Sundance Film Festival will screen film by SCAD alumni

“The Execution of Solomon Harris” will screen five times during the Sundance Film Festival.

By: Emily Green

Published: Friday, January 11, 2008



"The Execution of Solomon Harris,” a short film by directors Wyatt Garfield and Ed Yonaitis, makes its American debut at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 17-27. The film’s genesis, however, occurred in Lacoste, France, at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s study-abroad campus.

There, SCAD roommates-turned-teammates Garfield (B.F.A., film and television, 2007), Yonaitis (B.F.A., film and television, 2006) and “Solomon Harris” producer Jett Steiger (B.F.A., film and television, 2006) made more than 20 short films together over a two-month stretch. After their return to Savannah, they joined forces with Steiger’s United States-based crew of filmmakers to form Team G, which, in two years, produced six senior projects and one graduate thesis, as well as other short films. Garfield said the group still is “alive but dormant,” with members scattered from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., Alabama, Missouri and Japan.

Yonaitis said his and Garfield’s first “major” collaboration was “Last Day Here,” his senior project for film and television professor Michael Chaney. During the project, the duo developed their unique visual style of using long, handheld takes, which they also used in “Solomon Harris,” which was pre-produced and shot as Garfield’s senior project for Chaney.

Yonaitis wrote the screenplay after reading an old news report concerning an execution gone wrong. A predominantly SCAD-based crew, including members of Team G, built the set in a rented space on the corner of Henry and Habersham streets across from Bobbie’s Diner, and they shot the entire film in six days on a production budget of $20,000.

Classified as a “short narrative drama,” the almost-eight-minute film appears to be a single, drawn-out sequence of events. The official synopsis reads, “An electric chair execution fails, delivering a non-lethal jolt of electricity that leaves the prisoner screaming in pain. Protocol and routine fail to provide a resolution, and the Warden has to cope with the human dilemma that falls into his hands.”

“One of things I love about the film is that it takes creative risks,” said Chaney, the film’s faculty adviser. “Ed Yonaitis and Wyatt Garfield did an excellent job of investigating the moral ambiguity surrounding the subject matter through both the writing and directing.”

Much to their excitement, “The Execution of Solomon Harris” premiered overseas at the ZINEBI 49 Film Festival in Bilbao, Spain, Nov. 26 - Dec. 1, 2007. The festival covered all expenses and provided passes for Garfield, Yonaitis and Chaney.

“The experience was amazing — being immersed in the festival, meeting with other directors and, of course, [attending] screenings every day,” Yonaitis said.

Then came the Sundance acceptance. “We were ecstatic and in disbelief,” said Garfield. “The three of us were crammed in our tiny hotel room in Bilbao … It could not contain our energy!”

Although created as a student film, “The Execution of Solomon Harris” is screening in the professional dramatic shorts category at Sundance, where it will be shown five times during the festival.

“These students will have an unparalleled opportunity to screen their film at an exceptional venue to an audience of industry professionals and film enthusiasts,” Chaney said.

He explained that the professional classification only adds to the prestige of screening at Sundance, which is the premier showcase for both American and international independent films. “This film really speaks to the collaborative efforts of a group of students working together to create a noteworthy short film,” he said. “I am very proud of the entire production team involved with ‘The Execution of Solomon Harris.’”

The Sundance Institute’s tradition of promoting short films includes a partnership with Apple’s iTunes. For $1.99, anyone can download a selection of festival shorts — including “The Execution of Solomon Harris” — and filmmakers receive one-third of each purchase. “We certainly won’t turn a profit, but it will be a good exposure tool, making the film available to anyone,” Garfield said.

Yonaitis and Garfield continue to collaborate on films, with several concepts and treatments in the works. Like a seasoned filmmaker, Garfield said, “We’re too early in development to reveal details with any [certainty,] but one of the concepts deals with themes of alienation and chronic family behavior after a series of bizarre circumstances in a small, rural town.”


Green is a publications editor.


"The Execution of Solomon Harris" cast and crew

Directors: Wyatt Garfield (B.F.A, film and television, 2007) and Ed Yonaitis (B.F.A, film and television, 2006)
Producer: Jett Steiger (B.F.A, film and television, 2006)
Casting director: Trey Hock (M.F.A., film and television, 2006)
Director of photography: Wyatt Garfield
Camera operator: Eli Born (B.F.A, film and television, 2006)
Sound designer: Colin Alexander (B.F.A, sound design, 2005)
Picture editor: Ed Yonaitis
Production design: Anthony Maitz (B.F.A, film and television, 2006)
Art direction: Erin Staub (B.F.A., illustration, 2005)
Makeup: Jessie Matz (B.F.A., production design, 2007)
Assistant director: Elizabeth Garner (Undergraduate student, film and television)
Script supervisor: Kim Craig (B.F.A., film and television, 2007)
First assistant camera: Scott Johnson (B.F.A., film and television, 2007)
Second assistant camera: Ryan Dickie (B.F.A, film and television, 2006)
Location sound mixer: Marcos Contreras (B.F.A, film and television, 2007)
Boom operators: Phil Aitken (B.F.A, sound design, 2006) and Stephen Villari (B.F.A, sound design, 2007)
Sound assistant: Amanda Beggs (undergraduate student, film and television)
Gaffer: Terry Duthu (B.F.A, film and television, 2007)
Key grip: Kevin Phillips (B.F.A, film and television, 2006)
Grips: Kyle Jones (B.F.A, film and television, 2007) and Matt Harfield (B.F.A, film and television, 2007)
Digital effects: Andrew Cook (B.F.A, film and television, 2006)

Starring
Jef Taylor (graduate student, film and television) as Nathan
Jaysin Osterkamp (M.F.A., film and television, 2007) as Solomon Harris

Senior project adviser: film and television professor Michael Chaney


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