Experiencing Interruptions?

It's a Privilege

A Politically-Correct Woman attempts to poison her Offensive Fiancé.

  • Alex Koebke
    Director
  • Alex Koebke
    Writer
  • Emily Willson-Quayle
    Producer
  • Noëlle Cameron
    Key Cast
    They/Them
  • Kaelyn Cooper
    Key Cast
    Bella and the Bulldogs, Fine Bros. Teens React
  • Will Fritz
    Script Supervisor
    Coke Refreshing Films Competition
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Dark-Comedy, Thriller
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 2, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital (RED RAW)
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.67:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Savannah College of Art and Design
Director Biography - Alex Koebke

Alex Koebke is a writer/director from Northern Virginia. Since he was a young boy, Alex was passionate about telling stories on screen. He even used to carry around VHS tapes instead of stuffed animals. Once enrolled at SCAD, Alex’s productions slowly grew from homegrown movies starring his sisters to budgets of $15K.

To date, Alex has written and directed over half a dozen short films. His official debut short film, Alien, premiered in beloved local arthouse theater, Cinema Arts, before a screening of Tenet (dir. Christopher Nolan). Alex now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, working as a Location Scout, 1st AC, and Video Editor for companies such as the Lifetime Network, Tubi, and E-Line Media. He aspires to direct his first feature in 2024.

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Director Statement

I’ve heard a theory that Double Indemnity (1944) was, at its heart, a love story between the two leading men, Walter Neff and Barton Keyes. Billy Wilder would’ve had to show this carefully given the limitations of the time period, but it’s undeniable that they were in love, with the final lines of the film being the two men saying “I love you.” Whether their love was romantic or not, I’ve always loved the idea of a twisted bisexual love triangle like in Double Indemnity, so with this inkling I wrote It’s a Privilege.

I set out to explore topics regarding class, privilege, race, and political-correctness - buzz words in today’s world, topics so prevalent they just seeped in. I created a cast of characters to act as the different personas I encounter in my day to day life. Robin is a working class woman, trying to pay her way through school to move into a different tax bracket. Daniel is the epitome of ‘finance bro’, an ignorant child of nepotism who wants to be his parents one day, so is obsessed with pleasing them (and floundering at it). Bee is a white, middle class woman who claims to care for greater good, but when push comes to shove only cares for herself. Like everyone else in the story, her heart lies with the money.

I knew what I was setting out to make and what I wanted to say to the world with this film, but the ending always made me apprehensive — will people understand that I am not condoning Bee’s actions and instead attempting to convey the reality of privilege which just falls in the laps of white people, a direct contrast to Robin, a woman of color who is ultimately just a pawn in Bee’s schemes? My worries were eased when I watched Mike White’s first season of The White Lotus, a remarkable study on wealth, class, and privilege in the 21st century. I can only hope It’s a Privilege is able to get the audience to think a fraction as critically on their position within society as that landmark show has done.

There are more ‘Bee’s’ out there than we would like to admit. When she picks up those car keys at the end of the film, she decides to throw her values to the wind and continue her life of excess rather than take responsibility for the injustice that has fallen on Robin, for which she’s partially to blame. All of us, like Bee, might do the same when our money, our possessions, or our privilege is threatened.