THE BARTENDER (2020)
A New York bartender interacts with various personalities throughout a night at work, as he bar get progressively more and more chaotic and hard to control.
Runtime: 4 mins
Starring: David Cai, Kevin Shu, Katherine Vlamis, Claire Wong, Lucas Tartaglia & Ally Wei
Written, Directed, Shot & Edited by: Caden H. Hollander
*This project was filmed for CTPR 290 at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and was shot in compliance with all of USC’s Covid-19 filming protocols*
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
This short film, which I made as my final project for the CTPR 290 class at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, was born out of my desire to tell a story that didn't take place in an apartment. We shot this film at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and due to the school's coronavirus protocols, we could not leave our apartment to shoot for any reason. As a result, that semester I'd ended up filming a lot of material that took place ... in an apartment! I thought that I could use an experimental tone to utilize my surroundings to create an abstract bar that could serve as a unique setting for this story.
During my freshman year of college, I was often the designated "bartender" at parties, mixing cocktails and concoctions for all of my friends. The pandemic, when there weren't any parties to bartend, forced me to reflect on the role of a bartender and some of the sociopathic elements of the job. I wanted to explore those themes with this project, as well as to challenge myself and expand my skills as a filmmaker.
Previous to this film, I'd never done anything this abstract or open-ended before, and in taking those risks I definitely learned a lot, and discovered more about who I am as a filmmaker, so I hope that you enjoy the film :)
