Life Drawing is short film about a plus-sized college student with low self-esteem, who is bullied into posing for the art students’ figure drawing class. However, it’s through the eyes of these strangers that she finally sees how beautiful she actually is.
ROBYN, a plus-sized college student, is the target of a bruising psychological hazing. Three SORORITY SISTERS are forcing her to pose fully nude for a figure drawing class, Robyn’s price to pay to join the sisters’ house.
Robyn is fully exposed and manipulated by the instructor, VRABLE, into various poses for students; their predator like eyes taking in every inch of her body as they attempt to accurately depict her form with charcoal and newsprint. By the end, Robyn is humiliated and full of rage.
She confronts the sisters in the hall, but the sisters fight back, throwing her back into the studio! They force her to stand up and face the back wall, where the artists have tacked up their drawings.
They are shockingly beautiful.
What we thought was hazing, was actually tough love. It’s through the cold eyes of strangers that Robyn realizes how beautiful she really is.
Click the link below to see Gregory Earls’ cinematic design, including color palette, lighting and wardrobe.
Beccy Quinn (Actress Robyn) is a body positive actress and model living in Los Angeles. She has always had a passion for entertainment, and after she received her degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, she worked with several production companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Modeling and the body positive movement came as a surprise to her. She knew that other people judged her for her size, but it never truly bothered her; until she found that her weight was keeping her from landing any roles aside from the comedic relief. Beccy was beyond excited to find a growing group of like minded people that supported body positivity. She stands with them proudly through very project she works on. Her goal with her work now, is to include everybody’s stories. “We’re all people. We all have a voice to be heard.”
Tamara Wiggins (Actress – Vrable) is a stylist, dancer, fine artist, and actress from Sacramento California. She’s been in multiple theatre productions that include The Wiz and Grease. She also has starred in multiple national commercials along with over a dozen print modeling campaigns.
Gregory Earls (Director & Writer) began his career at 20th Century Fox as a Jr. Production Executive, then as a manager in Fox’s Music Department, and finally as Feature Post Production Coordinator, where he’s managed editorial for numerous feature films, including: Joy, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and The Longest Ride. Earls’ formal studies began at Norfolk State University, one of the nations Historically Black Colleges and Universities, where he graduated with honors with a degree in Mass Communications. During his Junior year, Earls studied Film Production at CUNY Hunter College in New York City where he interned under filmmakers Reggie and Warrington Hudlin (House Party) at the Black Filmmakers Foundation. Earls was then accepted as a graduate student by the prestigious American Film Institute where he was a Cinematography Fellow.
As a director, Earls has directed music videos for Poetic Groove/Interscope records, a documentary for Covenant House California, entitled, Straight Way Out of the Fire, which helped raise funds to build their Western Avenue Los Angeles facility. His short film, Sax’s Final Orbit, enjoyed an exciting film festival run and garnered Earls numerous awards, including: The Audience Grand Prize at the Pacific Coast Film Festival, Best Director at the Hollywood Renaissance Film Festival, and was nominated Best Short Film at the Austin Film Festival.
Stacey Holderbach (Executive Producer) began her professional career at Landmark Theatres developing advertising campaigns for independent, foreign, and arthouse films while pursuing a degree in Television Production at Loyola Marymount University. She gained further experience developing advertising campaigns for Sony Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics, assisting in the release of critically acclaimed films such as Men with Guns, Buffalo 66, The Apostle, The Spanish Prisoner, 8mm, and many others. Her experience both in film school and while working in the entertainment industry instilled in her a great respect for the passion and drive of filmmakers working outside the mainstream studio system, especially for those who were compelled not only to entertain, but also to inform and educate their audiences.
At the Department of Cinema and Power, Stacey leads the fundraising and financial programs responsible for producing socially and environmentally conscious films where the art of filmmaking itself is just as important as the message being delivered. With over a decade of experience in budgeting, fundraising, financial management, and a strong entrepreneurial spirit, Stacey brings to the Department of Cinema and Power not only the skills to further the mission of the small production company, but also the passion and commitment to ensure its success.
Stacey holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia’s prestigious Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and a Master of Fine Arts in Television Production from Loyola Marymount University.
Marianne Williams (Director of Photography) has an MFA in cinematography from the prestigious American Film Institute Conservatory. While there, she shot five AFI short films, and her thesis film,Vessels, won the 2015 Iris Prize for LGBTQ Media. Williams’ other projects include the short fiction film L’Immigrant, Fog (an AFI DWW project), the feature film Passing Parade, music videos for YACHT, Niantic and SNL alum Jeff Richards, and a spec ad for Prada Eyewear. Shot on 35mm film, the spec screened at the Pompidou Museum in Paris as part of the ASVOFF 2015 shorts program. Williams was also the cinematographer on Kajsa Brimdyr’s documentary feature The Lost Secret of the Throne, an exploration of the idols and icons of femininity throughout ancient cultures, which shot in Cairo, London, Rome and Cape Cod, MA.
Greg Borkman (editor) is a brilliant young talent who fuels his cuts with emotion and strives for perfection in the smallest of details as he believes those details build a better and bigger picture. Working in the visual effects and editorial departments of major feature films, Stuck in Love, The Fault in Our Stars, The Benefactor, and Approaching the Unknown, Borkman has also cut numerous trailers and commercials.
With close to 100 feature film credits to his career, including Logan, The Fault in Our Stars, and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Don Sylvester is one of the top Supervising Sound Editors in Hollywood. He has been nominated four times for the Golden Reel Award, and in 2006 he was on the sound team that took home the BAFTA Film Award for best sound for the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk The Line.
We also have the honor of working with three outstanding artists who are creating original drawings to be used in our film, Darrin Denlinger, Warren Drummond and Joe Haidar.
Darrin Denlinger Captain America: Civil War / The Avengers
Warren Drummond: Rise of the Planet of the Apes / Straight out of Compton
Joe Haidar: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? / Aladdin / Alvin and the Chipmunks
