A CHICK CALLED WANDA
‘A Chick Called Wanda’ (19min) is a short dramedy about Finn (Johnna Scrabis), a twenty-nine year old costumer service rep at a boxed ingredient startup who dreams of a deeper connection to her city life. Her co-workers are annoying (Sean Shannon) (Jessica Delfino) and her noise musician boyfriend is on another planet (Jeffrey Michael Lee). To soothe her stress Finn researches farm sanctuaries and chicken adoptions blogs. She desperately wants to adopt a chicken but is not sure how to go about it. This is the story of how city mouse meets country mouse in a journey of self-discovery, not to mention the chicken who gets caught-up in between.
New York is becoming a greener city. There are rooftop farms, community gardens, an abundance of bike lanes, better busses and grocery stores which shelve only organic products. But that's not all, chickens are popping up everywhere in the city --as pets, egg providers, victims of voodoo ceremonies (Santeria, Kapparot), and of course as free range dinner options. Amongst the greenery are the tech startups; with a click of a button people want locally sourced vegetables at their door. With this shift towards a more sustainable, high tech animal friendly city, New Yorkers are feeling the pressure to align themselves with this new urban lifestyle. And that's where Finn comes in.
'A Chick Called Wanda' is the thesis project of writer/director Arielle Apfel for the London Film School. Born and raised in Brooklyn NY, Apfel wanted to capture the changing landscape of her home town and its people through the framework of observational comedy. 'Wanda' was shot on the Arri Alexa at The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, Woodstock NY and in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill and Park Slope neighborhoods. 'Wanda' uses a combination of found stories, documentary footage and live action to talk about change on a personal level.
This film could not have been made without its hard working crew; its New York bred producers Cameron Bossert and Reuben Stauber as well as its LFS cohorts DP Ingvar Gudmundsson (Iceland) and Production Designer and Costume Designer Aephie Huimi Chen (Taiwan).
MEET THE CAST & CREW
Johnna Scrabis: FINN
Johnna is an improviser, actor, and writer originally from Pittsburgh. She currently teaches and performs improv at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre in New York and is a writer for the UCB show Everyone's Favorite Game Show. Find her on twitter (@johnnascrabis) or in the wild (Brooklyn).
Chris Fuentes: SKYLER
Chris Fuentes is a New York actor born and raised in Suffolk England. He studied Fine Art for undergrad but following his passion for film and theatre he trained in improv at UCB and Meisner at William Esper Studio. He is also photographer, writer and creator of a few short films.
CREW
Arielle Apfel: Writer, Director, Producer, Chicken Enthusiast
Arielle is a director, producer and editor who work is comprised of surreal quirky comedies and avant-garde thrillers, stories which aim to capture the quandaries of her generation infused with humor and grit. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Apfel studied film theory and direction at the American University of Paris, earning her BA in Film Studies in 2009. Continuing her studies abroad, she obtained her Masters in filmmaking from the London Film School in the United Kingdom. Currently, Apfel is working on a pilot in New York, singing standards in the shower and producing other independent projects.
Ingvar Haukur Guðmundsson: Cinematographer
Ingvar is a Icelandic cinematographer based in London. Currently Ingvar is studying MA Filmmaking at the London Film School. Ingvar studied film at the European Film College in Denmark 2008-09. He worked as a cameraman for Icelandic National Broadcast and has worked as a cinematographer on documentaries for TV, fiction shorts and music videos.
Aephie Huimi Chen: Production Designer, CostumeDesigner
Aephie a duel citizen of Taiwan and Japan but is based in London, England. Aephie studied Architecture at Cooper Union in New York and Fashion at the Royal School of Saint Martins in London. Currently Aephie is in post production with her Thesis film for the London Film School, 'Everyone Knows'. She is a production designer who is obsessed with creating the looks of space and time for films to enhance the reality we live in.
Jeffrey Michael Lee: JACK
Jeffrey Michael Lee is an actor and writer in New York. He studies under and has worked with the acclaimed director Aleksey Burago in North America and Asia. Jeffrey is collaborating with his long time friend and 2014 Drama Desk Award nominee Vinny Deponto on several theatrical experiences around New York City. You can find some examples of Jeffrey's work at russiantheatre.org and medium.com/@jeffreyspad. While Jeffrey has been working in the theatre for several years, A Chick Called
Wanda is his film debut. Contact Jeffrey to share a drink or collaborate @jeffreyspad on twitter.
Jessica Delfino : SHARON THE BOSS – MISS WHITEHEAD
Jessica Delfino is a critically acclaimed and award winning comedic musician who has performed her quirky comedy songs all over the world. Jessica has appeared on Good Morning America, The Jim Gaffigan Show, the Russell Brand radio show, the historic Loose Ends Programme on BBC4, CNN’s Stroumboulopoulos, at the infamous Reading and Leeds Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Fest, Dublin Comedy Festival, on stage with Weird Al Yankovic in the Apocalypse Tour and much more.
Cameron Bossert: Producer, Editor
Cameron is a composer, writer, producer, and director based out of Brooklyn, NY. Cam recently worked closely on the development and production of John Turturro's Fading
Gigglo
which premiered at the Toronto international Film Festival in 2013 and was later theatrically released to audience and critical acclaim by Millennium Entertainment. Cameron is also the co-founder of an independent production company Third Wing Media, directing and editing various projects. He has recently produced two digital series Couples, by Bill Gullo, and Everything’s
O.K., by Ace Salisbury.
Reuben Stauber: Producer, Line Producer
Reuben is a producer and production accountant in New York originally from Long Island. He has worked on Appropriate Behavoir, was the production accountant on the award winning Anethesia and many other indie films and tv shows. He has just oppened an expendables business called Bellow The Line Expendables based out of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.