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BETTER SAFE THAN SONNY

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Poster Original - Better Safe Than Sonny
Credits

Cast

Sonia - Charlotte Wittmann

Sonny - Freddie Maas

The Landlady - Bettina Skye

Produced by

The Cremer Brothers & Grace Soriano

Written & Directed by

Grace Soriano

Director of Photography

Joe Cremer

Boom Operator

Herb Cremer

Music by

Chris Christiana

Additional casting provided by Breakdown Services

The filmmakers would like to thank Melissa Malone

A late night encounter with a stranger is not what it seems.

Trailer

Director's Statement (Grace Soriano)

The second in a trilogy of short films, Better Safe Than Sonny was my second venture into writing/directing. I 

wanted to tell a horror story where the suspected antagonist appeared threatening, but was genuinely benign. My intent for the audience was for them to groan in disappointment at the end when Sonny did not in fact kill anyone.

Many challenges arose during production. The film was supposed to be shot in the summer prior to my college classes resuming, but a schedule could not be worked out. It was then filmed during my semester, forcing us to only shoot on weekends. The initial filming location fell through and we had to scramble to get a new location. As a result, we had to recast the role of Sonia. In order to save time, many shots were combined into long, tracking shots. The entire production had to be rushed in order to meet our deadline.

There was a minor, but memorable incident where the neighbor called the police on us while filming and there was a long back and forth between us and the homeowner confirming we did have permission to film at that location. The police car light interrupted filming, but we were able to carry on without incident.

The film turned out differently than the screenplay due to the limitations that presented themselves during the production. This was my first professional short film outside of college projects so the experience I gained from this film was invaluable.

Screenings & Official Selections
2020 Brightside Tavern Film Festival - O
2020 Hudson Valley Film Festival - Offic
2020 Sin City Horror Fest -  Official Se
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2020 Independent Horror Movie  Awards -
2020 Horror Movie Awards - Semi-Finalist
2021 Deaths Parade Film Fest -  April Sc
2021 Hang Onto Your Shorts Film  Festiva
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2021 Upstate NY Horror Film  Festival - Official Selection.png
2021 New Jersey Horror Con and Film  Festival - Official Selection.png
Awards & Nominations
2020 Brightside Tavern Film Festival - N
2020 Brightside Tavern Film Festival - N
2020 Independent Horror Movie  Awards -
2020 Independent Horror Movie  Awards -
2020 Horror Movie Awards - Bronze -  Honorable Mention.png
2021 International Horror Hotel FF - Winner - Third Place.png

Production Information

Year of Production
Duration
Genre
Camera
Ratio
Language
Budget
Filming Locations
2019
5:00
Horror
Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro​
2:35:1
English
$795.40
Vernon, NJ, USA
Warwick, NY, USA
Photo Gallery
Facts

The first day of filming took place on August 31, 2019. The second and final day of filming was on September 14, 2019, wrapping just after 1:00AM on September 15, 2019.

Bettina Skye reprised her role as the Landlady from A Tall Drink of Walter.

The novel that Sonia is reading is the science-fiction thriller, The Plutonian Conspiracy  written by the rap artist Ludacris. The book is entirely made up and based on a dream that writer/director, Grace Soriano, had.

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