Las Vegas Weekly

June 10, 2008 · 1:06 PM

From UNLV to CineVegas in 48 hours flat

By Jennifer Grafiada

Actors Michael Triana (left) and Matthew Webb with Crystal Meeks at the first screening of "Interruption," her 48-hour film.

Running around town with a camera, crew and a looming 48-hour deadline, approximately 30,000 amateur filmmakers in 55 cities created short films for the 2007 48-Hour Film Project. Starting Friday evening, they had exactly 48 hours to write, shoot, edit and score their short films, which screened at local theaters the following week where they were scored by the audience and a panel of judges.

In each city the competition dictated specific elements that had to be incorporated into each movie: a character, a line of dialogue, a prop, and a genre. In Las Vegas these were a collector, the line “There isn’t anything like it,” a billiard ball and in the case of UNLV student Crystal Meeks the genre film de femme.

Meeks, who is also president of an independent film productions company and an aspiring screenwriter and director, won the Las Vegas 2007 48-Hour Film Project. Her eight-minute film, Interruption, about how an older lady’s addiction to collecting junk threatens to take over her house and destroy her family, received the Audience Award, Best Use of Character, Best Acting and Best of the City. It went on to represent Las Vegas in the national competition, Filmapalooza, and will be shown at the Brenden Theaters at the Palms on Tuesday, June 17th as part of the UNLV showcase at CineVegas 2008.

Describe the experience of having to make a film in only 48 hours:

You run on adrenaline and caffeine, totally on the fly, and you have to pull from nowhere. It’s all heart. It’s pure passion for making films.

Do you prefer having such a tight deadline or having all the time in the world to film?

I prefer the 48-hour deadline because you have to be good. At the end of it, you have something to show and be proud of. With a regular timeline, you never really finish the film and just abandon it.

How did you come up with the concept behind Interruption?

We had to use the character of a collector. We decided to go to the extreme and have a compulsive collector that needs an intervention. The fun is to try to take the random things they give you and to build a story around them and run with that.

How did your concept for the film evolve as the filming progressed?

It started off as a drama and turned into a comedy. I got great ideas from my actors—two of them were cousins and interacted very well—and I just ran with them. We all laugh together and figure out what’s funny.

Do you have a preferred genre?

I like horror and film noir as well as comedy. I like the extremes: really dark and really funny.

You used many of your family members as actors and film crew. Is the love of film something that runs in your family?

My dad is really, really supportive. He always wanted to make films, and so he does everything possible to help me, and he funds many of my projects. My sister is an animation student at UNLV, and she wants to work with me later in making animation films. My mom was game to play the old lady in the film, and did an excellent job. She works really well with me. My little brother stepped right up. He was in a lot of my short films and really enjoyed it. I have a very supportive family.

Is there a strong community of independent filmmakers in Las Vegas?

I think it’s growing every day. We have some really, really talented people here. It’s a great place to start out and get your feet wet. UNLV has some great people. We definitely help each other, but there is always the underlying competition aspect of it.

What are your plans for CineVegas 2008?

I am excited to see Hi, My Name is Ryan, about the little boy, and Happy Birthday Harris Malden. I’m going to the Beatles Revolution Lounge party and the Vintage Vegas drive-in party downtown. They gave us a couple of tickets for being emerging filmmakers.

Tell me about your company, Crystal Cleer Productions.

We are an independent film production company. We work with local filmmakers and try to help them as much as possible. Currently, we are working on my new film, Blood Pool. To keep costs down, we are based out of my home and I use my cell phone.

Tell me about your new movie, Blood Pool.

It’s my first noir film. It has a female lead, and it’s about her internal struggle with what she has done and trying to remember what she has done. She may have murdered someone but can’t remember. It’s in pre-production right now. I’ll enter it in local film festivals such as the Boulder Dam Festival, CineVegas 2009 and Underground Vegas. Doing it helps me to keep practicing. I was so caught up in it that I was unable to participate in this year’s 48-hour film festival, although I really wanted to.

What are your career plans?

I graduate from UNLV in the fall (with a BA in film), and I hope to go to grad school somewhere in California. I want to move to L.A. I love mainstream Hollywood movies. That’s what I want to make: family films, comedy – movies for everyone to enjoy.

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