proof of concept
short film
Director’s statement
Years ago, I had an entry-level position that required delivering umbrellas around NY, and I dropped many, mid-street, around Times Square.
It was a funny sight for onlooking bystanders - an early 20 year old fumbling toppling umbrella boxes in the middle of incoming tourists and traffic, but at the time it was the most stressful task in the world to me. I felt the future of my career slipping, and feared what would happen if I failed. I had to save the umbrellas!
This type of moment inspired One of These Days. Our main character Lara’s journey to find a client’s shoe is dire to her, but the ridiculous task is actually wrapped up in Lara’s anxiety with her & her roommate Jenny’s changing relationship. Increasingly, I’ve been passionate about stories focused on relationships like these two roommates in our story.
“OUR STORY IS A HUMOROUS, ACTION-PACKED AND MELANCHOLIC ODE TO FEELING SUFFOCATED BY THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CLIMB, GOING IN CIRCLES WITH THE PEOPLE YOU’VE BEEN COMFORTABLE AROUND, AND NOT RECOGNIZING ANY PART OF YOURSELF ANYMORE”
While many stories revolving around friendships take place during adolescence, this is a different type of coming of age film, focusing on characters facing challenges in their mid-late 20s.
The Story
Lara’s roommate/old college friend JENNY is fighting with her boyfriend STEVE. Lara walks Jenny’s dog and thinks over their relationship, noticing that Jenny has always taken Lara along into social circles in exchange for Lara intervening with her frequent boy problems. Lara promises herself this is going to change. In the morning, Lara works as a PA on a shoe brand photo shoot. Jenny’s boyfriend Steve was supposed to be there but the Producer says if he’s a no show tomorrow, she won’t be asked back either. They tell Lara to hold onto the pair of shoes from the set - but while taking photos at a park after, Lara loses the shoes! With her career on the line, she meets Pearl, an ocean obsessed woman with a bit of a foot fetish, to help find the shoes. They end up in a car chase with a couple guys who want to resell the shoes to sneakerheads, and meet Steve’s brother Paul.
Lara, Paul and Pearl arrive at Lara’s apartment to confront Jenny about where Steve is, only to be thwarted into a chaotic Shabbat dinner party. KEVIN, a network assistant, flirts with Lara. KYLIE, DEREK and FRED talk incessantly about their writing, and put Lara down for not preparing for her future. As the dinner goes on, an improv show breaks out, Paul is locked inside Jenny’s room, and Jenny asks Lara to move out, which crushes her. Lara tells the Producer she can’t return the shoes, who says they had plenty of pairs all along.
In the weeks ahead, Lara moves into a new apartment. She attends a Photographers group to meet new friends. Nights later, she runs into Steve, who explains how he and Jenny had been doing a role-playing murder mystery to spice up their love life, as an explanation for his disappearance. One night, Lara’s neighbors are throwing a party. Alone, inside her apartment, Lara listens to her neighbors’ party music. She starts dancing, and it becomes a full-out cathartic release!
