Month: April 2015

TCF Senior’s Film Selected for Screening at Cannes Film Festival

University of Alabama telecommunication and film student Michael Thomas will enjoy an international spotlight when his short film “Traces” screens at the Cannes Film Festival this summer.

Thomas, a senior from Birmingham, originally created the film for UA’s Campus MovieFest, where it won a Jury Award. The film tells the story of a young boy searching for his mother after a storm.

“My passion is cinematography,” Thomas said. “I love visuals, painting with light, conveying a story through imagery. I love directing, but my passion is cinematography.”

Dr. Rachel Raimist, an assistant professor of telecommunication and film, said Thomas’s inclusion at Cannes was well deserved. Her children Joseph and Tiana also appeared in the short film.

“Michael shows extraordinary passion, focus and dedication to learning his craft,” Raimist said. “He has taken advantage of many of the opportunities as a TCF student and has a very bright future ahead of him.”

Other crew members included Anna Marie Odom (human development, Huntsville), composer; Tanner Lee Robbins (telecommunication and film, Birmingham), gaffer; Stephen Thomason (telecommunication and film, Savannah, Ga.), gaffer; Anthony Baroody (mechanical engineering, Birmingham), gaffer; Lauren Rossi (telecommunication and film and theater, Coral Springs, Fla.), production designer; Andrew Sbrissa (marketing, Birmingham), gaffer; Katie Tygielski (telecommunication and film, Madison), gaffer; Patrick Maddox (telecommunication and film, Birmingham), composer; Austin Glenn Woods (music education/instrumental music, Florence), composer; Michael Ciulla (accounting, Birmingham), actor; Paula DiBenedetto (music therapy, Hoover), actor; Emily Higginbotham (dance, Laurel, Miss.), actor; Rachael Galbreath (communication studies, Birmingham), actor; and Tiana Raimist-Carter (pre-major studies, Northport), actor.

Thomas plans to pursue his Master of Fine Arts at UCLA after graduating from UA in May.

“Famished” – contact producer for details.

Production Title: Famished
Logline: Based on psychological theories about mirrors and the self, a cannibal is left alone with his deceased wife and has an internal conflict.

Audition Time: Contact Producer
Producer’s Email: Carly Jones – cjones110@crimson.ua.edu

Production Start Date:  04/17/2015

Student or Professional Production?
Student

Characters Sought:

Shirley- 50s/60s, arsonist with a prison history trying to live “normally” with her cannibal husband

Young Jim- 20s, cannibal trying to overcome his obsession after falling in love with Shirley, an arsonist, short brown hair preferred

Young Shirley- 20s, arsonist just leaving jail who meets Jim, a cannibal, and tries to lead a normal life

“Hunchback of Notre Dame Adaptation” – contact producer for details.

Production Title: Hunchback of Notre Dame adaptation
Logline: TCF 312 adaptation of a scene from ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’, in which Quasimodo, Frollo, and Phoebus express their feelings for Esmeralda.

Producer’s Email: Katherine Dudley – kadudley1@crimson.ua.edu

Production Start Date:  04/18/2015

Sides Provided? Yes

Student or Professional Production?
Student

Characters Sought:

Quasimodo – Male, 20’s-30’s
Judge Frollo – Male, 40’s or above
Phoebus – Male, early 20’s
Esmeralda – Female, late teens/early 20’s
Fleur de Lys (cameo) – Female, early 20’s

Producer’s Email: kadudley1@crimson.ua.edu