Dawn
A young, out-of-place musician must overcome her fear of standing alone.
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Hunter HawkinsDirector
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Hunter HawkinsWriter
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Hunter HawkinsProducer
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Samantha SmithProducer
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Fernanda ZaragozaProducer
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Abigail RemaleyKey Cast
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Genres:Drama, comedy, dramedy
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Runtime:9 minutes 42 seconds
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Completion Date:August 8, 2023
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Production Budget:1,750 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:Yes - California State University, Northridge
Hunter Hawkins is an LA-based multi-disciplinary creative: a narrative-driven artist, writer, singer-songwriter, and award-winning filmmaker, with background in acting and vocal technique. Hawkins’ debut film Window (2021) garnered awards and official selections from Top Shorts Awards, Indie Short Fest, Los Angeles Student Film Festival, and International Fine Arts Film Festival. After that first taste of writing, directing, producing, editing, and scoring their own film, they soon followed up with a busy 2022 at California State University of Northridge’s Film Production program (B.A.), in tandem with heading up multiple overlapping independent projects as well as performing the occasional live show. They have since completed eleven additional short films as writer, director, and co-producer: two five-minute experimental shorts, Sisters and At Home; a Bolex-film shot music video for a track from their own musical release as an artist/singer-songwriter, Seeking Release; a CSUN CTVA 355 film, Dawn; an indie short which also features Hawkins as an actor, Jay & Ginny; an indie crowd-sourced short, Bowler Up!; directed & story-assisted a short film for Scira Studios production company, Scale the Gates; two CSUN CTVA 350 three-minute shorts, Boxed and A.W.O.L.; a live-action scene adaptation from the Pixar film WALL•E, entitled Wally & Eve; and most recently, a professionally commissioned narrative PSA for the office of CSUN President Beck, featuring Erika D. Beck, herself, entitled Welcome Back, Spring!
All my creative endeavors, including this film, come through a creative space filtered by my experiences as an A.F.A.B. nonbinary person, and as someone deeply connected to womanhood. This project, “Dawn,” came out of similar real-life personal experiences of mine as a singer-songwriter & musician, living and exploring the performative landscape of Los Angeles, especially in the months before I turned 21. This project has therefore been influenced by my perspective as someone regarded as a woman. In unfamiliar bars and open mic stages, I often felt the need to keep my guard up, despite the vulnerability required to perform my acoustic-guitar accompanied and softly-sung songs. As a director, I felt extremely passionate about the subject matter, and capturing the emotional reality of the story as accurately as possible. This work began with casting—the lead actress I chose was someone I had met through friends of an indie band. Abigail was dating one of the key band members, and lived alongside the band in a house which housed all the members. I knew she would be able to empathize with the experiences of a musical artist and vocalist going out on a limb, and feeling the need to have someone else on stage with her in order to pull it all off. In my initial meetings with Abigail, to determine if she would be right for the role, I was able to relate to her as a non-male. On-set, I was able to prioritize emotional beats and make decisions from a place of authenticity and through the feminine perspective to which I aimed.
Writing, directing, and producing this film taught me a lot about how a singular vision will unify a story. Everything came from the writing, and enabled me to communicate precisely what I wanted to my collaborators. This story and film is very personally relevant to me, as I have dealt with stage fright, fear of revealing my own writing, and the lesson of trusting my own independence. I was also thrilled to be able to incorporate some authentic independent up and coming Los Angeles artists in the original soundtrack of the film, as well. The song Dawn performs on stage was written by the actress’s real life roommate, who performs at shows in bars frequently.