This was my thesis film for my MFA studies. I wrote and directed it with some amazing collaborators. It was lovingly shot on 16mm film and we built a toy store from scratch in an empty retail bay. It’s weird – and was even weirder in 2007 before the 80’s nostalgia wave rolled over America. And probably because of that weirdness, it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever made.
Synopsis: Kyle, Doug, Heidi, and Tracy are all teenagers working dead-end jobs at a small, failing toy store. Diane, an embittered middle-manager, runs the store with an iron fist and attempts to squash any attempts by her employees to enjoy their lives. On one otherwise ordinary day, Diane tells Kyle and Heidi to do inventory while Tracy and Doug watch the front of the shop. Tracy needs to leave to go to dance practice but Diane will not allow it. The subsequent standoff is upended when Tracy’s friend Jamal plays the opening riff to the Salt-N-Pepa classic ‘Push It,’ setting off a chain reaction that propels the store and the people in it into an elaborate musical fantasy world.
“A lovingly satirical 15-minute homage to the long-form music vids of the early MTV era” – Connect Savannah
Festivals Played: Savannah Film Festival (Jury Prize, Best Student Film), LA Shorts Fest, Chicago Reel Shorts Fest