An Industry Case Study
Narrative | Dramatic Features
Film Name: Augustus (short film)
Genre: Historical Drama, Dramatic, Social, Suspense, Biopic
Length of film: 15 minutes 37 seconds
Date: January 2020
Director: Jon Alston
Producer: B. Quinn Curry, Ayindé Howell, Jon Alston
Writer: Ayindé Howell
Cinematographer: Matt Edwards
Production Company: IEG Films | Common Goods Film Co.
Budget: 55,000 USD
Financing: Self & Friends
Shooting Format: Digital
Screening Format: 1080p
Awards:
– Grand Prize Winner: Directorial Discovery Prize at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival
– Winner Best Showcase Film at St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase
– Winner Best Directing at St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase
– Winner Best Cinematography at St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase
– Winner Best Editing at St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase
– Winner Best Experimental Short Film at St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase
– Winner Storytelling Award at A Show For A Change Film Festival
– Emerging Directors Showcase at American Black Film Festival
– Official Selection at Diversity in Cannes Short Film & Web Series Showcase
– Official Selection at Run & Shoot Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival
– Official Selection at St. Louis International Film Festival
– Official Selection at Big Apple Film Festival
– Website: https://www.augustus.film/
The Official Trailer for Augustus
Watch The Trailer for Augustus directed by Jon Alston
A Short Biography of Jon Alston
Jon Alston – A 3rd-round draft NFL draft pick in 2006, retired in 2011 to pursue storytelling. Since retirement, Jon has directed short films, commercials and music videos. Jon’s first screenplay and subsequent directorial debut, Red Butterfly, and attracted TONY award winner Wilson J. Heredia, International EMMY winner Diogo Morgado, and Christine Evangelista.
Jon most recently served as Story Editor on the acclaimed TV series All American and co-wrote the highest viewed episode of season one, All Eyez on Me. He recently wrote and directed the visual teaser for the Grammy nominated Hip-Hop artist, Wale‘s 6th studio album, “Wow, That’s Crazy.” Jon is currently adapting the Oscar nominated short documentary St. Louis Superman for the big screen. Jon’s latest short film, Augustus, a haunting period piece about an abolitionist with a twist is currently rounding the festival circuit in 2020.
The Jon Alston Interview
indieactivity: What is your film about?
Jon Alston (JA): AUGUSTUS is an important film, one that was ideated and produced prior to Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the changing world. The story follows Augustus, a literate, escaped slave masquerading as a free man in pre-Civil War Massachusetts. He experiences nightmares of a future America that resembles the struggles of his own time. Ultimately, he realizes the horrors of slavery and racial inequalities will continue if he remains complicit.
He’s left with one choice, join the abolition movement or risk his freedom. You’ll unlikely find a similar film, as we blend past and present history to weave a haunting narrative that highlights the origins of many of our country’s racial troubles. For me as the director, it was this original idea that drew me to the project when Ayindé brought me the original script. Together with our Producer, B. Quinn Curry, reworked it to really hone the themes and structure over a few but the idea to combine past and present was undoubtedly brilliant.
Executing as such was a very difficult task, but we were blessed with a great cast and crew. Cinematographer Matt Edwards did a fantastic job, and overtime, together we found the heart of the story and crafted a beautiful narrative that I’m extremely proud of.
Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Jon Alston (JA): We’ve had a very interesting festival run in the wake of Covid-19 as every fest we’ve been accepted to has had a virtual component. The fests have been a great way to learn more about how our film is received, what elements people are most drawn to and what audiences our film speaks to best.
We’ve been accepted into almost forty film fests worldwide and counting, and have won more than forty awards, most notably the Directorial Discovery Grand Prize at the Rhode Island Film Festival, the Essy Award at the 2020 St. Louis International Film Festival, and The Outstanding Achievement in Writing award at NYC Webfest. Augustus is also qualified for submission to the Academy. We’ve been blessed in many ways and continue to push to share our message with as many people as possible.
Give the full Official Synopsis for your film?
Jon Alston (JA): Augustus, a literate, escaped slave who masquerades as a free man in pre-Civil War Massachusetts. He experiences nightmares of a future America that resembles the struggles of his own time. Ultimately, he realizes the horrors of slavery and racial inequalities will continue if he remains complicit.
Development & Financing?
Jon Alston (JA): Ayindé Howell conceived and wrote the original screenplay then found producer B. Quinn Curry. Quinn had some fantastic adjustments to the way the story was to be told and Ayindé executed the adjustments. When I came on board to direct, we needed to really home in the story, the various dynamics and themes that we wanted to explore. It took a little time to really find it because it’s such a unique story, but we were fortunate to do so!
Production?
Jon Alston (JA): Making this film was a labor of both love and luck – and completed with unwavering belief in the value of the story itself. Being located in LA, we needed multiple trips to VA to location scout it. Thankfully, the VA film office is great. Lori Russell was our point and she really made it a lot easier for us to find who and what we needed. Given that our film was period related, we had to get very lucky to get what we needed. Ayindé had worked in the area once before and maintained some great relationships in the process.
One such relationship was with film director, Kevin Hershberger. Kevin was instrumental with helping with Costume supplies while our wardrobe/ costume head Amanda Powell was absolutely incredible with design and styling. Kevin also had a great relationship with UPM Amanda Ricks, whom we could not have made the film without. Once we had Amanda Ricks on board, we were much, much closer to making the film. However, there were hurdles, and expense was one of them.
Most of our crew wasn’t local, due to the multitude of productions going on in the area. So now we’re talking about flying people in and finding places to stay. We were fortunate enough to work with Blind Tiger Filmworks in Petersburg and managed to house our crew. It was a lot of fun. Due to the budget constraints and the complexity of the project, we only had three-and-a-half days to film close to eighteen pages. It was a wild, hectic shoot, but we came together to get everything we needed. Gotta credit a great team to make that happen. Once we had the film in the can, it was long until we were off to editing with editor John Alan Thompson.
John did a great job crafting our unique narrative, especially the dream sequences and our transitions. Color, Mix and Score were developed simultaneously, and everything really started to come together. We needed minimal ADR, but we did feel the need to address the current events of the summer of 2020 in the film. Afterall, it’s why we made it. Steve Biggert was a huge help in crafting the final montage that really ties our story together and allows the average viewer to access the story on a deeper level.
Festival Preparation & Strategy?
JA: Since we are an independent production, we had one single strategy… Try to get into the best fests we can! Every acceptance has come from completely blind and paid for submissions.
The Release?
JA: Festivals have been our primary method of release.
Advice from the Filmmaker?
JA: Believe in the story you’re trying to tell. It’s okay to fight for what you believe in, but only in the hopes of making your piece better, and don’t take anything personally in the process. Story first!
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