Private Project

Primitive Art

A Neanderthal unknowingly living on the outskirts of modern society stumbles upon civilization.

  • Jack Lattin
    Director
  • Jack Lattin
    Writer
  • Kendall Huff
    Producer
  • Paolo Laskero
    Key Cast
    "The Neanderthal"
  • Winona Weber
    Key Cast
    "Annie"
  • Josh Greene
    Key Cast
    "Paul"
  • Karl-Erik Mills
    Director of Photography
  • Jack Lattin
    Editor
  • Jeremy Kemp
    Assistant Director
  • Ryan Gunderson
    Composer
  • Marit Ullrich
    Costume Designer
  • Carolyn Knapp
    Animator
  • Sydney Huff
    Makeup
  • Jordan Chervitz
    Title Designer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Adventure, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 27, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.66:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jack Lattin

Jack is a Writer, Director, Cinematographer, and Editor based in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. At age seven, Jack started to make movies with his sister and other kids from his neighborhood using a Flip camera. Since he started taking filmmaking seriously in high school, Jack has written, directed, shot, and edited over 50 short films, documentaries, music videos and commercials. During his final semester in USC’s Film and Television Production program, he served as the cinematographer on Josh Greene’s documentary "Waves Apart", which was nominated for a Student Academy Award. After graduating in 2022, he partnered with Josh to form Landport Productions, which specializes in adventurous, affordable, and efficient commercial shoots. Jack is currently developing multiple feature scripts, one of which will enter production in 2024. Aside from filmmaking, he loves to hike, surf, and ride roller coasters.

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Director Statement

The idea for this film was initially conceived during my freshman year of college. I was inspired by my archaeology class which dealt with early humans, as well as the antics of my dorm friends Paolo Laskero, Winona Weber, and Josh Greene, who went on to act in the film. I was particularly interested in the concept of artistic symbols being passed down and iterated on over time, and I wanted to show how a shared symbol could allow a human and a neanderthal to form a connection despite the communication barriers between them.

During my junior year, we were still in COVID lockdown and we had the opportunity to shoot a film outdoors with a small cast and crew. I returned to this project and developed the script further with the help of my screenwriting class. Costume designer Marit Ullrich and I spent about a month fabricating the props and costumes, mainly sourcing our materials from thrift stores. Cinematographer Karl-Erik Mills, assistant director Jeremy Kemp and I scouted a variety of desert locations outside of Los Angeles and found a few areas near Lancaster we could blend together to create the world of the film. The filming was done on a very low budget without using school resources. During the lengthy post production process, I performed digital prosthetic clean-ups on the film's Neanderthal protagonist as well as integrated the 2D animations by Carolyn Knapp. Music plays a major role in the end product, and I worked closely with producer Kendall Huff to secure music rights and composer Ryan Gunderson to create a score that fuses together various elements of world music. We hope you enjoy!