Haydenfilms News & Events

First Haydenfilms Grand Prize Winner Returns to the Independent Film Scene

By Jess Novak,
Haydenfilms Hollywood Correspondent


"Even until this day, however many years later, being able to tell people that your film won the Haydenfilms competition is a sign of credibility. A lot of people are obviously familiar with the competition, so by telling someone that your film won an award there automatically gives you a certain level of credibility."

Quinn Saunders has kept busy since winning the first Haydenfilms Online Film Festival in 2005 with his short, Fortunate Son, which he wrote, directed and produced. After winning the $10,000 grand prize and enjoying deserved recognition for the compelling short, Saunders used the monetary and networking benefits of the festival to continue advancing his career and recently resurfaced among the independent film scene with his latest production, LoveSick.

"LoveSick is a full-length feature film," said Saunders. "We are readying it for submission to Sundance in the fall, where it will hopefully premiere."

The film, which began as a play written by David Crane, changed completely when Saunders adapted it for film. In its final format, the film tells a tale of lust, seduction and betrayal among best friends who find their worlds completely shaken and altered by the electric and
damaged Jules, played by Lili Bordan, who was never even scheduled to audition for the part.

"We were holding auditions in a building where Lili taught acting lessons and she just saw the sign," said Saunders. "She ran out to her car, got some headshots and auditioned on the spot. She blew us away."

Bordan will blow audiences away as well. Upon reading the script previous to seeing the trailers featured on YouTube.com, it is refreshing and impressive to notice how appropriately each of the actors bring the characters to life. In such an intense story touching on themes of love, pain and loss of trust, effective acting is crucial and was achieved in this project.

The film features Bordan, Rey Valentin and David Crane and was produced by Saunders, John Lutz and Brett Henenberg, who also worked with Saunders on Fortunate Son and produced the Haydenfilms Online Festival 2007 winning film, The PowderPuff Principle. Saunders and Henenberg met at the University of Southern California where they studied film production and directing and ultimately worked together on Fortunate Son.

"On both projects, Quinn had a pretty clear vision on the type of film that he wanted to make," said Henenberg. "But more importantly, and this is something that a lot of first time directors don�t have, Quinn knew the kind of film we were making in both scenarios. We didn�t try to do anything that was way outside the scope of our project and we didn�t try to fake anything that would make us feel low
budget."

However, luckily for the entire team, the time seems right for independent filmmakers to be producing and creating feature films.

"I think the most important detail of making this film was the timing," said Henenberg. "Right now, there are a lot of super talented people in L.A. sitting around waiting for work to pick back up, so we were able to book a lot of great crew and talent for our shoot that otherwise would have been working. I think right now is a great time to be making low-budget movies."

Saunders, Henenberg and the rest of the cast and crew involved in the making of Lovesick prove it�s not only a great time to make movies, but it�s an ideal time to make great ones. The film is currently going through the final stages of post-production and editing and should be released within the next few months. The filmmakers are also currently talking to distributors about sales for the film.

In addition to making quality films, Saunders teaches Film/TV production at California State University, Northridge, and has also taught at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut and at the New York Film Academy in L.A.. Fortunate Son was his graduate thesis at USC and benefited from opportune timing as the winning film helped Saunders garner significant attention just as he was leaving school. Aside from his work as a teacher and director of independent films, Saunders also works as a director for the CBS reality series Big Brother.

However, Saunders isn�t the only one involved in the film with an impressive resume. Co-producer Henenberg has worked with clients including Pacific Sunwear, Wal-Mart, Johnson and Johnson and MTV working in areas including advertising, broadcast, print and marketing. One of his most recent campaigns was nominated for two Emmy Awards and has produced the book, One Hundred Young Americans, which documents his travels to each of the 50 states. He has been involved with numerous award-winning films featured in festivals ranging from Cannes to Haydenfilms.

"Even until this day, however many years later, being able to tell people that your film won the Haydenfilms competition is a sign of credibility," said Henenburg. "A lot of people are obviously familiar with the competition, so by telling someone that your film won an award there automatically gives you a certain level of credibility."

Both Saunders and Henenberg are doubtlessly worthy of that credibility and their latest film, Lovesick only serves as further proof of that fact. As the finishing touches are made, audiences can look forward to another quality film to enjoy and fellow filmmakers, another to admire. As film festival season begins, remember their names and remember this film, because they will certainly be ones to watch.

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