After having created 25 short films and two full-length films since its inception in 2010, the folks at local film studio Running Wild Films have set their ambitions high for 2013 with the "52 Shorts in 52 Weeks" project.
According to the project's director/producer, Travis Mills, each of the 52 shorts will be based in present-day Arizona and inspired by famous stories available in the public domain Mills and his crew plan to film every week throughout 2013.
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Mills says Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Head and Shoulders" will be part of the collection of short films shot around the Valley and in other locations throughout Arizona.
"The Devil and Tom Walker," written by Washington Irving (author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) has also been transformed to fit the modern-day community and environment of Arizona (pictured below).
"I have changed the location to the desert mountains and played off the Lost Dutchman legend," says Mills, adding, "all of the shorts are clearly set here, whether it be in the Roosevelt area of Phoenix or a Chandler suburb."
Running Wild Films has already begun recruiting cast and crew, writing/revising scripts for the films, and they have also launched a Kickstarter page to help raise money for the project. Mills and his crew are hoping to raise $10,000 and have received about half of that goal so far.
Running Wild Films was founded by Mills and retired ASU film professor, Gus Edwards, who both believe Arizona has the offerings needed to make great movies.
"Arizona is a unique place in the sense that its true beauty and best qualities cannot be found on the surface," says Mills. "Beyond the shopping malls and cookie-cutter neighborhoods, there are fascinating places, people and stories. You just have to dig for them and that's the fun part."
Check out the Kickstarter page for more details on "52 Shorts in 52 Weeks" or the Running Wild Films website for additional information.
