Here’s a sci-fi drama short film for you to watch titled Through The Stars. Under the cover of darkness, a teenage girl attempts to escape her tormented reality, determined to find her missing father with the help of her best friend and a mysterious device.
The film is said to be both a standalone as well as a proof of concept “poem” of a mini series.
The film comes from writer and producer Ryan Marth and I included an interview with him that you can read below.
This short film is shared in collaboration with the FilmQuest Film Festival, where we are looking to expose some of the radical indie genre films and shorts that filmmakers are creating.
What was the inspiration for your film? How did you come up with the idea?
I’m a film and television composer who has created original scores for award winning television series, feature films, documentaries and more with my work playing in movie theaters, TV networks and streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus and National Geographic.
I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of telling so many wonderful and compelling stories using music, but I really wanted to challenge myself to tell a personal story using the written word this time around. I believe the best art is honest art.
Through The Stars is an honest look at many parts of my childhood that I find compelling. I know what it feels like to be a prisoner your own home, to feel lost and deeply alone at a young age without anyone ot rescue you – and to be at the mercy of an abusive and highly problematic new father figure.
It is my hope that Through The Stars is nuanced, beautiful, exciting, haunting, inspiring and compelling to anyone who watches it as well. Perhaps we could all realize how much more intertwined, connected and similar we are to one another than we may immediately perceive.
Tell us about yourself. What is your background? How long have you been a filmmaker?
I came up skateboarding and playing/touring/writing/recording in punk rock and hardcore bands. After that, I began creating film scores for award winning television shows, short films, feature films, documentaries and everything in between.
What inspires you to work within genre cinema and tell these kind of stories?
The passing on of stories is one of the most defining traits of human beings. It connects us, allows us to understand and empathize with each other, as well as understand ourselves on a deeper level than we could on our own. To me, cinema is the pinnacle of this and the reason I am so drawn to it and captivated by it.
What was your favorite part of the filmmaking process for this project?
We spent a very long time in pre production on this film. It was the best part for me because we really came together as a team to try and find the best way to tell a very complicated story within a 15 minute short film. I found it so completely fulfilling to collaborate with so many talented and wonderful people to overcome a million obstacles to achieve a finished film.
What are you most proud of with this film?
I’m most proud of the team we put together, from the actors to the PA’s. It was extremely humbling to be a part of.
What is a favorite story or moment from the making of the film you’d like to share?
After spending so long fighting, crawling and striving to get to the point of arriving at our first day of principle photography, it was incredibly overwhelming to see the first image pop up on screen in video village as we filmed our first scene. I will never forget it.
What was your most challenging moment or experience you had while making your film?
Any movie that gets completed is an absolute miracle. The whole process is wrought with landmines just waiting to blow up your production before it even begins.
We had no shortage of challenging experiences, but most notable might be having to cancel our whole shoot as we were set to film in Washington state, then re crew up and shoot in upstate New York.
Having to start almost from scratch within the course of a month or so was incredibly challenging and I’m so proud we were able to pivot and make it happen.
If it did, how did your film change or differ from its original concept during pre-production, production, and/or post-production? How has this changed how you’ll approach future projects as a result?
The script changed the most. The first version of the story had a much darker ending as well as quite a few completely different flashback (flash sideways?) sequences.
All of the changes I believe better reflected a more honest look at the ways our protagonist, Casey, would react to her adversities. Getting feedback on how different characters might react to situations is super helpful, especially if that character is quite different from yourself as the writer.
Who were some of your collaborators and actors on the film? How did you start working with each other?
Ariel Danziger our director, Waleed Sokkar our DP, Lisa Carr our Co-EP, Alex Knapp and Max Gardner our producers and Paul La Calandra our Editor were all collaborators on the film and we all came together to make this by way of working tangentially with one another in some form in the past.
Our lead actors, Mya Hudson (Casey) and Jack Welshons (Max) came aboard through an extensive casting call and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have them. They brought these characters to life in such a wonderful and heartfelt way.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received as a filmmaker and what would you like to say to new filmmakers?
The best advice I’ve received is that the best art is honest art. I would tell new filmmakers to be as brave and vulnerable as you possibly can with your film. Be unflinchingly, brutally honest with your film. You’ll be surprised at how far that will take you.
What are your plans for your career and what do you hope this film does for it? What kind of stories would you like to tell moving forward?
I hope to continue growing my career as a film composer and producer. My hope is that we can take Through The Stars and turn it into a mini-series. There is so much of this story that hasn’t been told yet and so much more to the characters that I’d love the chance to show.
What is your next project and when can we expect to see it?
I’m not allowed to talk about it yet, but follow my social media channels and I’ll be able to spill the beans soon. I’m very excited about it and can’t wait for everyone to see it in the coming months.
Where can we find more of your work and where can interested parties contact you? Do you have a website or YouTube/Vimeo channel? Social media handles?
you can go to bio.site/RyanMarth to see all of my links, but I’m most active on Instagram at @ryanmarthmusic
