The Beginning
Scumberland Productions came to fruition in the summer of 2004 but its history spans nearly two decades. Its origins started in the spring of 1991 when Chris L. and Mickey H. were assigned a project in their Spanish 3 class to create a commercial in En Espanol.
“He caído y no puedo levantarme!”
These were the first words captured on a video camera that probably weighed more than them at the time. The grade for the final product as well as the footage itself has since been lost, but even to this day both of them shutter when the memory of taking turns throwing themselves down a flight of steps returns. Little did either of them realize at the time that this would be a passion they would end up pursuing nearly twenty years into the future.
By 1999 Mickey had graduated from Holy Family College with a BA in Psychology after she had relocated to the city of brotherly love. Chris remained in the wilds of South Jersey as she finished up her degree at Rutgers University concentrating on 3d animation. During the last two semesters Chris enrolled in a couple filmmaking classes. The result was two shorts: Operation Desert Daughter and The Cannibal.
Operation Desert Daughter was a black and white silent film about two special forces agents dropped behind enemy lines to recover the love child of President Bill Clinton and Barbara Streisand. The Cannibal was a spoof of the then popular show Survivor. The only difference was each time someone was voted off of the island they fell prey to the cannibal. Each short took nearly the entire semester to create and on one occasion an extension allowed to wrap up post production.
There was another lull in filmmaking between 2002 and 2004 when both decided to pursue other interests (mainly paying off student loans to keep the man off of their backs). It was in the middle of 2004 that both Scumberland.com was registered as a bona fide website and the first film was shot under the Scumberland Productions banner. Fun with Earle was a silent dark comedy about the rigors of life as a funeral director. It took nearly 2 years to complete this shot (Something they don’t care to admit to).
In the beginning of 2007 Chris pimped herself out to a crew based out of Wilmington Delaware as a third string editor for the 48HFP Philadelphia. It was during production of Closing Costs that the interest in filmmaking was revitalized once more. It also helped that the crew of AWPP picked up awards for ‘Best Screenplay’ and ‘Best Acting’. Within two months Scumberland Productions was throwing their hat into the Baltimore challenge. Willow Lane was their first film in the arena. The other film that was created that year was S1NGLE.
2008 was another turning point for Scumberland Productions. It was the first time they created a documentary for the International Documentary Challenge; Wings of Change: The Men of Tuskegee. Two shorts were shot in Washington DC as part of the Travel Channel’s Film Academy; Barbershop Babel and Irish you were here. In Case of Possession was the short entered for the 48HFP Philadelphia that went on to win ‘Best Costumes’. By November the first music video, The Moment was shot for ‘The Codeword’.
Already in the can is a short documentary for The Codeword entitled Decode as well as the short Portrait (will was screened at the Octaedro Film Festival in Quito Ecuador fall 2009).
Portrait was initially completed for the 2009 48HFP Philadelphia competition and screened at the International House in Philadelphia. More information on the short can be found at IMDb. It is now available for viewing on their site.
Our most recent short Bluff is currently doing the independent film circuit and more information will become available once screenings are announced.
We have several projects in development currently; Two music videos (Zombie themed & Indian themed) , several full length narratives (Letzt Vom Abwehr, eStalker & The Harvest).
Also we are currently in Pre-production for the Documentary: 'JUNCT: The Trashing of Higher Ed. in America. We are very excited to have partnered up with Debra Leigh Scott on this venture and will be doing principle photography in 2011. Join 'Junct Rebellion's facebook group for up to date information on the subject.
For more information about what we are doing or if you are interested in becoming part of the crew please contact us. If you love all aspects of filmmaking or acting we would love to have you.
