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Don't Pick Up

Alice is excited to start her first day at her new big girl job. That is until she receives her first task. Now Alice must overcome her overwhelming anxiety as she faces her biggest fear - making phone calls.

  • Melanie Kaklamanis
    Director
  • Melanie Kaklamanis
    Writer
    Stuck (2010)
  • Stephen Morgan
    Producer
  • Mackenzie Warner
    Producer
  • Melanie Kaklamanis
    Producer
  • Amanda Wong
    Key Cast
    "Alice"
    Cacti and Weed (2020)
  • Melanie Kaklamanis
    Key Cast
    "Sasha"
  • Petar Gatsby
    Key Cast
    "Aoife"
    Don't Ask Why (2019), Arrow (2018)
  • Lori Watt
    Key Cast
    "Jennifer"
    Embedded (2012), Watchmen (2009)
  • Ralston Harris
    Key Cast
    "Sam"
    Beginning of the End (2018)
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Black Magic 6k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Lit Laughs Comedy Film Festival 2022
    Harrogate
    United Kingdom
    Semi-Finalist - Short Film
  • Hollywood Just4Shorts Film and Screenplay Competition - September 2022
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    Best Comedy Short
  • Portland Comedy Film Festival
    Portland
    United States
    February 12, 2023
    World Premiere
    Best International Film
  • Ocean City Film Festival
    Ocean City
    United States
    March 4, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Women’s Comedy Film Festival in Atlanta
    Atlanta
    United States
    March 19, 2023
    Official Selection
  • New West Film Fest
    New Westminster
    Canada
    October 22, 2023
    Canadian Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Melanie Kaklamanis

Melanie wrote and directed a comedy one act play titled “Killer” in her senior year of highschool in 2002. She then went on to study creative writing at Vancouver Island University and took the Writing for Film and Television program at Vancouver Film School. Her short film “Stuck” was produced through the VFS Port Shorts program (Directed by Tracy D. Smith). In 2019, she started working as a script supervisor to gain experience working on film sets and to learn the ins and outs of making a film. She considers "Don't Pick Up" her official directorial debut. When she is not making short films, she continues to work on several screenplays, including two that were developed while she was enrolled in Steve Kaplan’s Comedy Intensive Workshop in 2020.

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Director Statement

The idea for this short came to me when I took a job position, just like my main character, and was dismayed to learn that I would have to make cold calls. I had an embarrassingly difficult time getting through this task, taking at least a half hour before each one to meditate and get myself into a calm state of mind. One day, I found myself feeling almost paralyzed. I couldn’t make a call. My inner voice was bemoaning about how much suffering I was going through. Then suddenly the voice changed. It said to me in a high-pitched tone “You are so ridiculous! Do you realize how silly you look right now? If I could float out of this body and look down on you, I would be pointing and laughing!” And suddenly inspiration hit me and I was so happy.

Humor has always been very therapeutic to me, and I find that my best ideas come from moments where I am feeling negative emotions but then am able to remove myself from the stress by poking fun at myself. I always tell people that the best way to get my out of a negative mindset is not to coddle me and ask if I'm okay, but simply to try and make me laugh. That's why I love comedy, and why I want to make films that can brighten people's day and help them forget about the dark world around them.