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  • about equilibrium

         Felix is a murder mystery writer that has trouble separating reality from fantasy. Both he and Kate are persuaded to meet each other at a social gathering in a cabin in the woods. After some bizarre introductions the situation becomes gruesome. In their efforts to escape Felix and Kate discover the circumstances are more than what they first perceived. As they peel back the layers they discover that murder, in a manner of speaking, may be comical, romantic and justified.

         Equilibrium is intended to be allegorical as it examines the world view of beauty. The film is presented as a traditional narrative while a deeper meaning can be found in story parallels, visual and auditory elements. Felix's book and characters parallel the main storyline and also serves to add depth as he discovers more than what is on the surface.

     

  • the people

    This production is listed on IMDB.

     

    Richie Call (Felix) received an MFA in Acting from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts and a BFA in Performance from Utah State University.  His stage credits include work for Mile Square Theatre (Hoboken, NJ), American Globe Theatre & Gorilla Rep (New York, NY), Old Lyric Repertory Company (Logan, UT), Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake Shakespeare, and Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City, UT).  He lives in Logan, Utah with his wife and four children, and he teaches Acting at Utah State University.

     

    Chrislynn Call (Kate) studied acting and scenic design for the theatre at Utah State University.  She met her husband, Richie Call, in the play "One for the Pot" for the Old Lyric Repertory Company.  Other productions she has performed in include "Pride and Prejudice" at USU, "The Rivals", "Moon Over Buffalo", "Murder Room", "Song of Singapore" and "The Hollow" with OLRC.  She has also designed the sets for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Bocon" (USU), "Dial 'M' for Murder" and "On Golden Pond" (OLRC).  Chrislynn is currently a stay-at-home mom to four kids.

     

    Kent Hadfield (Michael) is a graduate of the University of Utah's Actor Training Program and has appeared in many plays at Pioneer Theatre Company, Old Lyric Repertory Company, Utah Festival Opera Company, Wasatch Theatre Company, Meat and Potato Theatre Company amongst many others. While fairly new to film, he has appeared in several student films; "How To Take A Life" (an independent short film) and as the Janitor in the promotional video for Spirit Sleeves as well as several radio commercials.

     

    Kathy Bateman (Rose) studied acting and directing at Utah State University. Some of her acting credits include, “Dangerous Liaisons”, “Pride and Prejudice”, “Graceland”, “Cabaret”, “Beaux Stratagem” and “Androcles and the Lion”. She has done several promotional videos, voice-over work and acted with a fantastic improv acting troupe. She loves acting, singing, running, biking, dancing, rock climbing and gardening. She is mother to four gorgeous children who share her dramatic nature and zest for life. “Equilibrium” is her first full length movie. She reveled in every minute spent acting and working as production manager. She currently teaches drama at Unicorn Childrens Theatre and Wilson Elementary.

     

    Dennis Hassan (Kieran) is Artistic Director of the Old Lyric Reparatory Company and Associate Professor of Scenic Design at Utah State University.  He has designed over 140 productions, over 50 for the Lyric. Favorites include: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Sweeney Todd, Phantom, Aida, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Secret Garden, Oliver! and Amadeus. He made his start in the theatre as an actor and continues to perform, most recently playing Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

     

    Kevin Doyle (Jade) has been acting for over 25 years and has been inspiring actors as a teacher for almost 20 years. His professional credits include Denver Center, Pioneer Theatre, Starlight Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The New Theatre, The Sundance Institute, Salt Lake Acting Company and many more.  He has also lent his talents to over 150 radio and tv commercials.

     

    Originally from California, Keri Hostetler (Blanch)  lived in Logan, UT for 12 years and performed with the Old Lyric Repertory Company and Unicorn Theatre for much of that time.  Favorite roles include Betty Meeks in “The Foreigner,” Penelope Sycamore in “You Can’t Take It With You,” and Eleanor of Aquitaine in “The Lion in Winter.”  Keri earned her BA in Theatre Arts from CSU San Bernardino and her MFA in Acting from CSU Fullerton.  She is currently the Ticket Office Manager at  Moonlight Stage Producions in Vista California.

     

    Lee Daily (Peter) worked for the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University as a Special Events Coordinator and the Creative Director of Out of the Blue for several years. Lee has also worked for Old Lyric Repertory, Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Symphony Silicon Valley, Unicorn Children’s Theatre, and NETworks National Tours. Lee received his MFA from California State University, Fullerton in Acting. Lee has found employment and resides in Glendale California.

     

    Heather Botts (Polly) made her acting and film debut in Equilibrium. Her comic sensibility and natural timing made her a perfect match for the part. She loves reading, exercising, cleaning, being outdoors, talking, and laughing. Luckily, she gets to do those things everyday with her three little girls. “Helping with this movie was awesome experience. The cast was amazingly talented and compulsively funny.”

     

    Anne M. Benson’s (Police Officer 1) passion in life is pretending to be other people. From the stage to film to voices, Anne’s past lives (roles) include Yente in Fiddler on The Roof, Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, to Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Ernest in Kelmarsh England and now, Police Officer #1 in Equilibrium.  When Anne has to be herself, she can be found teaching at Broadview Entertainment Arts University in Salt Lake City, or painting backdrops (including herself and other odds and ends) at the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre in Logan, Utah. Anne built preliminary model furniture for Broadway scenic designer, Derek McLane’s 2009 Tony Award- winning set of 33 Variations.  She has a BFA in Art/Painting and an MFA in Theatre/Scenic Design.  Anne enjoys Star Trek, Frasier, Doctor Who, and giving people a bad time. Anne would like to dedicate this performance to her long-haired Siamese, Bullet.

