Private Project

RESEMBLANCE

When Dirk learns about past atrocities, he makes amends the best way he can, while working through his residual remorse.

  • Kevin James ONeill
    Director
  • Kevin James ONeill
    Writer
  • Phillip Deems
    Producer
  • Daniel Stilling DFF
    Director of Photography
  • Jordan Woods-Robinson
    "Dirk Kramer"
  • Ylian Alfaro Snyder
    Producer/Script Supervisor
  • Midge Mamatas
    "Helen"
  • Brayden Benson
    "Younger Dirk"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 31, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Alexa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16.9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Festigious FIlm Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 25, 2019
    North America
    Best Drama
  • Los Angeles Film Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 20, 2019
    California
    Best narrative Short
  • South Film and Arts Academy Festival
    Santiago
    Chile
    November 12, 2019
    Chile
    Best Drama
  • Top Shorts Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    September 11, 2019
    Online
    Honorable Mention Best Director
Director Biography - Kevin James ONeill

Kevin began his career in the acting business working on stage in lead roles such as “Bus Stop”, “Grease”, “Bye-Bye Birdie” and “West Side Story.” He lived and worked in Los Angeles during the 1980’s playing roles in such television shows “As the World Turns”, “The Young Riders”, “Highway to Heaven”, “The Cape” and “Sheena.” Kevin also worked on over one hundred national television commercial campaigns including “Miller Lite Beer”, “Colgate”, “Grecian 5”, “Toyota”, “Aqua Fresh” and “Titleist.”

Kevin has been teaching acting for over twenty years and mentoring Directing students for over thirteen years at Full Sail University. He began writing and directing short films twelve years ago and to date has directed “Lean”, “Clark”, “Captain Fin”, “Undertaking”, “Swipe”, “Perception”, “Man in the Woods" and "Resemblance."Many of these films have won grand jury awards from around the country.

Kevin has written five feature length scripts “Fifty Hours”, “Pathfinder,” “Trestles,” “Thundersmack” and “The Flamingo Kids" and he's in the middle of writing a ten-part television show titled "Grace's Diner" which is a faith friendly series.

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Director Statement

I was listening to a TED talk one day about a man named Zak Ebrahim who said, “El-Sayyid Nosair was one of the men responsible for the plotting of the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing.” And then Zak said “El-Sayyid Nosair was my father.”

I was quite stunned by his honesty but, because it was a Pod Cast, I was aware of something else. I could hear the guilt that Zak carried in his voice. Zak was just seven years old when his father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Seven years old. Zak’s story was so powerful that it had me thinking “What if Hitler was your father”. Then I ran across the story of Melissa Moore, the daughter of serial killer Keith Jesperson. Keith had killed eight people in the 1990s and received the nickname “Happy Face Killer” because of the smiley face he doodled onto letters he wrote. Keith’s daughter Melissa would take a different route in life. Instead of hurting people, she became an advocate for other children of killers.

This is when “Resemblance” came to life for me. I wanted my character Dirk to turn the negative of his life into a positive. The Holocaust was a Nazi led Genocide where six million people were murdered.

Resemblance explores a part of that horror.