About the Film

 

In a future society where subversive threats keep the populace on edge, Hans Ross is selected to embark on Mission of Patriotism on the behalf of Esther, the Best Leader. When she charges him with rescuing his kidnapped wife from a faction of subversives, a glimpse of a greater reality flickers before his eyes.

Best Leader is a 16mm short film that was made for the UCSB Film and Media Studies 106 Crew Production course.  It is a black and white futuristic thriller based on an original screenplay by Michael Weinreich.

The film was entirely planned, shot, and edited over the course of Fall Quarter 2006 and Winter Quarter 2007.  Its futuristic society was to be created with a projected budget of $4800, and for many of the crew members this was their first time working on a film of this scale.  While the crew planned to wrap principal photography before the end of Fall Quarter, a rough cut assembly of the film revealed that new scenes would be necessary to better convey the story.  Additional footage was shot on film and HD video during Winter Quarter, and edited with Final Cut Pro.  The locked picture was completed on March 1st, 2007, but before the film was finished on March 22nd, an original score was composed and recorded, the sound was created and mixed, and special visual effects were added.  The project came in under budget, costing just over $3800. 

Best Leader screened for a packed audience in UCSB's Isla Vista Theater on March 23rd, 2007.  It won the Second Place Corwin Award, which is given to the most impressive film projects in a given year at UC Santa Barbara.  Best Leader has yet to make its film festival debut, but will appear on Santa Barbara Television and the international festival circuit throughout 2007 and 2008.

 

Download the original score [free of charge]

Download the official Best Leader press kit

trailer - about - cast/ crew - stills