Andy arrives! photo by Cary Judd
Hello friends, dear fans thanks for being here!
ABOUT ANDY the latest short film we made is here for you to watch and hopefully enjoy. I wrote the script as a pretty serious, thought provoking film about where we are and where we are going in our little human lives. The budget was modest – the cast and crew terrific. Oh – the joy of making these small films with special talented people, who love what they are doing!
Austin Von Johnson plays Andy. Austin is immensely talented actor, who does great stand-up, as well as his acting career ( I wouldn’t dare). Mike Tetro – renaissance man directed, Jake Rapp who gave the film such a beautiful look, was our cinematographer. Cary Judd, another renaissance man of many talents, lent us his Black Magic camera, which he nursed through the shoot, wrote the music and took wonderful photographs, Nyk Fry yet another renaissance man, who edited the final cut and created the dream sequence. Will talk a bit more about them and others in the crew in next blog.
Rehearsing “About Andy”
Mike Tetro Director “About Andy” photo by Cary Judd
Andy and Anne’s story has been on my mind for a long time – this is really a beginning of a story, so far without a conclusion. Artificial Intelligence is filling our lives more and more – how many of you have Alexa? Are you interacting with her, asking her to ‘perform’ simple tasks….”Alexa switch on the lights “, “Alexa play some music ” etc. Alexa will know what music, you like!
What if Alexa was Andy and had a human form…well my friends, this is the reality and it is here. Robots are already working in factories, there are robot pets and soon there will be robot care workers, nurses and more. And – the human form is so much more recognisable and comforting than the mechanical forms we are seeing – the current appearance of Artificial Intelligence.
Cary Judd on his Black Magic Camera
The other aspect I wanted to touch on in the film is loneliness, which the British Prime Minister called the next big epidemic. So many people are more and more living lonely, isolated lives. It is not confined to old people – the usual stereotype…there are many lonely, young and middle aged people out there too – isolated a lot by technology, by loss of a loved one, a pet or just having no-one of real significance in their lives. This modern life style was designed to simplify our lives make it easier, instead it is overloading us with “stuff” and cutting us off.
The frantic pace is not new: many years ago Wordsworth wrote: “What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?”
Jane with Danyale Cook/ Makeup
The future is here, for better or worse. A friendly robot with a human face can be your best friend or your worst enemy. This is a story without an end in sight. So – welcome, friends to the world of Andy and Anne…a tiny slice of our human story……watch and please comment.
Andy and Anne from “About Andy”
