Exchange
Javier has become an agoraphobe following his recent HIV diagnosis. His friend and caretaker, Ashley, begs for him to reenter the outside world, but, strangely, Javier has already arranged for the outside world to come to him, via a Grindr hookup. However backwards it may seem, Javier is determined to make contact with another person in whatever small and strange way he can.
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Conlan CarterDirector
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Conlan CarterWriter
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Jonathan SouzaProducer
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Harshal AlurkarProducer
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Arnold TreviñoKey Cast"Javier"
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Rachael WorthingtonKey Cast"Ashley"
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Chris CostaKey Cast"Kevin"
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Lottie GurvisKey Cast"Delivery Girl"
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Eliza Kamerling-BrownDirector of Photography
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Ryan WeaverEditor
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Minhye (Min) KwakAssistant Editor/ Art Director
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Joshua BieberComposer
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Oliver HoeghProduction Sound
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Alexandra ChludzinskaProduction Sound
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Emma BjornsenFirst Assistant Camera/Gaffer
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Chris CostaAssociate Producer
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William CusickExecutive Producer
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Jaclyn PoujolProduction Assistant
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Runtime:11 minutes 18 seconds
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Completion Date:August 31, 2019
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Production Budget:1,000 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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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes
Conlan Carter, a Minnesota native, is currently living and writing in Brooklyn. His playwriting work includes Wyoming, MN (The Lark, Cherry Lane Theatre), Plain Brown Box (The New School), The Loon (Fresh Fruit Festival), Real (Midtown International Theatre Festival), The Fractal Pattern (Workhouse Theatre Company), Flicker (The Secret Theatre), and Nets (24 Hour Plays: Nationals). He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Playwrights’ Center. As a director, he has worked with MCC theatre as well as directed all of his short films.
"Exchange" was, from its early conception, a story about making a connection. I wanted to make a film about a queer person working their way out of isolation—as so many LGBTQ folks are isolated in America today, for a myriad of reasons.
Specifically, this film about a young gay man, making his first attempt at connecting to the outside world after his HIV diagnosis—a crushing, isolating (and not uncommon) event. Although it may have shifted out of the public eye in the 21st century, the AIDS epidemic has not ended. There are currently one million people living with HIV in the US, with New York City leading in new diagnoses. My team and I wanted to shed a humble light on someone whose lonely story is anything but alone.
"Exchange" was an exploration into how a person can learn to live with HIV and how self-conscious and guilty that process often feels. In this film, Javier learns that real connection comes with a cost: that allowing another person in requires vulnerability and the knowledge that you might get hurt. It’s a price that we’re all willing to pay, whether we end up hurt or for the better or both; in any case, there is always this exchange.