Return to Sender

2006 USA. Color. 35:00 mins. DV

Outlined, Shot, Edited, and Directed by: Azad Jafarian
Produced by: Jason Brousseau
Music by : Linus Lau
Cast: Tony Swarthout , Kristina Burkel, Kirk Diaz

Synopsis: Soon after moving to his new apartment, Tony receives an envelope addressed to the previous tenant, who is dead. He decides to return the letter to its sender - a former girlfriend of the ex-tenant - and tell her the bad news in person. Easier said than done...

Filmmaker's Notes: One random night in early August, I was telling my friend Tony Swarthout that I would be interested in seeing Chicago as part of research for a feature length script I'm writing. He said he did too. Before we knew it, we had booked our flights and hotel room for late August. Then he said "we should make a movie for tax write-off reasons!" Great idea I thought!

I put an ad on Craig's List for actors in Chicago. Few days later, I found Kristina Burkel who showed interest in the yet-to-be-written project. Based on her photos, locations she told me about and Tony's look, I came up with a 45 scene outline for a "mini-feature" length film. I had two days in Chicago to shoot it. I posted another ad for a line-producer to help me with logistics, transportation and scheduling, and I found the extremely helpful Jason Brousseau.

Long story short, me and Tony left Los Angeles on August 22nd, armed with a tiny camcorder and 5 DV tapes. Three days later, I had 5 hours of footage which I later edited down to this 35 minute film. The audio is horrible, but that's the price I was willing to pay for invisibility the tiny camcorder provided. My friend Linus Lau composed the music which essentially hides many of my shortcomings. Total Cost: $250 (Tapes, Food for four, minus the travel costs)

• Watch: Available Upon Request

Various Commercial Spots

2006 USA. Color. 00:30 seconds each. DV

Written and Directed by: Azad Jafarian
Starring: Tony Swarthout, Daniel Lee, Cecilie Bull, Jennifer Hutchinson, Angela Eckert, Chris Watters and Niousha Jafarian

Synopsis: Various spec commercials shot for Toyota, Loreal, T-Mobile and Quizno's.

Filmmaker's Notes: I came across Current.tv's website and noticed their VCAMs (Viewer Created Ad Messages). You basically make spots for their sponsors, people greenlight it and if chosen you get a $1000 and they will air your spot on their station -- reaching 30 million homes. Ever-thirsty for an audience (and a chance to make some money off filmmaking), I made a spot for Loreal. I had fun seeing it do well with the Current audience and since I also had fun shooting and editing it (you learn a lot about editing by cutting 30 second spots), I decided to make two more. I made one for Toyota a month later and another one for T-Mobile soon after that. The T-Mobile spot is my first collaboration with my lovely sister Niousha.

Meanwhile I found a video contest for Quizno's sponsored by ifilm. The first prize was $10,000, which will motivate any poor filmmaker to give it a shot. I did and though I didn't win the first prize, I won the runner up. As a runner-up I got a video iPod, a year supply of Quizno's, and they played 2 seconds of it on VH1 nationally -- resulting in Tony getting phone calls from his friends across the country. Not bad for a video that took all of 2 hours to shoot and edit! (Total Costs: $26 -- Subway sandwiches for the Quizno's spot, and 2 frogs for the Loreal spot.)

• Watch: on YouTube and Current

Lady Liberty

2005 USA. Color. 12:55 mins. HDV

Written and Directed by: Azad Jafarian
Produced by: Amy Giedraitis
Director of Photography : Christopher Wright
Editor: John Lore
Music by : Mark Oates
Production Designer: Marybeth Enciso
First AD: Manash Das
Cast: Angela Eckert, Ross Kelly, Dennis Parker

Synopsis: A young girl naively sets out to change the face of American politics by blackmailing a US Senator with the help of her boyfriend.

Filmmaker's Notes: "Lady Liberty" is my answer to Bush's re-election in 2004. I didn't want to make another Bush-bashing Moore-esque film that attacked the president on a personal level, but rather a short film that questioned the democratic process as a whole and raised questions about things the Bush White House is infamous for; immoral actions when "moral" values win more red states, loss of American media's credibility as it reports less and less on wrongdoings of its government, soft money and the fragility of votes at a time when we're nation-building and promoting democracy across the world... The story derived from limitations I set for myself so that I can afford to shoot the film on my own (three characters, two locations). But luckily I won a spot in the Duke City Shootout thanks to Philip Kaufman, and was flown out to Albuquerque to make the film; all expenses paid for. The film went on to win Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Music and Best Producing (BOHICA) at the festival. Tom Waits headed the jury.

• Watch: Available Upon Request

Crippled Insanity

2005 USA. Color. 12 mins. Mini-DV

Written and Directed by: Azad Jafarian
Shot and Edited by: Azad Jafarian
Cast: Scott Gillies, Kelsey Link, Christopher Botto

Synopsis: Boredom, a caring ex-girlfriend and jealousy to the extreme; crippled and headed towards ultimate insanity.

Filmmaker's Notes: I wrote this film specifically for my friend and roommate Scott. As you will see, its a bit twisted and neither of us are as demented as the characters in this film. But I tried to touch up on themes familiar with most people my age; boredom, jealousy and madness, and then turn it up a notch or two! I also experimented with the way I shot it. I wanted to see how far I could push the limits of composition, eye lines and editing. I am not sure how well I succeeded in my attempt at doing something new. I'll let you be the judge of that... Total Cost: $80 (Dinner)

• Watch: Available Upon Request