Adrian Martinez as George
How’s this for an intriguing movie plot: George works at a crematorium by day and loves baking by night. His two passions soon overlap.
If this dark comedy intro has you ready to go back to the movies, get your buttery tub of popcorn ready. Screenwriters Kelly Crawford and his brother, Keith, are premiering “George” at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this weekend.
Kelly lives in Lake Highlands and works as an attorney in corporate litigation. Keith is a former VP of marketing for Nike living in Oregon. The short film isn’t their first screenplay collaboration, so they’ve learned creative ways to make the unconventional arrangement work.
“We discuss ideas, then trade drafts back and forth,” says Kelly, who has an undergraduate degree in journalism. “This screenplay has been in the works for at least five years.”
Kelly has written or co-written five feature length screenplays so far, and George, the subject of the short film, is a character from the brothers’ screenplay “The Benjamin,” which follows a $100 bill. “Ponzi” is a biopic about Charles Ponzi, “Dead Justice” is a drama about the death of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, “Nine Scars” depicts an alternate universe where people have nine lives, and “The Martyr Among Us” is about an American who becomes radicalized and tries to bomb a coffee shop. So far, none of these have been developed into films. One previous story, “The Antique Shop,” was made into a short film at Cityview Antique Mall where wife, Robin, owns a booth.
“I love movies and I love writing,” says Kelly. “I started writing screenplays probably 10 years ago. It’s been a huge learning experience.”
New York production company We Are Films partnered with filmmaker Chris Weigand to make “George” a reality. Kelly and Robin traveled to New York City over the summer to watch filming — as spectators.
“It was such a terrific experience to see the words written on our script come to life through amazing actors, directors and crew,” says Kelly. “Adrian Martinez, who plays George, is a very recognizable actor and has been in a number of films and TV shows over the years — he’s in episode 2 of “Severance,” the second season. Angela Sarafyan, who plays George’s niece, was in numerous seasons of HBO’s “Westworld.” It was a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) production so there were many people involved, from sound to wardrobe to props to lighting to food service. We filmed part of the movie at a prop house in Queens. We filmed the crematorium scene at a pet crematory in New Jersey. And we filmed the remainder of the film at a church and cemetery in upstate New York.”
The brothers and their wives executive produced the short, along with other family members and friends who will be attending the film festival over the weekend. A cast party will follow the world premiere Friday, and the film will be shown again at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Also on hand at the 40th SBIFF will be Timothee Chalamet, honored as Arlington Artist of the Year, Angelina Jolie, receiving the Maltin Modern Master Award, Ralph Fiennes, named Outstanding Performing of the Year, Kevin Costner, to discuss “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2,” Demi Moore, to discuss her Oscar-nominated movie, “The Substance,” and many other distinguished guests.
Chris Weigand and Kelly Crawford on the set of ‘George’. Adrian Martinez is on the excavator.
Angela Sarafyan in ‘George’
Movie poster for ‘George’
