FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. PETE-BORN FILMMAKER PULLS OFF HEIST IN LAS VEGAS
A cast and crew of 8 shot a feature film covertly over five nights in a Vegas hotel room.
LOS ANGELES — MARCH 16, 2022 — The Mirror Game, a new feature film from St. Pete-born director and PCCA alum William J. Stribling (Bear with Us) will screen at the Sunscreen Film Festival on Saturday April 30 at 5pm at AMC Sundial. The film was produced by Michael Tennant (The Novice, Pretty Problems) and written by screenwriter and podcast producer Marissa Flaxbart (Maximum Film!, Feeling Seen, Sweet Valley Diaries), adapted from her play, A Mere Conception. Notably, the film was shot over only 5 nights, covertly and safely, in a single hotel room in Las Vegas.
The project was conceived out of the extreme limitations that the COVID-19 pandemic put on indie filmmakers’ ability to shoot safely and affordably. The cast and crew totaled just 8 and the film was shot in accordance within all safety guidelines.
“It was kind of an experiment,” said director William Stribling. “It was a challenge to us as filmmakers. Can we actually pull this off?” Just over one year later, the answer to that question is clear. Stribling continued, “It felt more like pulling off a heist than making a movie. We snuck in the camera and lighting gear in suitcases, completely redecorated the hotel room, and five days later we packed it all back up and strolled out of the place with a feature film in the proverbial can for less than the cost of a decent jet ski.”
When the pandemic hit, Stribling had two other feature films put on hold. “I was chomping at the bit, going stir crazy. And I didn’t want to walk out of this pandemic without a new movie. So I called Marissa [Flaxbart] and pitched her on the idea. Let’s go to Vegas and make your play into a movie. We can rehearse beforehand, and then shoot the whole thing in four or five days. Looking back, there’s a certain amount of delusion that was required to pull this kind of thing off. It wan’t quite as simple as we’d originally planned, but nothing ever is.”
The Mirror Game stars Teya Patt (For All Mankind) as Rose, a woman looking to spring a big request on her childhood best friend Abe, played by actor/producer Michael Tennant, who has hidden intentions of his own. Kenny Ridwan (The Goldbergs) cameos as Kenny the Bellhop.
The play from which The Mirror Game is adapted had multiple successful productions in Los Angeles in 2019, mounted by the site-specific InHouse Theater Company. “The play was staged in actual hotel rooms in LA,” Flaxbart explained. “An audience of 15 or 20 would come into a hotel room and witness this private, 75 minute conversation with no intermission, in the most intimate way imaginable.”
Two other PCCA alums worked on the film; Dylan Glatthorn composed the original score, and Alexander Whittenberg served as the production designer.
The Mirror Game will bow at Cinequest on April 1st, 2022, followed by screenings at the Sarasota Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, and the Sunscreen Film Festival to begin what is looking to be a full film festival run.
For More Information:
James Duffy
Producer’s Assistant
KOMODO LLC
t. 424-354-9595