Cute Couple

SYNOPSIS

Zach and Kendra are the cutest couple you'll ever meet.  Seriously. They tell cute stories, take cute vacations together, they even have cute jobs.  Their friends  can't get enough.  They're just too cute!  That is, until Tim and Tammy move into town.  Tim is an OBGYN for pets.  Tammy designs a line of baby clothes and simply glows while telling you about it.  Everyone loves Tim and Tammy, a fact that doesn't sit well with Zach and Kendra.  When they realize they've been dethroned from the coveted position of 'Cutest Couple' they have to quickly create a new identity in order to stand out from the pack.

Production Notes

Cute Couple was shot in four and half days in Los Angeles, CA on the Canon HDV XHA-1.  The idea was conceived by Courtney and her husband Ted while hiking in Topanga Canyon.  On the hike, they reflected upon several dinner parties where they noticed how certain couples secure a ‘niche’ while revealing themselves to the group.  Courtney thought it might be fun to explore this dynamic in short form.

She immediately contacted Siobhan Mahoney, an actress she directed in in two off-Broadway plays in New York.  After seeing Siobhan in the wildly funny LA sketch-comedy group, The Exploding Pajamas, she thought this might be a good casting match all around.  She wrote the script, Siobhan rounded up a handful of the Pajamas, and the film was on route to pre-production.  Just one problem:  Very little money.  More specifically, money out of Courtney’s shallow pockets.  This was going to be done on the cheap.

Thankfully, she had been working in development for a feature film production company and had forged several crew and vendor relationships that allowed her to call in some big favors.   One of those calls was to a tremendously talented gaffer she worked with on film entitled He Was A Quiet Man.  The DP of “Quiet Man,” Brandon Trost, mentioned that this gaffer, Amanda Treyz was a talented DP in her own right.  Courtney gave her a call and the meeting went incredibly well.  Now, it was all about how to make a short film with a large cast and a tiny crew.   

There were four locations used for the entire film, two of those being houses lived in by cast and crew.  The trick was making two houses look like four.  Since the film was made on an extremely limited budget, Courtney and Ted wore quite a few hats including production design, location scout, script supervisor...a lot of hats.   There was no costume designer, so the cast was kind enough to provide their own clothes.   

Once the film was shot, it was all about the editor and the composer pulling it together.  Courtney scored big on both fronts with James Mastracco’s talent, experience, and comedic sensibility along with the unique sound of Michael Orendy of Frankel.

This was truly an ensemble piece.  Putting the emphasis on story-telling and actor chemistry helped make Cute Couple a doable project with such limited resources. 

Photos