     

    Katie Jo Nielsen (Police Officer 2) studied Theatre Performance at Dixie State College and Utah State University. Some of her stage credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Greetings, All My Sons, Oliver!, Harvey, Little Women, Romeo and Juliet, Godspell and Fuddy Meers. Before Katie Jo lent her talents to Equilibrium she has been seen in documentaries and independent short films. After many years of focusing on her career as a singer/songwriter, playing venues across Utah,  Katie returned to Theatre in 2010 to work with the Unicorn Children's Theatre, directing and teaching Creative Drama. Her vocal credits include the 2010 Lee's Market Place Jingle, Back up vocalist for  "The Sunhouse Healers" 2000 album, and the release of her debut Album "Broken," in 2011. Connect and listen to Katie Jo at www.reverbnation.com/katiejonielsen www.facebook.com/katiejomusic

     

    Amanda Profaizer is the Costume Design professor at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. She received her MFA in Costume Design from Utah State University in 2006 and worked as their Costume Shop Manager and adjunct faculty of costume construction and technology for 10 years. She has designed costumes for the Old Lyric Repertory Company, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, and The Grand Theatre. She worked as a costume shop technician for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Pioneer Theatre Company and also served as a design assistant with NBC's Saturday Night Live. Amanda maintains an extensive record of award winning designs and spent two summers in Washington D.C. at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts showcasing her work and studying alongside renowned designer Ming Cho Lee and Constance Hoffman. Some of Amanda's favorite designs include: Sweeney Todd, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Into the Woods, The Oresteia, King Lear, Suessical the Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, South Pacific and An Inspector Calls. Amanda and her husband Landon have two beautiful children; Ruby who is five going on seventeen, and Pearl who celebrated her 1st. birthday this past may.

     

    Landon  Profaizer (Contributor of Music and Score). After watching my uncle shred his Les Paul at band practices my mother would let us watch...the rock seed did not take long to flourish. After growing up with a guitar in his hand, Landon attended the Recording Engineering program at the Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio and moved to NYC to pursue work as an audio engineer. He landed a job at the world renowned Sound On Sound Studios in Manhattan and rubbed elbows with some of the industry's elite while working there. Landon currently resides in Wisconsin, and recently started the music production company DLP Music to pursue his love of songwriting and composition. His dream is to compose production music for television and film advertisements to support his guitar habit.

     

    Erik Bateman is a creative professional with a storied background in audio and theatre sound design, graphic design and digital film production. He studied broadcasting and theatre at Utah State University. His professional work includes media created for national advertising campaigns, Utah State University, Providence City Utah, Unicorn Children’s Theatre, Utah Public Radio, along with many other small businesses and products seen around the world. In 2010 Erik started the Amber Room Studios. A production company that creates digital media. Creating a feature length movie has been a long time dream that is has come true. He continues develop new feature films, shorts, music, design and so on. Equilibrium was written, edited, and directed by Erik.

     

     

  • history

         In early 2010 two friends, Richie Call and Erik Bateman, went to see a  midnight movie. Afterwards they parked in Bateman's driveway and talked  until 3 am. They spoke of their future, hopes and dreams. "I really want to act," Call said. "I really want to make movies, " Bateman said.  Bateman asked Call if he wanted to make an original feature length production. There was a long silent pause. Then Call responded, "Yeah, let's do it!"

         In the early stages of preproduction various ideas were thrown around in hopes of finding something the two friends could agree to produce. Not much was accomplished at first. Meetings came and went and nothing sparked any ideas, at least one they could agree on. Then one Saturday morning Bateman was catching up on a missed episode of the TV show Fringe. As he watched on-line he read the title of this particular episode and the entire story flooded into his mind. He immediately began writing a treatment for the story. He then shared the idea with Call and his wife Chrislynn. They weren't sure of the concept at first, but they encouraged Bateman to write the script. So he did. Within the space of 5 days Bateman had written nearly 106 pages of script. Eventually, Bateman's wife Kathy was brought in with Richie and Chrislynn to edit the script. A few weeks later the original script had been whittled down to 76 pages and process of casting was started.

         Hidden under the guise of script development, local talents were called in to read the screenplay in it's entirety. The idea being that hearing the parts read aloud by actors would allow Bateman to see what needed to be changed. In reality, however, Bateman was looking to fill the parts in a way that was not stressful or seemed to require too much commitment at first. Luckily everyone agreed to take their respective parts despite their heavy schedules at the Caine Lyric Theatre and Utah Festival Opera. There was one exception. The part of Kieran was nearly imposslible to fill. Certain actors declared their interest in the part but had other commitments. Production would begin despite the roll going unfulfilled. Later,dates were scheduled in the home of Dennis and Wendy Hassan. There were only a few more days until Kirean's dialog had to be shot. With little time to prepare Dennis agreed to play the part. Not only did he save the production, but Hassan reopened his acting career (He is a long-time professor of set design at Utah State University). He later starred in Call's theatrical production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night's Dream.

         Originally Bateman had estimated that production would only take a few weeks. The fist shot was taken of the 21st of June 2010. The last shot took place in the first week of October. No one ever complained of the time requirement and everyone stuck it out until everything was finished even though they weren't paid and everyone had lost crucial sleep time.

         Post-production proved to be most challenging. Bateman admits that he probably made every mistake he could have during this production and putting a final piece together was particularly difficult given the situation. Actors moved away and dialog replacement wasn't an option. Shot's couldn't be redone because houses had been sold to new owners. With a budget of zero dollars Bateman had to make the best production he could with what he had. Finally, three and a half years later Bateman made his final cut. It can be seen above with an appropriate password.

     

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