Fly Trap
A day in the life of Tilly Masterson (beauty pageant award-winning actress Emma Silen) as she struggles to plan her college graduation party -- and the sexual conquests and Daddies who come along for the ride.
A short film from award-winning director Christopher Kelley.
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Christopher KelleyDirectorAn American Girl, Children at Play, Inserti( )n, Little Men (Ira Sachs), Tango Shalom (Gabriel Bologna), Fair Haven (Kerstin Karlhuber)
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Christopher KelleyWriterAn American Girl, Children at Play, Inserti( )n, Little Men (Ira Sachs), Tango Shalom (Gabriel Bologna), Fair Haven (Kerstin Karlhuber)
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Alex VassilakosProducerThe Ivies
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Emma SilenKey CastAn American Girl, Office Hours, 2014 Pepsi Halftime Show
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Rob HuntKey CastHe Miss Road
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Bruce ManslideDirector of PhotographyInserti( )n, He Miss Road
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Project Type:Experimental, Short, Student
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Genres:Romance, Drama, Erotic, Thriller, Dance
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Runtime:14 minutes 20 seconds
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Completion Date:January 1, 2016
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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, French
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Shooting Format:Digital, VHS, 4K
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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:Yes
Writer/Director Christopher Kelley was born on August 10, 1994 and was raised by loving parents. He discovered film at an early age through watching "James Bond" marathons on late-night television.
Now studying at Ithaca College, Kelley is the art director for acclaimed-LGBTQ+ director Cathy Lee Crane's new narrative feature, "The Manhattan Front" as well as being the 2015-2016 recipient of the David Ames Production Award. He has previously worked on Sundance-award winning films and other stalwart independent media projects throughout the new millennium.
Previously, Kelley was the personal assistant to Oscar-nominated actress Renée Taylor, as well as having professional experience in production managing, costume coordination, makeup and vfx, and art direction.
When I was five years old, my father first showed me “Goldfinger,” and I became obsessed with everything James Bond. The film series is completely representative of the unobtainable — I will never make something as good as “Goldfinger,” but it still is one of my biggest inspirations. Thusly, it becomes something like a negative feedback loop: in my quest to recreate and improve upon the methods first explored by "Goldfinger," I am unable to make something as perfect as that film. This, then, causes me to change, create something new, reinvent why I liked “Goldfinger” in the first place.
This summer, I worked on two films in New York City. I lived part-time with the boyfriend of a very popular gay porn star. The prevalence of gay pornography memorabilia and my interest in James Bond — and, then, through extension, my interest in hyper masculinity as a cinema construct — began my almost-three-month writing quest in structuring my senior thesis, “Fly Trap.”
Personally, I currently see cinema as a lackluster necessity. The concept that a blockbuster MUST be watched bothers me. I think the studio system is a little out of control in their control over pumping out film after film after film (i.e. Marvel Studios). It’s exhausting. The spectacle has been replaced with boredom. Few blockbusters have been able to capture my attention like “Spring Breakers” or “Black Swan.” I would like to change this: taking elements from blockbusters (i.e. my interest in James Bond and similar types of cinema) and adding depth to them. I think that “Fly Trap” takes the femme fatale elements of the spy / noir genre and develops them past pastiche. It also takes the 3D elements from standard blockbusters (and films that are needlessly converted into 3D to bring in extra ticket sales) and adds depth to that cliché as well.
Conversely, I’m very interested in the studio structure of the modern pornographic image. I think it’s very interesting that a couple men decide what is hot and what isn't and then make films about what’s “hot” — and that trend trickles down from amateur porn to the consumer. These couple of men also then construct the fetish de jour.
At the end of the day, I wanted to make something that I was proud of. My mother always jokes that I’ve never made a film that she could see, but I don’t think that’s the point. Too many times, I see people change their films or their vision to fit what interests other people (and I know that I’ve done this after a particularly bad critique, too). I wanted my thesis to reflect my experiences and the way that I see the cinematic world. I don’t think anyone else could have made a similar film to “Fly Trap.”