Private Project

The Extraordinarily Short Life of Jeff

Jeff wants to kill himself, but everything has to be right, the fish needs to fed, the house is a mess, and he even forgot the love of his life in his suicide note, so he decides to postpone it. After talking to his therapist she encourages him to kill himself, but only if he gets himself out of debt, because nobody wants to leave their family with debt. Through odd jobs, and even more odd people he raises enough money to pay off his debt and finally end it all.

  • Ryan Gomes
    Director
  • Ryan Gomes
    Writer
  • David Stachurski
    Producer
  • PJ Adzima
    Key Cast
    "Jeff"
  • Amy Thomason
    Key Cast
    "Dr. Benson"
  • Nathan Goncalves
    Key Cast
    "Ben"
  • Demitra Papadinis
    Key Cast
    "Mrs. Franklin"
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 45 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ryan Gomes

Ryan Gomes is a young Cape Verdean/American director born in Maine and raised in Rhode Island. He is passionate about the arts and about storytelling, so much that he started his own filmmaking non profit: Reel Artistry. In two years his organization has taught over 350 young people in Rhode Island filmmaking and photography.

Ryan is passionate about giving young people opportunities because the same was done for him. Through moving from family member to family member to incredible loss when he was a teenager, Ryan was guided with the help of others into the artist he is today.

After all of this Ryan ended up attending an arts high school in Pawtucket Rhode Island and later the University of Rhode Island for filmmaking. Ryan is also a veteran, just recently ending his service as a Black Hawk mechanic.

Ryan’s life experience and through early childhood to the arts, to the Army National Guard has given him the tools to tell stories from experience that most 23 year olds don’t have behind them. This shows in all of his films.

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Director Statement

People tend to be very worried with what I am doing with the subject of suicide, but it stems from real feelings of hopelessness that people have everyday with their problems, no matter how big or small. This is a chance to see how insignificant our problems are in hindsight. I planned on making this a funny film, not through jokes, and slapstick comedy, but with real experiences that are devastating to Jeff, and through his real emotions illustrate how small debt is in the grand scheme of life..

I believe that debt and rejection are real situations people feel ruin their lives in the moment. By connecting with these feelings I hope to carry the audience through the absurdity of the other characters. He rejects sexual advances from old women, drinks distilled urine, and is told to kill himself from a therapist, the only way to hold the audience and really connect is to make these moments real, and to use them as a device to show determination on the part of Jeff.

I am using this film as a way to test my skills as a writer director by picking a terribly serious topic and finding the lighter side of it. Through giving myself this challenge I believe that I have really found something unique.