| Deviant | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Benjamin Howard |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Alex Niknejad |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Tyler Rivera Stein |
| Distributed by | Omeleto |
Release date |
|
Running time | 10 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,500 |
Deviant is a 2018 drama short film directed by Benjamin Howard and written by Howard and James Hall. The film stars Rudy Pankow, Mike Burnell, Krystina Montemurro and Court Rutter.
In the 1960s, a sexually conflicted teenager escapes the tortures of electrotherapeutic conversion therapy to find hope and acceptance.
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(July 2023) |
The project is Howard's undergraduate capstone film [2] made at San Diego State University in the spring of 2017. [3] He said "Deviant takes a young teenager, whose sexual preference comes into direct conflict with his faith and family." [4] In scouting locations for the church, members of the production visited numerous LGBT-friendly churches in the San Diego area.[ citation needed ] Several turned down the production due to the script's mature themes.[ citation needed ] The church sequences were eventually filmed at Kensington Community Church, in San Diego.[ citation needed ]
Deviant premiered on June 9, 2018 at Dances with Films. [1] It went on to screen at Outfest, HollyShorts Film Festival, [5] Cleveland International Film Festival, [6] Nashville Film Festival, [7] GI Film Festival San Diego [8] [9] [10] and San Diego International Film Festival. [11] The film was distributed by Omeleto on April 20, 2020. It has amassed over a quarter-million views since its release online. [12]
| | This section needs additional citations for verification .(July 2023) |
Before the film's festival premiere, Howard was recognized with an award for Best Directing at San Diego State's Emerging Filmmakers Showcase in the spring semester, 2017.[ citation needed ] In 2019, Deviant received a Student Emmy Award [13] at the Pacific Southwest Chapter for National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. [14]
The film received more than 20 awards and nominations over the year and a half it played on the festival circuit, including several for Pankow and Howard, for acting and directing, respectively.[ citation needed ] Howard used the film as part of his application to UCLA film school, and was admitted into the program in 2018.[ citation needed ]
| List of awards and nominations | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Festival | Year | Award | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
| Pacific Southwest Emmy Award | 2019 | Student Programming - Short Form | Deviant | Won | [14] |
| Fine Cut Festival of Films | 2019 | Best Student Film | Deviant | Nominated | [15] |
| San Diego Film Awards | 2019 | Best Narrative Short Film | Benjamin Howard | Won | |
| Best Direction: Narrative Short Film | Benjamin Howard | Won | |||
| Best Cinematography: Narrative Short Film | Alex Niknejad | Won | |||
| Best Production Design: Narrative Short Film | Phuong Truong | Won | |||
| Best Editing: Narrative Short Film | Benjamin Howard | Nominated | |||
| James Hall | Nominated | ||||
| Best Costume: Narrative Short Film | Alejandra Guerrero | Nominated | |||
| Prison City Film Festival | 2019 | The Captain's Award (Best Director) | Benjamin Howard | Won | [16] |
| The C.O. Award (U.S. Narrative Short) | Benjamin Howard | Nominated | |||
| James Hall | Nominated | ||||
| Ricardo Osuna | Nominated | ||||
| The Major's Award (Narrative Short - Best Actor) | Rudy Pankow | Nominated | |||
| The Major's Award (Narrative Short - Best Supporting Actor) | Court Rutter | Nominated | |||
| The Desk Boss Award (Best in Genre: Drama) | Benjamin Howard | Nominated | |||
| James Hall | Nominated | ||||
| Ricardo Osuna | Nominated | ||||
| U.S. Short Film Award (Best Overall Submission) | Benjamin Howard | Nominated | |||
| James Hall | Nominated | ||||
| Ricardo Osuna | Nominated | ||||
| Humboldt International Film Festival | 2019 | Honorable Mention for Acting | Rudy Pankow | Won | [17] |
| Court Rutter | Won | ||||
| Krystina Montemurro | Won | ||||
| Mike Burnell | Won | ||||
| San Diego Film Week | 2019 | Jury Award | Benjamin Howard | Won | |
Raphael Sbarge is an American actor and filmmaker. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Jake Straka on The Guardian (2001–04), Jiminy Cricket / Dr. Archibald Hopper on Once Upon a Time (2011–18) and Inspector David Molk on the TNT series Murder in the First (2014–16). He is also known for voicing Carth Onasi in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), RC-1262 / "Scorch" in Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005) and Kaidan Alenko in the Mass Effect trilogy (2007–12).
