The Invite
A man staggers into a mid-life abyss when he gets a surprise wedding invitation from his ex-wife, and childhood sweetheart, who had recently left him unexpectedly after 30 years. The Invite is a comic odyssey about love, loss, and flipping out.
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Mark CornellDirector
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Mark CornellWriter
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Mark CornellProducer
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Mark JantzenProducer
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Mark CornellKey Cast"Mark Williams"
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Melissa LozoffKey Cast"Amy"
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Mark JantzenKey Cast"James"
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Heather ShoreKey Cast"Heather"
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Paul NewellKey Cast"Paul"
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John Paul MiddlesworthKey Cast"Robber/Cop"
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Ruth KravitzKey Cast"Ruth"
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:Comedy, Romance
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Runtime:1 hour 49 minutes
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Completion Date:June 17, 2023
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Production Budget:15,000 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:1.85:1
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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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Seattle Film FestivalSeattle, WA
United States
May 25, 2024
Mark Cornell is a playwright, director, screenwriter, and filmmaker. Over 90 of his plays have been produced in theatres around the world, including the Sprucehaven B with Rising Sun Performance Company in NYC, On Pine Knoll Street (AACT NewWorksFest 2020 winner) at The Sauk, and The Other Half, which won the 2019 Charles Getchell Award at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC. His short plays have won numerous awards, including the LW Thomas Award for Bad Thing at Theatre Oxford, Best Playwright at Pittsburgh New Works Festival and Best Script at the City Theatre of Independence for Story Road, and the Short and Sweet Award in Brisbane, Australia for The Rental Company. Mark has written, produced, and directed numerous short films, including A House in Los Osos; The Camera, which won Best Script at the Carrboro Film Festival, and, with Marked Men Films, Until the End of Time, Apollo and Artemis, and Hysterical Strength with Mark Jantzen. He recently collaborated with Paul Newell on a feature-length film called The Fog, which he wrote and stars in. He has an MFA in playwriting and a BA in English and Creative Writing from UCLA.
The Invite is a film I started at home alone when I got a wedding invite while being sick with the flu. I grabbed my iPhone and, using filmic pro, just started filming myself freaking out around the house. I concocted a story around the invite and just had fun being crazy. I had no intention of turning it into a feature until one day, about six months later, I had 30 minutes of a one-man comedy that seemingly had no end. Four years, and two iPhones later, I had a sprawling comic odyssey with 25 other characters. It was some kind of ride. I did a private screening for cast and crew and friends at a local theater in June of 2023, and the response was overwhelming. "When are you going to send this out into the world, Mark?" Well, now, I guess.