Pro-Tran Sponsors 48 hour Independent Short Film

The 48 hour film project has been in existence for more than 10 years and is one of the most well known, prestigious international independent film competitions in the world. It is conducted in every major city in America and 100 other countries around the world.

The competition began on April 29, 2011 at 7:30pm and ended on May 1, 2011 at 7:30pm.  Teams randomly picked their genre out of a hat on April 29, 2011 at 7:30pm. They then had 48 hours to write, produce, direct, shoot, edit and deliver a short film that was a minimum of 4 minutes long and a maximum of 7 minutes long with one minute of credits at the end.

The film had to include the following elements:

1. A character named Riley Tompkins, teacher,

2. The line, “I’m taking it one day at a time”

3. And a pencil for a prop.

The Digital HD Film team, lead by husband and wife team Darryl & Renee Pugh chose the genre “Mockumentary”.

WHAT IS A MOCKUMENTARY?

A mockumentary (a portmanteau of mock documentary) is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself.^[1] They may be either comedic or dramatic in form, although comedic mockumentaries are more common. A dramatic mockumentary should not be confused with docudrama, a genre in which documentary and dramatic techniques are combined to depict real events.

Mockumentaries are often presented as historical documentaries, with b roll and talking heads discussing past events, or as cinéma vérité pieces following people as they go through various events. Though the precise origins of the genre are not known, examples emerged during the 1950s, when archival film footage became relatively easy to locate.^[1] A very early example was a short piece on the “Swiss Spaghetti Harvest” that appeared as an April fools’ joke on the British television program Panorama in 1957.

The term “mockumentary” is thought to have been popularized in the mid-1980s when This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner used it in interviews to describe that film. It is not known with certainty when the term “mock-documentary” was first used,^[2] but the Oxford English Dictionary notes appearances of “mockumentary” from 1965.^[3]

Mockumentaries are often partly or wholly improvised, as an unscripted style of acting helps to maintain the pretense of reality. Comedic mockumentaries rarely have laugh tracks, also to sustain the atmosphere, although there are exceptions – for example, Operation Good Guys had a laugh track from its second series onwards.^[c

We decided to do a mockumentary of the behind the scenes of the Oprah Winfrey Show. It is called, “The Dr. Vicki Show – Behind The Scenes”

Many of the issues we decided to address were black poverty, the sub-prime mortgage scam, health insurance issues, penal institution issues and illegal aliens taking jobs away from the residents of the community.

The stories we used are actually based on true stories from the news or personal experiences.

And while Dr. Vicki seems to be over the top in her style, she is really a strong character with a plan to eradicate black poverty by encouraging all of us to get up off our behinds and making life happen as opposed to waiting for it to happen.

Pro-Tran Luxury Motor Coaches played an important role in sponsoring this film to help offset some of the costs involved in shooting the film as well as providing the motor coach as the backdrop in gathering the mock interviews in downtown Washington DC. Irving W. Harris, III was our very patient coach driver.

The Pro-Tran brand is strategically placed throughout the film and serves as a reminder of the Freedom Rides that took place during the civil rights movement.  The theme song “Freedom” is the common theme throughout the film.

The cast included the following actors: Janet Marie Jones as Dr. Vicki, Yolanda Rose as Dr. Vicki’s assistant Tamara, Eric Lewis as Riley Tompkins, Steve Garrett as Steve and Zach White as Kim Su and Irving W. Harris, III as the driver.

The film was produced by Darryl E. Pugh, Sr. and Renee’ W. Pugh. and was written and directed by Darryl E. Pugh, Sr.

Other crew members including family and friends came together to make it happen.  They included: Michele Lambert as the Associate Producer, Dicey Scroggins and daughter Nneka Scroggins were Storyline Consultants and Nneka also served as Script Supervisor, Billy Epps as the Boom Operator, Harry F. Pugh, Jr. as the guest guitarist, Love Epps as a Production Assistant Renee’ W. Pugh was the Producer and Darryl served as Director of Photography and Editor.

On May 4, 2011, the 7 minute film was screened at the AFI theater in Silver Spring, Maryland and will be syndicated throughout the Internet in hopes to raise money for a full length feature film that the couple plan to shoot later this year.

Once again, thanks to Pro-Tran Luxury Motor Coaches and the cast and crew for proving that black people can come together to create something out of nothing.