Do you remember when we fell in love?
Elsie and Matt embark on a nostalgic road trip up the California coastline.
Along the way, they rediscover their shared history and question the inevitability of connection.
About the film
Coast began as a simple idea - how to explore a relationship in a unique and honest way? In our story, Matt and Elsie find each other at an unexpected point in each of their lives, after a period of being disconnected from the most important person in your life. How does time change the way you feel about someone who meant the world to you? Is there a change to reconnect and move forward, or are you doomed to fall into the same comfortable cycles over and over again?
We wanted this production to be as authentic of an experience as possible, so we crowdfunded the production budget to harness the collaborative energy of an artistic community and set off on a real road trip with a small crew to maintain spontaneity and presence with our cast and create an open environment to develop this relationship right in front of the lens.
We made this movie for no other reason than to collaborate with our talented friends and create a story that could resonate with each of us through the relationships and connections we all form in our lives.
Meet The Cast
Isabella Egizi
Elsie
With a background in theatre performance, Isabella has gained extensive stage experience in major roles like Lady Macbeth and the Pilot in George Brant's Grounded. In 2016 she appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut of Allison After a Fire in the title role of Allison. She has since worked on a handful of short films both in Colorado and Los Angeles, several of which have screened at festivals such as the ACM festival and the Charlotte Film Festival in North Carolina. In that time she has been fortunate to collaborate on several independent feature films, both as an actress in a leading and supporting role, and as a producer. Isabella continues to work in theatre and film in Los Angeles, performing with the Native American theatre ensemble Native Voices, and creating her own work as a singer/songwriter and filmmaker.
Nick Greene
Matt
Nick Greene has appeared in several movies, commercials and television shows including his role as Aiman Haddad on ABC's Castle. He is an Associate Member of Theatre Dybbuk and an Education Facilitator for the Company. He has traveled to Rwanda, Africa with the Arts In Medicine program, in association with University of Florida, to work in Gisenyi Genocide Survivor Village. There he collaborated with the Barefoot Artists to create Traveling Theatre that promotes awareness of AIDS, Malaria and hygiene. As a Writer he’s had numerous works produced and currently has a series with Chosen TV. He is the Florida New Works Festival winner and recipient of grand prize for his play, Still the Wild, which was recently produced at GableStage in Miami.
Meet The Crew
Enrique Mendoza
Writer/Director
Enrique Mendoza is a filmmaker originally from Guatemala, where he got a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Communication. He moved to the U.S. in 2004 to pursue a degree in Film at Full Sail University. In 2011, he made his directorial debut with Vindication, receiving a FMPTA Crystal Reel Award for Best Director of Photography, Best SetDesign/Art Direction and Best Lighting. Since then Enrique has grown as a director/producer working on short films, music videos, commercials, and TV promos.
Eric Medina
Writer/Director
Eric Medina is a producer, director, cinematographer and editor specializing in documentaries, music videos, short films, promos and sizzle reels. A graduate from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Television, he has recently worked at Participant Media, creating original digital and on-air content. Now working at Redbird Studios, a content marketing agency, he continues his passion for meaningful storytelling. In his free time, he enjoys binging podcasts and playing with his dog, Luna.
Leilani Gushiken
Producer
Leilani Gushiken has been working in the TV and Film industry for over 18 years in Development, Production and Post Production for DreamWorks SKG, Scott Free, Coca Cola and Participant Media. She was part of the core team that branded and launched Participant Media’s cable TV channel, Pivot and later was nominated for a 2016 Daytime Emmy for her work producing a short piece on girl's education for the Malala Fund.
Directors' Statement
There are million way to explore the intimacies and complexities of a relationship between two people. In our vision for Coast, we wanted to lay the groundwork for an open creative collaboration that allowed the cast to connect to their characters on a deep level and react in emotionally honest ways.
By utilizing co-directors, we independently directed a specific performance, physically separating the actors on location between takes to allow them to enter each scene without knowing the thoughts or motivations behind their counterpart’s performance, allowing them to react in a genuine way right in front of our eyes.
Shooting in sequence over a two-day period allowed our cast to focus on the emotion of the moment, develop and discover their characters in real-time, and maintain a connection with the emotional journey central to the film.
Our core team is a melting pot of cultural and creative backgrounds with experience in almost every type of documentary and narrative production. From proud first and second generation immigrants to mixed-race heritage, we strive to utilize our diverse viewpoints and storytelling traditions to complement each other and put something on your screen that’s never been done before.
Coast is a representation of the diverse world-views of the creative team and the actors themselves, all poured into these characters and their journey through their relationship.
The sound of Coast
by Edson Choi
Press
ABOUT SIDE HUSTLE STUDIOS
The Side Hustle is a full service production and creative agency, specializing in documentary and short form content. In addition to collaborating with production services for clients creating socially motivating content, they are currently in various stages of development and post production of original productions, including a narrative short film set to premiere in the spring. Side Hustle prides itself in making things that matter, concentrating on telling a great story in a unique way, and collaborating with talented people to make the experience as fun and fulfilling as possible.
ABOUT FRAME SIZE CREATIVE
Frame Size Creative is the brainchild of creative directors Enrique Mendoza and Eric Medina. Together with a versatile creative team, they strive to produce unique and innovative stories from concept to execution. The team will see a project through from creative development all the way through to visual effects and design, post-production, marketing and distribution. Their past work includes creating official music videos for artists such as Arevalo and Steven Clark. Their previous film, Glimpse, was screened at eight film festivals around the country, premiering at the Savannah International Film Festival. They are currently in development and pre-production for a number of short subject concepts and feature film scripts.
TECHNICAL DATA + CREDITS
SIDE HUSTLE STUDIOS presents
a FRAME SIZE production
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY
Eric Medina & Enrique A. Mendoza
PRODUCED BY
Leilani Gushiken
STARRING
Isabella Egizi
Nick Greene
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Barry Rubinow
Enrique A. Mendoza
Eric Medina
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Mike Warren
Patty Warren
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Alexander Hill
EDITOR
Brandon Riley Miller
ORIGINAL MUSIC BY
Edson Choi
LOCATION SOUND MIXER
Cody Peterson
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Stacy Branson
WARDROBE STYLIST
Brittany Curl-Medina
SOUND DESIGNER/MIXER
Matt Richman
COLORIST
Robert Crosby
DI COORDINATOR
Leanne Du Fresne
COLOR BY
Neptune Post
ADDITIONAL EDITORS
Eric Medina
Barry Rubinow
ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Brandon Riley Miller
AERIAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ryan McDonald
PICTURE CAR COORDINATOR
Katie Warren
STILL PHOTOGRAPHY
Hannah Bernall
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Tony Grajeda
VISUAL EFFECTS
Kwaku Otchere
Special thanks to all our Seed & Spark contributors
TITLE
Coast: A short love story
GENRE
Indie Romance
PRODUCTION TIME FRAME
October 2017
COMPLETION DATE
April 2018
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
United States
LANGUAGE SPOKEN
English
TOTAL RUNTIME
16 min 58 sec
ASPECT RATIO
2:39
EXHIBITION FORMAT
DCP
SOUND FORMAT
5.1