TRUTH SERUM IN SHORT
and ambition. “That makes it interesting to a lot of people – the large number of characters makes it work well,” explains Evdokimenko, defying the conventional wisdom that short films should have smaller casts. “The homespun advice about shorts might actually be a fallacy,” she suggests. “You simply need to make whatever you want and trust in the way you want to do it.” Since Truth Serum , AnfanTerrible has released two shorts – one of which, Aamir , was a BAFTA nominee – with two feature films in the pipeline. “One is at the late development, early packaging stage,” Evdokimenko explains. Like Truth Serum , ‘it’s darkly comedic’, but the similarities seemingly stop there. “That is our main, ready-to-go feature project currently in the late rewriting stages,” she adds. “We are simultaneously starting to cast, and have a producer and potential co-production partners in Europe.” She also occasionally draws upon her film school connections, having attended NYU where she worked under mentors
Rebecca Miller and Spike Lee. “It was an amazing adventure,” she recounts; “that whole New York indie film scene was very instructive and inspiring.” With a cohort including Robert Eggers – and two-time Oscar-winning Chloé Zhao just one year ahead – Evdokimenko was surrounded by talented creatives and collaborators who often went on to become friends. When it came to studying under both Miller and Lee, “having one-on- one access to that level of wisdom and filmmaking knowledge was an incredible asset and such a privilege.” She concludes: “I don’t know if you need to go to film school, but certainly my experience was largely a good one.” Offering advice to aspiring filmmakers, Evdokimenko notes: “You must have the passion for it, even if you feel like you don’t have the resources. With shorts, it’s all sweat equity because you don’t have the budget and you’re trying to create something out of nothing. That’s the beauty of it,” she says. “Make as much as you can and use what you’ve got.”
YOU SIMPLY NEED TO make whatever you want AND TRUST IN the way you want to do it ”
NO WORD OF A LIE Clocking in at 21 minutes, Truth Serum maintains a well-paced story akin to a feature-length drama
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