Silence of Others
After a dinner party conversation turns dark, Jennifer discovers her friends are more concerned with smoothing things over than holding Joe accountable for his actions.
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Lisa J DooleyDirectorBen Is Dead, Persephone, Light as a Feather
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Lisa J DooleyWriterBen Is Dead, Persephone, Light as a Feather
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Rae OlivierKey Cast"Jennifer"Glee, Beacon Point, Transatlantic Coffee
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Myko OlivierKey Cast"Kyle"Menendez: Blood Brothers, Castle, Glee
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Craig Lee ThomasKey Cast"Joe"Jane the Virgin, How I Met Your Mother
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Brienne La FlairKey Cast"Michelle"Grayson, Boink, Anne Frank Meets God
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Paul ZurcherDirector of PhotographyAstro, We Has This Band
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Alex ChoateArt DirectorThe California No, Mint Green
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Nami MelumadComposerMiss Arizona, This Day Forward
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Katharine WhiteGafferJenny Loves Satan, Pop Rox
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Norma RainesEditorLight as a Feather
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:drama, social change
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Runtime:15 minutes 50 seconds
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Completion Date:April 19, 2018
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Production Budget:4,000 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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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:2:35:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Sunscreen West Film FestivalHermosa Beach, CA
United States
October 5, 2018
World Premiere
Official Selection -
San Luis Obispo International Film FestivalSan Luis Obispo, CA
United States
March 16, 2019
Official Selection
Lisa J Dooley recently graduated with her M.F.A. from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. Before attending USC, Lisa received her B.F.A. in Drama at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Dooley’s graduate thesis, 'Ben is Dead', stars Kaitlyn Black (‘Hart of Dixie’, ‘Raising Hope’) and Marguerite Moreau (‘Wet Hot American Summer’, ‘Queen of the Damned’). 'Ben Is Dead' premiered at the 2017 Carmel International Film Festival.
In 2014, Dooley was approached by producer Mali Elfman to create a 5-minute film for the Fun Size Horror Collective, an online project that gathered 31 horror shorts from dozens of filmmakers to be released online during the month of October. Her short 'Persephone' went on to become one of the project’s best reviewed shorts, and was featured on Shock Till You Drop, Bloody Disgusting, and distributed through Gravitas Ventures on Hulu, iTunes and Amazon.com under the 'Fun Size Horror: Year One' banner. This past Halloween, Lisa paired with Fun Size Horror once again with the release of her homage to ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’, 'Light as a Feather'.
Other short films directed by Dooley have been featured on Cracked.com, Film School Rejects, Funny or Die, and screened at over a dozen film festivals across the country and abroad.
At USC, Dooley adapted and directed Ellen Emerson White's novel 'The Road Home' for her first narrative project. 'The Road Home' was an official selection of Sunscreen West, GI Film Festival, High Falls Film Festival, and the Burbank International Film Festival. While studying at USC, Dooley also served as a student assistant for Everett Lewis, award-winning filmmaker (‘The Natural History of Parking Lots’, ‘An Ambush of Ghosts’) and head of the Directing track, and worked to help increase the representation of women in Guest Director panels hosted at the school.
Dooley is also a founding member of the sketch comedy troupe ‘Pursued by Bear Comedy’. She founded the group with fellow NYU Alumni Kelly Landry and Craig Lee Thomas in 2009.
All too often in social situations a line is crossed. However, what happens next is entirely up to the victim. In a split second they have to craft the perfect response as everyone around them tries to ‘smooth things over' out of the fear of an awkward situation. This movie is about a situation like that. One where there is no good response.
Interestingly enough, when I began to show people early cuts of this film I had two very specific reactions. Female colleagues across the board shared stories of similar instances. Male colleagues, who are ‘woke AF’, responded with ‘she should have done [FILL IN THE BLANK]’. These talented, amazing men all seemed to have the perfect response. Funny how their ideas of a perfect response were all different.
You might not like Jennifer’s choice in my film. I know I don’t. But I think we would all be lying if we didn’t admit at one point in our life we’ve made a similar one. What if it wasn’t left up to the victims to handle a situation? What if we could find our voice for friends who have been struck silent?
-Lisa J Dooley
Writer.Director
‘Silence of Others’