The GI Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on military and veteran experiences, held in San Diego, California. Films featured in the festival reveal the struggles, triumphs, and experiences of service members and veterans.
The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival in San Diego, California, produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Quarter, La Jolla, and Balboa Park.
Jodi Cilley is an American college professor and film producer known for founding Film Consortium San Diego and San Diego Film Awards.
Brian Patrick Butler is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He is known for writing and directing the film Friend of the World (2020), writing and performing in the film Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2023), and appearing in the films South of 8 (2016), Thane of East County (2015) and We All Die Alone (2021).
Alex Stapleton is an American director, showrunner, and executive producer of documentary feature films and unscripted television.
We All Die Alone is a 2021 American dark comedy short film directed by Jonathan Hammond and written by Hammond and Ryan Roach. It stars Brian Patrick Butler, Frank DiPalermo, Suzana Norberg and Alexandra Slade. The film premiered in 2021 at the FilmOut San Diego LGBT Film Festival in San Diego, California. It has screened at festivals such as Sidewalk Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, San Diego International Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival and won awards at Burbank International Film Festival, Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, GI Film Festival, Oceanside International Film Festival and Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema. The film was distributed by Omeleto and Film Shortage on their YouTube channels.
Jefferson Stein is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his 2021 film Burros, executive produced by Eva Longoria, which premiered at the 20th Annual Tribeca Film Festival and won the Jury Award in the Live Action Short category at the 25th Annual New York International Children's Film Festival, where it qualified for the 95th Annual Academy Awards.
Aimee Suzanne La Joie is an American actress, photographer, videographer and model best known for the viral video The Film Crew and parodies of Home Town, MasterChef, Queer Eye, and Say Yes to the Dress. She stars in the films Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2023) and Freedom, Wisconsin (2023), and appears in the films Buy Roses for Me (2019), Perfect People (2017), and Refuge (2017).
A Rodeo Film is a 2019 American drama short film written and directed by Darius Dawson and produced by Ryan Binse. The film was released on HBO Max on February 2, 2021.
Our Barrio is a 2016 drama short film directed by Ryan Casselman and written by Casselman and Yvette Angulo. The film stars Angulo, Rick Mancia, Francisco Javier Gomez, Andrea Sevilla and Robby Perez. The film screened at Palm Springs International ShortFest and won awards at Oceanside International Film Festival and Riverside International Film Festival. It was distributed by Indieflix.
Love All You Have Left is a 2017 drama film written and directed by Matt Sivertson. The film stars Caroline Amiguet, Sara Wolfkind, Michael Christopher Shantz, Mike Burnell and Kathleen Sheehy. The story depicts Anne Frank surviving in the attic of a grieving family.
Jonathan Hammond is an American film director, film editor, screenwriter and film producer who directed the films Expect A Miracle: Finding Light in the Darkness of a Pandemic (2020), Isabel (2018), Kathy (2018) and We All Die Alone (2021). Hammond won the Copper Wing Award for short film directing at the Phoenix Film Festival and received multiple nominations for a Pacific Southwest Emmy Award at National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Hush is a 2016 horror drama short film written and directed by Michael Lewis Foster. The film stars Rachel Barker, Luke Bedsole, Eric Casalini and Ghadir Mounib. It screened at San Diego International Film Festival and Catalina Film Festival and won awards at Oceanside International Film Festival and Horrible Imaginings Film Festival. The film was distributed by Seed&Spark and Bloody Disgusting.
Ryan William Binse is an American film producer and United States Navy veteran who produced the films A Rodeo Film (2019), South of 8 (2016), We All Die Alone (2021) and was a line producer for the film The Baby Pact (2021). He served in the U.S. Navy from 2005–2016 before seeking a career in film production through UCLA Extension and AFI Conservatory.
Tony Olmos is a Mexican-American filmmaker and musician who is the creator of the films Continuance (2021) and South of 8 (2016), and directed Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2023), Fletcher and Jenks (2016) and Pulp Friction (2021). He was awarded Best Dramatic Screenplay at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival in 2016 and received several nominations at the GI Film Festival San Diego in 2017.
Beth Gallagher is an American actress who starred in the play To Fall in Love (2017) and the 2023 film adaptation of the same name. She portrayed Amelia Earhart in a stage production and Shelley Duvall in a parody short film. Gallagher was nominated for Best Actress at the 2017 GI Film Festival San Diego and won Best Actress in a Lead Role at the 13th Oceanside International Film Festival in 2024.
Benjamin Howard is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer and film editor who is known for the films Deviant (2018), Rendezvous (2021), and Riley (2023).
