soar (2019). Costa is very excited to have been a part of the beautiful and tragic story that is "Ellie and Ray" and hopes that it brings a plethora of emotions to its viewers. Sarah Kaufmann had a great vision and told a fantastic story, and Costa hopes to one day have the privilege of working with her again.

CREW

SARAH KAUFMANN

WRITER / PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / EDITOR

Sarah Kaufmann is a German editor, director and graphic designer, who moved to Los Angeles in early 2015. She studied at the New York Film Academy for two years to graduate with her Associate's Degree of Fine Arts in Filmmaking, in May 2018. Her love for editing and writing and her eye for composition and directing founded its roots early on. Editing movies as music videos and writing little stories here and there developed into pursuing a professional career and ultimately led to her studying for and creating short films. In L.A she has worked on multiple projects in various positions, such as director/editor of the award winning short film Bi The Way (2018) and editor of the talk show The Nest (2018). Ellie & Ray is her thesis film and she put a lot of effort, thoughts and emotions into it. She is beyond happy with the outcome and is more than thankful to her very talented cast and crew for their dedication and talents. She is very proud of this project and thanks everyone involved for one of her greatest on-set experiences so far.

WARA PORNKULWAT

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Wara worked as a freelance Cinematographer in his home country Thailand. He shot many commercials, short films, music videos and worked as Camera Operator on feature films as well. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream as a Cinematographer. Here he has continued his work as Cinematographer for The Gift of the Magi (2018) and has won an ward for best cinematography for Fighter (2018). In his opinion he doesn’t have a specific style of Cinematography. He believes that the story itself will drive the style of every component in the filmmaking process. His cinematography should serve the story, not his personal interests. The story will tell you how to light and how to compose every frame. Working on this project was a challenge for him, because the setup was very similar to a stage play. The best trivia of his for this film shoot would be that during the shoot he suddenly got a fever and lost his voice on set. His 2nd AC had to be his speaker on set. "Camera Ready!” said the 2nd AC.