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Filleted
TYPE: Narrative Short
GENRE: Drama
STATUS: Pre-Production
LOGLINE
A young corrections officer must choose between acquiring a condemned inmate’s last meal or preserving his relationship with his estranged son in the form of a birthday present -- a Guppy.
SYNOPSIS
Carson, a corrections officer, races to procure a fish sandwich for a death row inmate's last meal under the guidance of fiery nun Sister Syl. But at the gas station eatery, Carson crumbles beneath the weight of his task: the cook slow-walks making the meal, her grandson torments a sickly bait fish, and his guilt mounts as he misses his estranged son's 5th birthday. In the end, Carson is forced to choose between what can still be saved— a man's final wish, his son’s birthday, and a dying fish.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
While interviewing death row inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary, I discovered the emotional struggles of visitors torn between prioritizing incarcerated loved ones or family outside. Filleted explores this expectation-laden terrain between duty and selfishness, sacrifice and choice, and who we choose to fail. Carson struggles with the complexity of right and wrong in the wake of unbreakable systems, redefining integrity, the hidden cost of authority, and how we use sacrifice as a shield.
KEY CREW
Savannah Galore - Writer / Director
Savannah Galore is a filmmaker from New Orleans, LA. Her experience during Hurricane Katrina has compelled her to tell stories about destruction, erasure, and transcendence in the wake of it. Inspired by Screwball comedies, genre films, and the debauchery of her home city, Savannah explores the humor and humanity in destruction and transformation via outlandish worlds and fantasy.
Her first feature, a no-budget venture, ‘Apocalypse A-Go-Go,’ played the 2020-2021 festival circuit, winning awards such as the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Portland Film Festival before securing international distribution. Other works have been featured at festivals such as the Austin Film Festival and the Atlanta Film Festival.
Savannah is an Alex Sichel Fellow and MFA Candidate at Columbia University. Outside of directing, she works in television development, writing series formats for production companies and agencies.
Samantha Lori Glass - Producer
Samantha is a Creative Producer based in New York and has been working in the film industry for five years. A recent graduate of the MFA Film Creative Producing Program at Columbia University, Samantha's love for film stems from the classics, such as “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and “Strangers on a Train.” She worked as a producer's assistant on "The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer," written & directed by Tolga Karacelik, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. At Columbia, she produced over 15 short films in and out of the program, including her thesis film "The Ballad of Fred Fort," was awarded the Safety for Sarah Film Grant, and premiered at the Montclair Film Festival. Samantha was recently awarded the Michael Hausman/Buffalo Mike Filmhaus Foundation Award for producing at the Columbia University Film Festival. She most recently worked ?on "Song Sung Blue," "Zero Day," and "A Man with the Bag."
Cameron Clay - Editor
Cameron Clay is a filmmaker and editor from Prince George’s County, MD. His work is rooted in the complex dynamics between Black men. Drawing from the long tradition of slow cinema, he examines the subtleties of communication, performed masculinity, and fraternal bonds.
His work has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine, Blackstar Film Festival, Philadelphia Film Festival, and Maryland Film Festival. He is a Lazaroff Screenwriting Award and Motion Picture Award recipient.
Cameron is a Directing MFA candidate and Milos Forman Fellow at Columbia University.
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