Taking the audience down the Hollywood streets at night, two Penn State alumni have created a film called “DASH” that will stream on Cinejoy from April 1-17.
The film will also be featured at the in-person Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in Silicon Valley in August.
“DASH” came about through alumnus and film creator Sean Perry “[striving] to tell a character driven one-take film,” he said.
Perry said he wanted to show “a person who, like all of us, doesn’t always tell the truth. Unlike all of us, however, he faces the repercussions of his poor decisions in a dramatic fashion. The audience shouldn’t know whether they should root for this person or be happy that he’s getting what he deserves.”
Perry said the process took a bit over a year. He said he and his partner, Alex Molina, were moving from New York to Los Angeles in November 2020 when Perry “pitched the idea of wasting zero time upon arriving and [beginning] the process of shooting a feature film the moment we arrive.”
The writing process took place during the move to California, Perry said.
“I’m a firm believer in the ‘stop aspiring, start doing’ philosophy,” Perry said. “I’ve never been one to hopelessly wait for an opportunity — I prefer to create my own.”
Perry said his first draft of “DASH” “blasted out of the printers within a week of [his] fingers touching the keyboard,” and after that, the rewriting and casting process took an additional two months.
When casting for the film, Perry said he was looking for “team players who would be willing to put in the work.”
“Sean had sent the script over, and after I’d given it a read, I knew we had something awesome, unique and special,” Bryce Harrow, Penn State alumnus and a producer of “DASH,” said.
While working on the takes, Molina said a big challenge was “trying not to panic when things were going great.”
“The stakes would get higher and higher, and in the final moments, trying not to have a heart attack became my No. 1 objective,” Molina said. “Having a ton of faith in our team helped me push through the stress.”
While filming, Harrow said the team “shot three nights back to back to back,” which he said “was a ton of fun and felt like the night before Christmas.”
After “two usable takes” of the film, Perry said he spent eight months “locking [himself] in [his] Hollywood apartment with gallons of coffee from sunup to sundown.”
“I’ve been able to teach myself the necessities of the filmmaking process, acquiring the ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ denomination,” Perry said. “I did all the title design, CGI effects, color grading, sign replacement, etc., which saved us tens of thousands of dollars but lengthened the editing process.”
Working with Perry was an “incredible pleasure,” Molina said. “His greatest strengths are his creativity, work ethic and deep knowledge of film, and I was fortunate to experience all of that first hand.”
Harrow said he’s known Perry for “over a decade.” The two met in their first film class at Penn State and have stayed friends since.
“Working with Sean is like hanging out with a close buddy,” Harrow said. “Our creative minds are very similar, and we love the same types of movies, styles [and] details, so it was honestly the easiest thing to do.”
An “exciting aspect” of the filmmaking process is that “a one-take feature film has never been shot like this,” Perry said.
“It was produced by a couple of young ambitious creatives who refused to let the doors of Hollywood shut them out,” Perry said. “Complacency wasn’t an option; we plowed open those doors with a battering ram, and we’re ready to make our way in, whether they welcome us or not.”
Molina said “working on DASH was one of the most thrilling and challenging experiences of [his] life.” He said the team and creating a “unique and entertaining film” is what “fills [his] cup.”
With the process of shooting going by so fast and similar to a play, Molina said he struggled with “managing” attention. He was “focused” on “being in character, driving, acting, managing the route, timing of the script, remembering lines, adjusting for stop lights, filling empty moments and so much more.”
“You don’t decide you want to learn how to juggle and start with eight balls, you start with three and build,” Molina said. “Our team learned how to juggle eight balls… blindfolded, upside down, with the balls on fire.”
Molina, who is also the star of the play, portraying the character Milly, said “getting into character felt more like building a character around the story and the process.”
He said that being able to share ideas with Perry as he wrote the play “allowed [him] to sit with Milly’s circumstances and motivations.”
“I was able to drop into Milly’s world on a physical level,” Molina said.
Molina said he’s “proud and grateful” for “DASH” being selected for screening at Cinequest.
“I’m excited to share it with people,” he said.
Harrow said he hopes “DASH” gets the “right eyes on it,” so that they can “make more movies in the future.”
Both Perry and Harrow have advice for any Penn State student who has a dream.
Perry said dreams will only come true if “you don’t dream about it.” He said that the “ticket” is “endless ambition and persistent perseverance… combined with a little bit of luck.”
“My take might not be exactly what a lot of about-to-be-college-graduates want to hear, but it’s exactly what they need to hear,” Perry said. “If you’re having doubts about pursuing your ‘dream,’ then you’re better off landing a secure, decent-paying job using your degree and implementing your craft as a hobby.”
On the other hand, Harrow said to “keep in touch with the good, creative people you meet around campus.”
“Make stuff! It’s really important these days to be able to do it all, so learn it early,” Harrow said. “Learn to write, edit, etc. and keep making stuff.”
“DASH” will make its world premiere, playing at Cinequest Film Festival, which was named the “best film festival in the country” by USA TODAY.
Watch the trailer for “DASH” here.
Leave a Reply