Trauma Mines
Two creatively bankrupt filmmakers dig for the perfect true crime story, no matter who it hurts.
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Wes Evans HeidenreichDirector
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Wes Evans HeidenreichWriter
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R.G. HolmProducer
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Wes Evans HeidenreichProducer
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M. Andrew BarreraProducer
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Nicole ElliottKey Cast"Lindsey"The Affair, Panic
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Ashley SalinasKey Cast"Ziggy"
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Trent MooreKey Cast"Stanley"No Country for Old Men, Teeth
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Lesley TeshKey Cast"Mom"Power Rangers Zeo
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Brian VillalobosKey Cast"Quentin"Love & Death, Apollo 10 1/2
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M. Andrew BarreraCinematographerThe Long Game, High Profits
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Drama
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Runtime:11 minutes 59 seconds
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Completion Date:January 16, 2025
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Production Budget:15,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States, United States
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Country of Filming:United States, United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Arri Alexa 35
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Aspect Ratio:1.85
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Wes grew up in a one-stoplight Texas town, and now calls Austin home. What began as telling stories on countryside bus rides to school eventually turned into a full-time career in filmmaking.
Inspired by grounded, intimate stories like Petite Maman, Never Let Me Go, and Before Sunrise, Wes has been writing & directing for over a decade under Icarus Burning Productions and is now looking to make his mark at the next level in narrative shorts and features.
I have mixed feelings on the true crime genre, at least more mixed than my film will indicate. There’s incredible investigative journalism that has done what good journalism should do: challenge the system and those with power while being informative to viewers and promoting introspection. Projects like “In the Dark”, and “Thin Blue Line” spring to mind.
However, there seems to be another approach. One that aims at titillation and exploitation. A cheap route for storytellers to mine tragedy and regurgitate trauma in lieu of the hard work it takes to craft a new original story. Perhaps the fault is in the hunger of the masses for this content, but that’s for another film. In this film I want to inspect the motives and tactics that go into true crime stories, and the impact it may have on the survivors.
My goal isn’t actually to condemn anyone, it’s to provoke conversation, introspection, and challenge those who tell these stories.