Local Cinema Studios’ ‘Bruiser’ collaborates with SCAD students
Written by Paul Jerome Watson, Image courtesy of Local Cinema Studios
SAVANNAH (Nov. 11) — Students in FILM 455: Content, platform and distribution are working with nonprofit organization, Local Cinema Studios, to promote one of their films, “Bruiser,” as an exercise in marketing and production.
“Our mission [at Local Cinema Studios] is to bridge the gap from academia to industry for students and recent graduates,” said Dustin Whitehead, Co-Executive Director at Local Cinema Studios and star of the film. “So a lot of what we do is just that: working with students.”
The class of FILM 455 began working with Whitehead after their professor, Stephen Stanley, met with him and Producer Joshua Russell on a separate film set. Whitehead and Russell talked about their film and Stanley said his class could work on marketing it.
“Every quarter, we sort of adopt a project and use it as a practical way to make real-world plans for actual existing media,” said Stanley. “I feel like it still gives the students a sense of pride to be making things that actually have an impact on the world.”
Head of the PR team and third-year film major, Sean Hussey, spoke highly of the experience, highlighting the collaboration between the class and the filmmakers throughout the 10-week project.
“It was great,” said Hussey. “We were all communicating with each other, we were all throwing ideas out there, everybody was kinda absorbing as a big think tank working collaboratively together.”
“Bruiser” is a gritty thriller and personal story to Producer Joshua Russel who described the film as “deconstructing the American Dream.” It will be making its world premiere at the Rome International Film Festival in Rome, GA.
“The students have been brainstorming and workshopping the process of marketing the release and coming up with creative ways to create a sort of energy and awareness of the film,” said Russell. “They’ve thought up a lot of stuff that we had never even considered. And they’re savvy — they’re even more savvy than I am, to be honest.”
Russel describes how the class has helped them with the production and marketing costs. One key aspect he noted were the posters they made and how they reflected certain aspects of their movie, visualizing and marketing its themes more than he had thought of.
“Whatever process that team is leading them through that class,” said Russell, “It’s clearly working.”
Russell’s sentiment was shared with Whitehead. He commended their ability to express their creativity and build relationships with the other universities helping the production.
“They’ve been wonderful,” said Whitehead. “We had an expensive poster design done for ‘Bruiser,’ and it’s really strong, but some of the designs these students did for our social media, for our poster design. It’s just been so fun.”
Both of the filmmakers are grateful to these students gave them the tools and experience to move forward with confidence on future projects but stressed they would work with SCAD again if the opportunity presented itself.
“If I could hire them,” said Russell, “I would.”
