HollyShorts: Being Good - Randy Mills Interview

Photo Content from Randy Mills

Randy Mills is a professional filmmaker/photographer that has worked in the industry for over 10 years. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University from which he earned both a B.A. in Cinema as well as a B.A. in Photojournalism.

Although his work encompasses many things, Randy's main focus has been in the film & television industry where he has worked mostly as a digital imaging technician and camera operator. Some of his recent clients include National Geographic, Harpo Studios, Happy Madison, Malpaso, TNT, ESPN, FOX, NBC, CBS, XTERRA, IronMan, Golf Channel, and Disney. His work has also premiered in several film festivals around the world and he continues to pursue meaningful and rewarding projects in the independent, music video and documentary genres.

        

BEING GOOD is about identity and understanding the concepts of right and wrong. It's not only a short film, but also a proof of concept for a full feature film. We are aiming for the highest quality to present the final film at several festivals next year and pitch the feature film idea.

Our story is about a teenage girl named Embry and her two guardians, the angel Ava and the demon Mal who act as her conscience.

While Ava and Mal could easily be considered as “good” and “evil”, the film develops the idea of their humanity and flaws. We often have prefabricated views based on our upbringing and our aim is to challenge and question those preconceptions.

A teenage girl and her two guardians, the angel Ava and the demon Mal who act as her conscience. While these two struggle to keep the stubborn punk girl that can't see them safe they are also figuring out their own differences and preconceptions about each other.

ABOUT THE CASTS

Our main character Embry is half German, half Scottish. Embry has spent most of her life in Germany and is incredibly passionate about Poetry Slams. Recently her mother had them move back to Edinburgh leading Embry to feel lost and disconnected from her old world. In a rebellious act she decides to run away and return home, not knowing yet that she would have Mal and Ava accompany her on her journey.

Ava is a young Angel guardian with a truly good heart, but also an unfortunately big set of rules. She has a very clear definition of what is right and wrong and is certain Embry would be better off without Mal, her demonic guardian and counterpart of Ava. While Ava is trying her best to get Embry back on the right path, Mal seems to support her rebellious side and gets them into tricky situations.

Mal is an experienced and ignorant demonic guardian who thinks that happiness comes from doing whatever you want. This isn’t always the best advice for a lost teenager but despite Mal’s seemingly careless attitude he is very concerned with Embry’s wellbeing. He also loves teasing Ava and challenging her world view. He has a good heart even though he doesn’t like to show it much.

Randy Mills on the Red Carpets at Hollyshorts with JBN Hournalist, Americo Galli.

Randy Mills on the Red Carpet at HollyShorts.

THE JBN TEAM INTERVIEW WITH RANDY MILLS
JOURNALIST: AMERICO GALLI
LOCATION: HOLLYSHORTS, THE CHINESE THEATER, HOLLYWOOD, CA ― AUGUST 9TH - 18TH
INTERVIEW: AUGUST 17, 2018

HollyShorts takes place August 9-18, 2018 at the TCL Chinese Theater, Harmony Gold Theater and other locations in Hollywood. Nearly 400 short films will compete for the festival’s top prizes. Last year HollyShorts finalists included 3 out of the 5 Live Action Oscar nominees and the winning short Silent Child from Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton. This year, HollyShorts received an all-time record 5,000 submissions from over 80 countries. The competition will feature Live Action, Animation and Documentary Shorts as well as web series, student shorts, music videos, TV pilots, and VR. The festival also features a screenplay competition where the winning short gets greenlit, shot and shown at next year’s festival courtesy of Seattle Film Summit.

Video: Erik Werlin. Audio/Edit: James Vallesteros (@jamesvallesteros). Sound: Edward Chung.

ABOUT HOLLYSHORTS
HollyShorts Film Festival is an organization devoted to showcasing the best and brightest short films from around the globe, advancing the careers of filmmakers through screenings, networking events, and various panel and forums. The Oscar Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival showcases the top short films produced 40- minutes or less. Categories include Short Animation, Short Live Action, Short Documentary, Music Video, Webisode, Commercials, TV, and Digital Microbudget.

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