Valentine's Day Films on 'GMA'
N E W Y O R K, Feb. 14, 2003 -- Good Morning America revealed the winner of its "Whole Lotta Love Stories" short film contest.
Nora Ephron, the director behind Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail, announced the winning short film Friday on Good Morning America.
The winning film:
Best Friends
Written and Directed by: Jeremiah Jones Produced by: Roland Cañamar and Jeremiah JonesDirector of Photography: Roland Cañamar Starring: Dan Shalaby, Cameron Shalaby Original Music by: Craig Sibly Grips: Tom Smith, Patrick White
Jeremiah Jones, 21, wrote, directed and edited Best Friends. He is a film student at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.His friends Dan and Cameron Shalaby were the father and son in his movie. The short flick was shot on digital video and edited on Final Cut Pro on his computer. It took about two hours to shoot and just a couple of hours to edit.
The Finalists:
Watch Starcrossed
The filmmaker, writer, animator, narrator, producer and editor is Brian Shapiro, a 35-year-old dentist.
He and his wife, Christine, have an 11-year-old son, Richie, and a 2-year-old daughter, Sophie.
He was a finalist in Good Morning America's 2000 Scary Movie Contest. Shapiro thought of Starcrossed (watch video at the top of this page) while he was driving.
Watch Cupid in a Bottle
Cast: Norma CarballoCarlos LeeDanielle AdamsRice CasenasJennifer Bourne Music Courtesy of Cuerdas RotasWritten, Directed and Edited by Limary VargasA Vargas and Friends Production
Limary Vargas, an assistant tape librarian for Channel One, the educational news service, shot Cupid in a Bottle in just one day.
Watch For Better or Worse
The Wife: BeBe WilsonThe Husband: Franklin J. AndersonDirector: J.D. HawkinsAssistant Director: LaShumba Williams
J.D. Hawkins came up with the concept, wrote and directed the film. His friend shot the film and edited it. It was shot on a digital camera and edited on Adobe. He came up with the idea after spending a weekend at his parents' house.
The father of two works is a substitute teacher who also works in children's theatre in Houston.Hawkins found the actors through the Ensemble Theatre, of which he has been a member for years. It took about five hours to shoot.
Watch Woo Romance
Written by Christopher Alender and Marcos GabrielStarring:Man: Ben LauterWoman: Giuliana MaioBartender: Marcos GabrielBoyfriend: David SmithLine Producers: Harry Perry III and David SmithSound Design and Mixing: Marcus ZalewskiSpecial 3-D Effects: Erik GamacheGaffer: Harry Perry IIIMusic: Edward ChunVocal Performance: Tilly LorenceGuitar Solo: Matthew J. MondrickScore Mixed by: Matthew J. Mondrick
Christopher Alender, 25, from Los Angeles came up with the idea for Woo Romance with his friend Marcus Gabriel.They met at Florida State University and moved to California together because they want to be filmmakers.
They came up with the concept of the romantic homage to John Woo, and then Gabriel wrote the shooting script.Alender operated the camera and he edited the film with help from Gabriel. The actors were all friends of theirs, as were the people who helped them with sound and original music.
Alender and Gabriel are both free-lance editors, and although they are currently working on video game and movie advertising, they were still assistants when they began making this movie.
Hundreds of additional viewers submitted movies for the "Whole Lotta Love Stories" contest, and besides our finalists, there were some real standouts. Honorable mentions go to:
Valentines in New York by Mitchell Bard and Michael Suvorov of Bayside, N.Y.
Luvbug by Crystal Clark of Corona, Calif., and Christopher Seals of Orange, Calif.
A Dog Gone Love Story by Keith Boyd of New Bern, N.C. Revelation by Matt Cornwell of Chamblee, Ga. Romance Section by Roy Stiffey of Apollo, Pa. Cupid's Calamity by Matt and Patty Nechvatal of Cleveland, Ohio.