Elon University alumnus Dean Coots '13 has been making waves with his short film “Break the Night,” formerly known as “Street Picasso.”
The student-produced film was selected out of more than 200 others to receive funding for the Sprite Refreshing Films competition earlier this year. Now, the film is one of four finalists competing for the winning spot, which will be revealed soon after voting concluded Aug. 31.
Coots said the competition is a great opportunity for himself, his crew and the university.
“Eighteen schools participated in the Sprite competition,” he said. “All students from these schools were eligible to submit a 60-second script. Students submitted their script — without their name or school on it — an estimated budget, a storyboard and a signature from their faculty adviser. Sprite picked four finalists — all from different schools — who received a $15,000 budget. With that money, the finalists put a team together and produced their 60-second spots.”
When making the film, Coots said he sought to use a concept called process art — a technique he learned while studying abroad in London.
“This is when the process behind the finished product is more important than the finished product itself,” he said. “The artist wants the audience to focus on the process behind their work instead of the piece that ultimately is displayed.”
After a hectic schedule of writing, casting, location changes and production, “Break the Night” was filmed in late April and was selected as one of the four finalists in May.
Coots said he was not alone in this endeavor. When shooting the film, he worked with a crew that consisted of more than a dozen Elon communications students, who worked relentlessly as producers, camera operators, lighting technicians and more.
But once the final cut of the film was submitted, it was up to its public relations directors to help get the word out and encourage people to vote.
The directors said they sought to spread awareness mainly through the film's Facebook page, according to public relations director and Elon senior Rebecca Rubin, and they worked hard during the summer to reach people outside of the Elon student body.
“We have relied heavily on Facebook to reach our fans during their summer breaks and remind them to vote, but in as many creative ways as possible,” Rubin said. “Our crew created a personal video asking for votes, and members of our crew have designed awesome, intriguing pictures and posters for us to post. We even got support from local businesses around Elon — such as Moe’s Triad and All That Jas — to post on their Facebook pages asking their fans to support us.”
Despite the efforts of his team, a problem surfaced for Coots while campaigning to receive votes. After months of hard work and advertising, he had to change the name of the film.
“Originally it was titled ‘Street Picasso’ — a title we all really loved,” he said. “But shortly before our final submission, we got word from Sprite’s legal team that we couldn’t use the word ‘Picasso’ (for copyright reasons). Changing the title wasn’t a huge deal for us and now it feels like it was never not titled ‘Break the Night.’”
[quote]We have relied heavily on Facebook to reach our fans during their summer breaks and remind them to vote, but in as many creative ways as possible. — senior Rebecca Rubin, 'Break the Night' public relations director[/quote]
If “Break the Night” wins the competition, Elon's School of Communications will receive $5,000, and Coots, along with some of his crew members, will have the opportunity to go to the American Film Institute Festival in November in Los Angeles. In addition, Coots will have the opportunity to receive a contract with the Coca-Cola Company for $30,000.
“Break the Night” and other finalists can be found on Sprite's website. At press time, Elon's film was in second place, but according to Coots, every vote counts.