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City Creatures

Joann and Stephen, a recently relocated couple, confront the financial strains of their new home and the peculiarity of their new neighbors. Overzealous cat and dog bumper stickers cover every car in the neighborhood – painting a hostile environment for their eight-year old son, Matthew. When Joann and Stephen discover a mysterious stone in their backyard and fossilized pawprints by their garage, they are forced to contemplate animal grave-robbing and its consequences. Luckily, a group of locals helps them reconsider the unthinkable.

  • Michael A Johnston
    Director
    A Man Full Of Trouble, Irina
  • Michael A Johnston
    Writer
    A Man Full of Trouble, Irina
  • Michael A Johnston
    Producer
    A Man Full of Trouble, Irina
  • Chad Blevins
    Producer
    The Art of Self Defense, InstaPyscho, Stray Dolls, Lofa Boy
  • Daniel Maurio
    Key Cast
    "Stephen"
    Chelsea Lately, Chelsea Does, Chelsea
  • Kellie Cooper
    Key Cast
    "Joann"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 18, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    12,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Arri Amira, 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Philadelphia Film Festival
    Philadelphia
    United States
    October 27, 2021
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Lake Placid Film Festival
    Lake Placid
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Florence Film Awards
    Florence
    Italy
    European Premiere
    Best Comedy Award
  • Media Film Festival
    Media, PA
    United States
    April 1, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Austin Revolution Film Festival
    Austin, Texas
    United States
    February 17, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Houston Comedy Film Festival
    Houston
    United States
    April 16, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Fort Myers Beach International Film Festival
    Fort Myers
    United States
    April 29, 2022
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Michael Johnston
    Distributor
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Michael A Johnston

Michael Johnston is an Associate Professor of Cinema & Television at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania where teaches screenwriting and film history. His previous short comedies, A Man Full of Trouble and Irina, screened at international festivals like LA Shorts International Film Festival, Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema, and the Virginia Film Festival. The screenplay for City Creatures was a Semi-Finalist in the HollyShorts Screenplay Contest and a Finalist in the Austin Revolution Film Festival and Twister Alley Film Festival screenplay competitions. Currently, Michael is writing his first feature-length comedy, Haunt Him Down.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I wanted to make a concise and unpredictable comedy. When my friend explained she had made a list of her neighbors’ bumper stickers in order to find people like herself, my reaction was immediate - I had the opening of my new movie. I love bumper stickers for their absurdity and their shallow commitment to a cause. I make every effort to read each sticker that passes me on the road. I wanted to narrativize the bumper sticker – specifically animal bumper stickers – and the possibility of loving one’s pet too deeply and too intimately.

I love lists and list-making because lists possess no emotion and one can catalogue anything. They are perfect for comedy. Like my friend, I was struggling with my recent move and the ridiculous and excessive cost of home ownership. The more I drowned, the more I wondered if my neighbors were too. The more I drowned, the more absurd and abbreviated I became in my speech; I spoke like a bumper sticker – much like the characters in the movie.

City Creatures avoids cyclical narrative structure – it never circles back. The movie suggests the bizarre and the beautiful can occur without notice, without pretense, and without interference. City Creatures reflects my challenge to live simply. A challenge I feel daily and one I see in friends and strangers. “Live Simply,” an insightful phrase that sounds remarkably like a bumper sticker.