Private Project

The Gardener

The flowers needed sunshine, but he plants with darkness.

The Gardener

A film-noir horror film about a gardener who tends to his flowers amidst an increasing amount of disappearances of women in the area.

Log-line:
A loner contracted to create and maintain very specific kinds of gardens seeks peace in the one place he designs best. A mysterious woman disturbs his seclusion. Who is she?

Synopsis:
A contracted killer lives a secluded life mostly tending to the flowers in his garden that reflect the names of the women he has killed and ‘planted’ as fertilizer. A mysterious woman disturbs his solitude. A apparition of one of his kills confronting him about his actions.

  • Yuval David
    Director
    Wonderfully Made, One Actor Short, Betaloop
  • Yuval David
    Writer
  • Barbara Distinti
    Writer
  • Yuval David Productions
    Producer
    One Actor Short, Wonderfully Made, Betaloop, Beautiful
  • Connecticut Filmworks
    Producer
  • Yuval David
    Key Cast
    "Robin Laurel"
    What Would You Do, The Michael J Fox Show, Unforgettable, Plot Against America, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Days of Our Lives
  • Emily Santarsiero
    Key Cast
    "Susan"
  • Barbara Distinti
    Key Cast
    "Reporter"
  • Christian Szokolay
    Editor
  • Evan Olson
    Cinematographer
  • David Distinti
    Sound
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 2, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Super 35 2.8K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 48 hour film project

    Best Director, Best Sound. Runner-up Best Film, Runner-up Best Actor.
Director Biography - Yuval David

YUVAL DAVID BIOGRAPHY

Yuval David is an innovative actor, host, and filmmaker with a creative mantra to entertain, uplift, and inspire. He is a captivating performer and compelling storyteller who uses his platform for sharing narratives that affect social change, specifically on behalf of highly respected US and international organizations that raise awareness for the marginalized and under-represented, inspired by his LGBTQ + and Jewish identity, and his Israeli-American roots.

As an actor, Yuval plays major roles in short form and full-length feature film, television, theatre, web, digital media, and voice overs. These include, “What Would You Do” (ABC), “Madam Secretary” (CBS), “The Michael J Fox Show” (NBC), “Beauty and the Beast” (Disney), in addition to productions with HBO, Comedy Central, Dreamworks, AFI, and theatres across the globe.
As a TV Host/Presenter, Yuval focuses on societal, humanitarian, and entertainment programming.
As a filmmaker, Yuval produces, directs, and writes short and feature films, documentaries, web-series, digital and TV content, including the award winning episodic series, ‘One Actor Short,’ ‘Pranks of Kindness,’ ‘Better World with Yuval David,’ ‘What Makes You Beautiful,’ and numerous other web series.

Yuval’s exceptional work has been screened at and taken home nearly 50 awards from international film festivals, including The Big Apple Film Festival, New York International Film Festival, NewFilmmakers Film Festival, NYC Independent Film Festival, Hollywood Just4Shorts Film Festival, Top Shorts Film Festival, Vegas CineFest International Film Festival, IndieFest, Accolade Global, American Picture, Atlanta Film Festival, and Global Webisode Festival.

Inspired by his Jewish and Israeli-American roots, Yuval advocates for all marginalized communities through his creative work and social action, including the Israeli Consulate, the Shoah Foundation, the Jewish National Fund (JNF), Keren Kayemet, Stand With Us, A Wider Bridge, The Aguda, American Israel Cultural Foundation, Chabad, the Jewish Learning Institute, and other organizations. Yuval is frequently invited to host, MC, and speak on behalf of cultural, humanitarian, philanthropic, social and political initiatives and institutions. In 2018, he hosted Israel’s 70th Anniversary Celebration in Times Square in front of 30,000 live eventgoers and millions of viewers around the world.

Yuval is frequently invited to host, MC, and speak on behalf of countless cultural, humanitarian, philanthropic, social and political initiatives and institutions. He has become a go-to host and narrator for short- and long-form video content and documentary features for Jewish, Israeli, LGBTQ, Arts, Cultural and Humanitarian Organizations and Initiatives, including The National LGBTQ Task Force, the Jewish National Fund (JNF USA), and Stand With Us.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The award for ‘Best Director’ went to celebrated actor, host, and filmmaker Yuval David for his work The Gardener from this year’s 48 Hour Film Project.

Yuval directed, co-wrote and co-produced, and acted in the lead role in the short film, made in collaboration with Connecticut FilmWorks. This film-noir horror film tells the story of Robin Laurel, a disturbed horticulturist haunted by the gardens he can’t help but cultivate, and the spirits who reside in them.

The Gardener follows Yuval’s previous award-winning short films, including The BetaLoop and House of Fury, as well as his original episodic digital series, “One Actor Short,” which has been invited to be screened at dozens of festivals over the last few months, and has also taken home a number of awards.

In addition to his award for ‘Best Director’ from the 48 Hour Film Project - New Haven, CT, Yuval and his film The Gardener were also presented with awards for ‘Best Sound Design’ and runner-up for 2020’s Best Film.

Shot during the pandemic and following all guidelines, Yuval leveraged his ability to handle various elements of production while directing his cast and crew, to turn out a film in only 48 hours. He did this while following all of the stringent guidelines of social distancing.

The Gardener has also received a slew of nominations, including for ‘Best Actor,’ ‘Best Actress,’ ‘Best SFX,’ ‘Best Writing,’ ‘Best Cinematography,’ and ‘Best Editing.’

Barbara Distinti co-wrote the film with Yuval, and Emily Santarsiero and Distinti acted alongside him in it. Teresa Pellicano served as associate producer, Evan Olson served as cinematographer, David Distinti was the audio mixer, and Christian Szokolay was the editor.

In addition to his recent awards from 48 Hour Film Project, his body of exceptional work, including his series ‘One Actor Short,’ has been screened at and taken home dozens of awards from international film festivals, including The Big Apple Film Festival, NewFilmmakers Film Festival, NYC Independent Film Festival, Hollywood Just4Shorts Film Festival, Top Shorts Film Festival, Vegas CineFest International Film Festival, IndieFest, Accolade Global Film Festival, Best Shorts Film Festival, New York Lift-Off Film Festival, American Golden Picture Film Festival, European Cinematography Awards, Indie Short Fest, New York Film Awards, Independent Shorts Awards, A Rebel Minded Festival, Kosice International Film Festival, Prague International Film Festival, and Wallachia International Film Festival.

His other work includes his series ‘Better World with Yuval David,’ ‘What Makes You Beautiful,’ ‘What Are You Good At,’ ‘Pranks of Kindness,’ and his more thought-provoking and experimental content.

Yuval also hosts, directs, and produces content focused on food and culinary arts, travel, and the arts.

The 48 Hour Film Project is a yearly film competition in which teams of filmmakers are assigned different elements of making a film, and have only 48 hours to see it to completion.

All of his content can be located by visiting his YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/YuvalDavid.

For more on Yuval David, visit https://yuvaldavid.com, or his other social media channels at the following:

For more on Yuval, follow and subscribe:
Instagram.com/Yuval_David_
YouTube.com/YuvalDavid
Facebook.com/YuvalDavid
Twitter.com/YuvalDavid