I'll tell you right now: yes I was one of the actors on the film so take my comments for what you will.
But I'm commenting here today to offset some of the ridiculous misconceptions about the film.
First off: Scott Ellison is not rich. Yes he lived in The Woodlands, but not everyone there is rich or upper middle class to any extent. It's not Laguna Beach or Newport. Scott worked his ass off to raise the funds for the film, families in the town believed in his work and donated money, business the same. It wasn't from a trust fund.
A lot, if not most of the locations were donated by the owners. We were able to shoot in some sick locations because they also believed in Scott's vision.
So the result of all of this is Karoshi. An award winning short film that is, for what it is, a masterpiece. You must understand: this was done by HIGH SCHOOL students. This was Scott's FIRST ever attempt at shooting a film. Are there flaws? Of course, primarily with some of the writing, but this was also Scott's FIRST attempt at writing a script. Any of you who are writers remember you're first ever attempt, if you tell me it was Paul Haggis material I'll punch you in the face for being not worthy of breathing. Where there were very few flaws in this film were the photography. It was pretty amazing, which is what earned Scott the DP role in Frank Eakin's feature shot the next summer.
So go ahead people. Go ahead and hate. But instead of hating, here's a suggestion: Work. If you think what Scott did is so awful, then make your own work, make it better, then talk. Or better yet, don't talk, keep working. Because if you need to talk to validate yourself then your work obviously isn't good enough to do it for you.
Step up your game.
