Two former Greater Trail residents are building up their film resumes in hopes of one day making it big.
Jacob Postmus, a 2004 Crowe graduate, and Brian Turner, who graduated from Rossland Secondary School in 2002, are finalists in an ICBC drive-safe campaign.
The “180 Film Contest” asked individuals to create a short film or print ad on a road safety topic – impaired driving, speeding or distracted driving.
Along with a small film crew, the Kootenay boys delivered a short film called “Worst Day Ever” that highlights the risk of talking on a cellphone while driving.
“There are two girls trapped in a white blown-out background, representing the bubble they’re in,” explained Postmus.
“That’s where their minds are, that’s all they’re thinking about. You can see a green light reflecting on their faces and then a red flash of light – she hits something and the film shifts back to reality.”
Starting with over 100 applicants, the team has made it through three rounds of cuts and is now in the running to win. Winners of the top three films in each safety category will receive prizes amounting to about $35,000 worth of filmmaking equipment and software.
The remaining 180-second films will be screened Wednesday at Vancity Theatre, where the top films will be selected.
“It’s something to have on your resume when you want to apply for grants,” said Turner, whose passion is writing.
“We love film and we want to get into features one day,” he said, pointing to a couple projects on the go, including a “dramedy,” a drama comedy that centres around a message in a bottle from Wyoming turning up on Vancouver’s shoreline.
Turner spent five summers working with the Rossland Gold Fever Follies, which employs young actors each year who bring alive a historical musical theatre show based on the gold rush days of the 1890s.
He continues to write scripts for the theatre group, the most recent being last year’s “Trapped at the Murphy Inn,” with plans to pen this year’s 25th anniversary show.
The two first met while working at Canadian Tire in Trail, later enrolling in the same multimedia course at Selkirk College in Nelson and lastly running into each other at Vancouver Film School.
Though film remains a “side project” for now, Postmus said getting recognized in small competitions like ICBC’s film contest will only help them on their way to full-time work.
He plans on getting their short films and commercials on a website in hopes of starting a career in making commercials, potentially taking it to the next level.
“If we can make this work, we can make our own hours – we’ll have freedom,” he said. “We’ll still continue to make films, but films don’t make money, unless you make it big.”
Their ICBC commercial can be viewed on YouTube by searching “180 film contest worst day ever.”