Wildman

You wanna see it? | There’s something big afoot.

ABOUT

After five years of no contact with her father, trans woman Amy receives a call saying he has shot a Bigfoot in his backyard. Unsure about his motives, Amy goes to her father’s cabin in the woods to see if she can reconcile the past.

YEAR 2023

RUN TIME 9:34 Min

EMAIL remembertommyproductions@gmail.com Website: Remember Tommy Productions

CAST & CREW CREDITS

DIRECTOR Austin Lewis

PRODUCER Sophie Blumberg

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Emily Marquet

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Dewey Collins

1ST ASSISTANT CAMERA Jack Salmon

SOUND MIXER Jonathan Hardison

EDITOR Austin Lewis

COMPOSER Avishai Dayanim

SOUND DESIGNER Marcelo Veloz

COLORIST Juliana Rella

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS Denisse Beltran Vargas

PRINCIPAL CAST

Bailey Pope | Jody Matzer | Andrew Bryce | Skyler Broughman

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

My filmmaking life began with shorts I made with my friend Nic almost ten years ago. Since then, I’ve moved to film as she’s gravitated toward fiction writing. In those years, I watched my friend transition, and I saw a side of her I hadn’t seen before. I’ve wanted to work with Nic again in some capacity for a long time, and to celebrate the person my friend has blossomed into.

That led me to her short stories. “Wildman” was concise, funny, emotional, and hooked me from the beginning: just like a good short film. It also told a story about a trans woman in a way I hadn’t seen before, and in the spirit of giving voice to those who struggle to be heard, I wanted to use my platform to tell that story.

This is a tale about strange catharsis, and navigating the surreal experience of grappling with the past. It’s about nature, both interior and exterior, and about how we reconcile with change. Using our location to its fullest, we emphasized the nurturing femininity of the orchids, in contrast to the dead, rotting Bigfoot on a bloody tarp. When adapting the script, the prose was so visual it transferred right off the page, and allowed us to explore the subtleties of our surroundings.

DIRECTOR BIO

Austin Lewis is a Richmond-based producer, director and editor. He completed his B.A. in Drama and in Art and Art History from Washington College and plans to complete his Filmmaking M.F.A. through Maryland Institute College of Art, with Wildman as his thesis film. His previous credits include producing, writing, and directing People Don’t Die in the Comics Anymore, and producing and co-directing the currently-in-post feature film Shanidar. Austin runs his own video production company, Remember Tommy Productions, with clients including the Modlin Center for the Arts, VCU Health and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.