Audition (2007 short film)

Infobox Film
name = Audition


image_size =
caption = Official Poster
director = Sam Holdren
producer = Lauren Kuznick
writer = Joseph W. Ng
Sam Holdren
starring = Todd A. Waters
Natasha Lee Martin
Mark Kochanowicz
Lewis Korff
Dylan Clements
Scott Skversky
Hannah Tsapatoris
music = Christian Moehring
cinematography = Seth Mulliken
editing = Pete Kruvczuk
released = 2007
runtime = 20 minutes
country = USA
language = English
website = http://www.auditionmoviesite.com
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0976088

"Audition" is a an award-winning [cite web | url = http://www.auditionmoviesite.com | title = Official Website] short film directed by Sam Holdren, first released to festivals in 2007. [cite web
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976088/ | title = Audition on IMDB] The film is a tragic comedy about William Ashe, a grown man who still lives at home with mother and strongly believes in signs. On the whim of a sign, he travels to the big city to audition for a movie, and is promptly sidetracked by murder, mayhem, and mistaken identity, only proving that life may lead anywhere once you choose to see the signs. [cite web | url=http://www.samholdren.com/AuditionAbout.htm | title=Audition page on Sam Holdren's Website]

tory

What begins as a story about William Ashe, an obnoxious actor who has come to the city to audition for a movie, soon turns into a murder mystery without the main character ever realizing it. However, the mystery is a distraction from the real point of order, which is the fact that every sequence of the movie for William -- including his trying to impress people in a hotel bar at the beginning, and also his interrogation by the police after a murder has occurred -- is a constant audition. By the time his real audition rolls around near the end of the film -- after the solution to the mystery has been revealed to everyone but William -- he has spent the entire movie seeking approval that he never gets. Thus, the movie is a tragic comedy about a guy with hope and energy who is trying, but never quite seals the deal.

Background

The character of William Ashe was the result of several meetings in the summer of 2004 between co-writers Joseph W. Ng and Sam Holdren. Ng pitched a scenario where a main character's zany actions were not very believable to Holdren. However, when they began sifting through mutual friends in order to analyze what each person would do in the situation presented by Ng, they stumbled upon an actor friend out of Charleston, WV named Ashley Wilhelm, whose earnest and sometimes strong and spontaneous personality seemed a perfect inspiration for the character.cite web | url=http://www.samholdren.com/AuditionPublicity.htm | title = Articles about Audition | publisher=Sam Holdren's website ]

The inspiration provided by Wilhelm allowed Ng and Holdren to adapt both his persona and elements of their own personalities into the character of William Ashe, a grown man still living at home with mother whose trip to the city to audition for a movie gets him caught up in a mystery without him actually realizing it. Throughout the film, the character bases his choices upon what he believes are signs, but it becomes increasingly obvious as the movie proceeds that the hovering presence of his mother, who we never see, is evident.

Todd Waters, who portrayed William Ashe, didn't actually know that the character was based in part on a real person until late in the filming. Holdren introduced Waters and Wilhelm in March 2005 while the film crew shot the final sequence in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. Wilhelm appears briefly at the end of the film as the last person to come into contact with the main character.

Locations

Most of the movie was shot in different sections of Philadelphia, including: Holmesburg Prison; the Windsor Hotel and the Wyndham Hotel of Center City; Rittenhouse Square; Temple University; and the former Marmont Bar & Grill. [cite web| url=http://temple-news.com/2007/10/30/temple-graduate-students-film-gains-recognition/ | title=Temple graduate student’s film gains recognition | date=2007-10-30 | publisher=The Temple News] The ending sequence, however, was shot months later in Charleston, West Virginia in front of the historic Capitol Theatre, now known as the WV State University Capitol Center Theater Complex.

Awards

Best Student Short Film & Best Regional Student Film - 2007 - Bluegrass Independent Film Festivalcite web | url=http://bluegrassfilmfest.com/winners07.htm | title=Bluegrass Film Festival Winners 2007]
Award of Excellence - 2007 - West Virginia Filmmakers Film Festival [cite web | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976088/awards | title=IMDB Awards page for Audition]

Festival Screenings

* Appalachian Film Festival [cite web | url=http://74.125.95.104/search?q=cache:te_zbhOrKOgJ:www.appyfilmfest.com/pages/pdfs/Program2007.pdf+audition+sam+holdren&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=22&gl=us&client=firefox-a | title=Appalacian Film Festival Schedule for 2007]
* Bare Bones International Film Festival [cite web | url=http://barebonesfilmfest00.tripod.com/schedule/id4.html | title=Bare Bones International Film Festival Schedule for 2007]
* Bluegrass Independent Film Festival
* Route 66 Film Festival [cite web | url=http://route66filmfestival.net/history6.html | title=Route 66 Film Festival 2007]
* [http://www.landmarkstudio.org/wvfff/ West Virginia Filmmakers Film Festival] [cite web | url=http://www.landmarkstudio.org/wvfff/ | title=WV Filmmakers Film Festival Website]
* Delaware Valley Film Festival [cite web | url=http://www.geocities.com/delawarevalleyfilmfestival/DVFF.html | title=Delaware Valley Film Festival 2007]
* Colony Film Festival [cite web | url=http://www.ohiovalleypolitics.com/2007/11/16/colony-film-festival-starts-tonight-in-marietta/ | title=Colony Film Festival Schedule for 2007]
* Macon Film & Video Festival [cite web | url=http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:6Y18q63vYYoJ:www.maconfilmfestival.com/2008/_media/MaGa_p08.pdf+audition+sam+holdren&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=59&gl=us&client=firefox-a| title=Macon Film and Video Festival Schedule for 2008]
* Fargo Film Festival [cite web | url=http://fargofilmmaking.wikia.com/wiki/Audition| title= Audition Page at Fargo Filmmaking Website]
* Kent Film Festival [cite web | url=http://www.kentfilmfestival.org/films2008.html |title=Kent Film Festival Schedule for 2008]
* IU South Bend Independent Filmmakers Festival [cite web | url=http://www.rpstudios.net/ivff/ivff08films.html| title=IU South Bend Independent Filmmakers Festival Schedule for 2008]
* Johns Hopkins Film Festival [cite web | url=http://www.hopkinsfilmfest.com/schedule/shows.php?year=2008&type=shorts&id=88| title=Johns Hopkins Film Festival Schedule for 2008]
* Wildwood By The Sea Film Festival [cite web | url=http://www.wildwoodbytheseafilmfest.com/fridayvenue4.htm | title=Wildwood by the Sea Film Festival Schedule for 2008]
* Flint Film Festival [cite web | url=http://www.theflintfilmfestival.com/films.html| title=Flint Film Festival schedule for 2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.auditionmoviesite.com Official Movie Website]
* [http://thegazz.com/gblogs/wvfilm/2008/02/27/wv-filmmaker-sam-holdren-showing-his-movies/ WV Film Blog]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976088/ Audition] at the Internet Movie Database
* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=168648581 Official MySpace Site]
* [http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200803200711 Charleston Gazette article]
* [http://migration.kentucky.gov/Newsroom/travel/indiefilmfestival.htm Kentucky Dept. Of Tourism Article]
* [http://www.huntingtonnews.net/events/071006-rutherford-eventsshortfilm.html HuntingtonNews.net article]