2008 Woodie Awards
Alumni to premiere film at Bossone
Chris Sannino
Issue date: 10/17/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
"Happy Birthday Harris Malden," a feature-length movie produced by Sweaty Robot, a locally based, five-man project that includes four Drexel alumni, will premiere at the Bossone Auditorium Oct 23.
The film centers on the life of Harris Malden, whose personal insecurities are surfaced in the form of his ridiculously fake facial hair. It has been 20 years since his father died in a fire that left him scarred physically and emotionally. In efforts to cover the scars, his mother draws on a fake mustache, a tactic that he continues to implement as a man of 25.
Unbeknown to Malden, his friends have kept him sheltered throughout his life, pretending to regard his over-the-top facial hair as the real deal. When a friend's girlfriend unexpectedly shows up at his 25th birthday party, she shouts, "You fake your mustache!" and Malden's world comes crashing down.
"This is a physical manifestation of how Harris feels about his insecurities," Sweaty Robot's Eric Levy, who graduated in 2005 as digital media major, said. "I feel that people see in this their own insecurities and how they choose to deal with them physically and emotionally."
The Sweaty Robot production team comprises of Ben Davidow and Drexel graduates Nick Gregorio, Levy, Matt Sanchez and Juan Cardarelli. While living together in New Jersey, Gregorio and Levy decided to borrow a camera from their job editing wedding videos. Having written some material already, the two punched out their first short film in a single night. Soon after, the two dropped everything and moved back to Philadelphia to meet with their friends and start Sweaty Robot and "Happy Birthday Harris Malden."
"I know that my digital media education and film minor came into play throughout the production of the film," Levy said. "Going to Drexel was very much an essential reason to why we are doing this right now."
"Happy Birthday Harris Malden" will soon be available at various online vendors as well as Philadelphia's Video City on 20th Street. After a weekend at the Austin Film Festival, all five members of the production team are said to be present at Drexel along with additional cast and crew. Doors to the Bossone Auditorium will open at 7p.m. Oct. 23 with the free premiere starting at 7:30 p.m.
The film centers on the life of Harris Malden, whose personal insecurities are surfaced in the form of his ridiculously fake facial hair. It has been 20 years since his father died in a fire that left him scarred physically and emotionally. In efforts to cover the scars, his mother draws on a fake mustache, a tactic that he continues to implement as a man of 25.
Unbeknown to Malden, his friends have kept him sheltered throughout his life, pretending to regard his over-the-top facial hair as the real deal. When a friend's girlfriend unexpectedly shows up at his 25th birthday party, she shouts, "You fake your mustache!" and Malden's world comes crashing down.
"This is a physical manifestation of how Harris feels about his insecurities," Sweaty Robot's Eric Levy, who graduated in 2005 as digital media major, said. "I feel that people see in this their own insecurities and how they choose to deal with them physically and emotionally."
The Sweaty Robot production team comprises of Ben Davidow and Drexel graduates Nick Gregorio, Levy, Matt Sanchez and Juan Cardarelli. While living together in New Jersey, Gregorio and Levy decided to borrow a camera from their job editing wedding videos. Having written some material already, the two punched out their first short film in a single night. Soon after, the two dropped everything and moved back to Philadelphia to meet with their friends and start Sweaty Robot and "Happy Birthday Harris Malden."
"I know that my digital media education and film minor came into play throughout the production of the film," Levy said. "Going to Drexel was very much an essential reason to why we are doing this right now."
"Happy Birthday Harris Malden" will soon be available at various online vendors as well as Philadelphia's Video City on 20th Street. After a weekend at the Austin Film Festival, all five members of the production team are said to be present at Drexel along with additional cast and crew. Doors to the Bossone Auditorium will open at 7p.m. Oct. 23 with the free premiere starting at 7:30 p.m.
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