When it comes to making a short film, the following elements are crucial:

• a decent script,
• competent actors,
• a reliable crew, and
• a little imagination.

Some may doubt that grade school children would be able to commit to such a large task, however, I am here to prove those people wrong.

For six weeks I worked with several Catamount Elementary students, in conjunction with the TOPS Program. The children were given the option of choosing any type of video project and their final decision was surprisingly…an espionage film.

To be more precise, we developed the story of a man who is in the business of transporting goods for a “mob boss” named Mr. Killgore. The story revolves around the main character, “Mr. Black”, played by Peter Brady, who has never had the pleasure of knowing exactly what he delivers, but now, after years of subduing his curiosity, finds himself questioning the thought.

The story contains six scenes - all of were shot within a six-week span. As a class, we would meet twice a week for two hours, which gave us approximately 24 hours to shoot a twenty-minute short film.

I’ll admit, I was a bit reluctant to take on such an ambitious project, but the Catamount students were more than willing to show their dedication to the project.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such beautiful cinematography in all my life! The acting is superb, the soundtrack is nothing short of riveting and the end product, I’m sure, will be well worth the time and effort. In closing, I can assure you that you will receive nothing but the best from a group of children that have withstood the test of time.

- Jamie Granger
Writer / Director