American Deluxe

DIRECTOR, WRITER: Aaron Brownlee
PRODUCER: Matthew Chai
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Scott Uhlfelder
EDITOR: Ben Piety
PRIMARY CAST:
     Jim Pacitti - William Geronimo
     Kristia Knowles - Jane Geronimo
     Joseph Rohland - Hitchhiker
TOTAL RUN TIME: 15:00
DATE OF COMPLETION: 10/2006

"The concept for this film stems from a mix of ideas that I had been gathering. I have always had this main character in the back of my head; the smarmy advertising executive that is at the top of his game and wants more from it. By placing this character in such obsequious surroundings, i.e. gorgeous home, job, car, wife, I was trying to paint his life that of a commercial you would see in a glossy print mag or on television. Everything that's being sold to you looks appealing, yet upon closer inspection, it's just an empty shell. Now although the plot of "man-at-the-top-of-his-game-is-unsatisfied-and-wants-a-better-life" has been done to death, I thought it would be funny if the solution to his problem were as easy and hollow as the problem itself: just walk away. And with an ironic sense of self-accomplishment, he does just that.

This film really is the culmination of my love for commercials and satire. The previous summer I started writing a notepad's worth of mock commercials and chose two of my favorites to be shown through the medium of "crazy hitchhiker demo reel". I saw the slip n' slide commercial as a funny comment on neglectful parenting, as well as how children are doing more adult things earlier and earlier. And the anti-drug commercial was just an easy hit at an incredibly brilliant ad campaign by the guys at Drug-Free America.

This film demanded a pretty grueling shooting schedule and would not have been completed if not for the help of my incredibly amazing cast and crew. I am forever indebted to them. My film school experience, with all of its failures and triumphs, has truly sharpened my discipline of directing, as well as shaped me into the filmmaker I am today."

- Director Aaron Brownlee

Festivals, Screenings, and Awards

• Southern Fried Flicks Film Festival (Augusta, GA)
• 2006 Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase
• 2007 Florida Film Festival
• 2007 Atlanta Film Festival
• 2007 Houston WorldFest (Gold Remi — College Level Student Production)
• 2007 Scene First Student Film Festival (Wilmington, NC) — Grand Jury Award
• 2007 Palm Beach International Film Festival — 1st Place University Level & Grand Prize
• 2007 Planet Ant Film & Video Festival
• 6th Annual Wood's Hole Film Festival (Wood's Hole, MA)
• 2007 Frozen Film Festival (San Francisco, CA)
• FirstGlance Film Fest Philly 10 (Philadelphia, PA) — Second Place Student Film
• 8th Annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival
• YoungCuts Film Festival (Montreal, Canada)
• 2007 Bluegrass Independent Film Festival in (LaGrange, KY) — Third Place Student Short Film
• 2007 SoCal Independent Film Festival (Huntington Beach, CA)
• 2007 Hawaii International Film Festival
• 2007 Evil City Film Fest (New York, NY)
• 2007 Rogue Independent Film Festival (Grants Pass, OR)
• 2nd Annual Indie Can Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)

SYNOPSIS
William Geronimo was born to market products. Life is grand until one weekend he decides to market his own life. It turns out he isn't getting what he bought into.

SHOOTING FORMAT
Super 35mm

SCREENING FORMATS
Digi-Beta, Beta, DVD

CONSIDER FOR
Comedy, Satire, Student

WEBSITE
www.aaronbrownlee.com

CONTACT
Aaron Brownlee
ABFilmsFX6@aol.com

STUDENT STATUS
This film was produced as part of a BFA degree at the University of Central Florida School of Film & Digital Media.