A Film Festival Case Study
Narrative | Dramatic Features
Film Name: The Drop Series
Genre: Comedy Web Series
Length of film: 17 Minutes
Date: 03 August 2023
Director: Jordan Canning, Dani Pagliarello, Aisha Evelyna
Producer: Elizabeth Yake, Liz Whitmere, Dani Pagliarello, Aisha Eveleyna
Writer: Dani Pagliarello, Aisha Eveleyna
Cinematographer: Graham Beasley
Editor: Alex Stephenson
Composer: Dexter Nas
Production Company: True West Films
Budget: $500K CAD.
Financing: Independent Production Fund, Ontario Creates
Shooting Format: Digital
Screening Format: DCP
World Premiere: LA Premiere
Awards: NA
Website: NA
The Official Trailer for The Drop Series
Watch The Trailer for The Drop Series directed by Jordan Canning, Dani Pagliarello, Aisha Evelyna
A Short Biography of Filmmaker
Aisha Evelyna is a Toronto-based actor, writer, and director passionate about bringing stories of the under represented to the forefront of our social consciousness. As an actor, recent film and TV appearances include Rabbit Hole (Paramount+), and Slo Pitch (IFC/OutTV). Aisha’s comedy series The Drop, co-created with Dani Pagliarello is set to premiere via Narcity Canada in April 2023. Aisha is also a participant of the 2022 Canadian Academy’s Writers Program, where she is developing the limited series Sally with Warner Brothers Canada.
The Aisha Eveleyna Interview
indieactivity: What is your film about?
Aisha Eveleyna (AE): The Drop follows Zara and Polly who #werk in Toronto as “professional” line-waiters— hired by the rich and lazy to stand in line for exclusive products the day they DROP. Our show is a comedic sa2re on modern day consumerism, transactional friendships, and the ever-expanding wealth gap.
Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Aisha Evelyna (AE): Dani and Aisha co-showran, wrote, directed and starred in the series and we are jazzed to say that our team was lead by women— so our bomb a** show definitely passes the Bechdel test. Our online Release partners, NARCITY Canada, are presently hosting the series which was released in May 2023. In addition to our world premiere at HollyShorts, we are also official selections of the Apulia WebFest, Minnesota WebFest, New Jersey WebFest, and the TO WebFest where The Drop is nominated for Best Toronto Web Series, and Best Production Design.
Give the full Official Synopsis for your film?
Aisha Evelyna (AE): The hustle of professional line-waiting sparks the accidental friendship of a diabetic American escapee, Zara, and a Canadian wannabee influencer, Polly. With Zara working illegally and Polly showing her the ropes, the pair are rising in the ranks as Toronto’s premiere line-waiting duo who stand in line for exclusive luxury product drops, ranging from limited edition Jordans, the latest tech gadgets, and even…”Bottled Air.” The #bestties drive the satirical social commentary fueled by underground pop culture phenomena and society’s wild obsession with material goods. Every episode is a new line-up, and every line-up is a new adventure!
Development & Financing?
Aisha Evelyna (AE): Dani and Aisha went to theatre school together, and stayed pals. They had each been writing, directing, acting, and being just generally dope respectively, so they figured what would happen when an unstoppable force and an immovable object collided? And with that, The Drop was born in the middle of the trash fire that was 2020. From there, the project was developed in the Independent Production Fund’s Development Packaging Program. Aver Dani and Aisha produced the proof of concepts scenes, and developing the scripts, they pitched, and pitched, and pitched, at festivals like Just For Laughs, and the Banff world Media fest, and by spring of 2022, The Drop was awarded two very competitive production funds: The Independent Production Fund, and the Ontario Creates IDM fund.
Production?
Aisha Evelyna (AE): The Drop went into production in the summer of 2022, and we were set to deliver in May of 2023. We had strong references to Broad City from a filmmaking stand point, and so we chose to shoot handheld, only ever going in for tight closeups when we were underscoring a joke, or calling attention to a key point in a character’s arc. We shot for 10 days in September predominantly outside in Toronto. This show was made for Toronto locals by Toronto locals, so it was important to us to feature recognizable landmarks and places that only locals would know and appreciate.
The second we wrapped, we started editing and by the end of January the mostly locked cuts of The Drop were ready for testing. We did a mini virtual test screening with people we trusted and from there went into post in February and March. We also started to have PR conversations about The Drop’s release — and by the spring Dani and Aisha were Ready to give birth to this baby. April was a lot of PR and organizing release/promotional materials like our ads on the TTC (Toronto Transit). We released on Friday May 5th 2023.
Festival Preparation & Strategy?
Aisha Evelyna (AE): We had PR for our initial release, and as we rev up for the Canadian Screen Award season, and the daytime Emmy’s we will be engaging with PR to assist us in making sure that everybody and their mom is watching The Drop. We would also love it if The Mothers Ilana Glazer and Lucia Aniello watched our show- so we’re working on that too. When it comes to festivals, we are overjoyed to be screening at a prestigious festival like HollyShorts and from a strategic standpoint, we decided we wanted to target the biggest festivals with web programming in the world as we figured that is the fastest route to world domination. Tee hee.
The Release?
Aisha Evelyna (AE): We released The Drop with our online partners NARCITY Canada on their YouTube account
Advice from the Filmmaker?
Aisha Evelyna (AE):
- Keep going.
- Be humble (like us).
- Be kind.
- Work hard.
- Work with people you trust.
- Hydrate.
- Watch THE DROP.
- Do those steps in reverse order and it will lead to immediate fame and fortune. Move over Bezos.
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