Emmy Award-winning West Wing cast member Bradley Whitford, whose new ABC comedy series Trophy Wife debuts this Fall, stars in a new, independent, dark comedy short film entitled Man Up, Little Boy. The 8-minute film will make its debut during the Dances with Films Festival held at Hollywood's Chinese Theatres, and will be presented there on Wednesday, June 5, at 5PM.To view the Trailer for this film, please see https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200673718139529
And Like the film on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ManUpLittleBoy
Man Up, Little Boy story synopsis: Blood, sweat and tears flow when a domineering father and his underachieving son square off in an epic, and over the top, battle of wills. Meet Walter (Whitford) a man who refuses to step blithely into old age, but rather fights it with everything he's got. The object of his rage? His son Ryan (Palmer), a young man with a long history of facing his father's wrath. Ryan is a disappointment to his father -- stuck forever, it would seem, on the cusp of manhood, yet unable to enter the promised land of adulthood.
The war between these two men is eternal: youth versus age, strength versus guile, old versus new. And to make matters worse, in Walter's house, theres only one way to solve a disagreement through arm-wrestling! The two men remain locked in an epic battle of wills -- and wrists until beautiful blonde Sarah (McCook) comes between them, finally shattering this lifelong stalemate, once and for all.
Co-starring with Whitford in Man Up, Little Boy are Zachariah Palmer and Molly McCook. Interesting Side Notes: Dan Greenberger, Writer/Producer of this short film, was the college roommate of Bradley Whitford, when the two men attended Wesleyan University together (1977-81.) Both parents of Zachariah Palmer also attended Wesleyan University. And Molly McCook's father, John McCook, is famous for his roles on the TV soap operas The Young & the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS:
Jeffrey Williams, Director & Producer: Jeffrey Williams has a great deal of experience with dysfunctional families. To his great shame, he edited the TV pilot that put the raven-haired harpies of the Kardashian clan on the map. America, Im really sorry about that, I had no idea, he says today.
A seventeen year veteran of the film and television industry, Williams' first job was dubbing tapes for Miramax in 1994. Using copies of Pulp Fiction and Clerks, two equally influential films on his directorial style, he bribed his way into an assistant editor position on Michael Moore's TV Nation. After learning his craft in the trenches and going legit, his editorial work now ranges from editing an Oscar-nominated short film (2001s By Courier for Peter Reigert), to the infamous 60 Minutes interview with Michael Jackson.
As a director, Williams' award winning short films have played at over thirty film festivals around the globe during the past two years. In 2012, his short film, A Day In The Life Of Your Cats, won the Audience Award for Short Film In Competition at the 15th Annual Dances With Films festival in Hollywood. Man Up, LIttle Boy marks his third short film in three years to premiere at that festival, something he is very proud of. Williams is currently developing his first feature film, which will be shaped by his extensive short filmmaking experiences.
The last thing I want to do is make a film that feels like someone else could have told the same story. Short filmmaking is the last, pure bastion of cinemas artistic potential. I want to make short films that leave an impression, even if that impression is that guy really needs a better therapist!
Dan Greenberger, Writer & Producer: A Writers Guild Award-winning writer and producer of film and television, Greenberger was born and raised in Chicago, and holds degrees in English and Playwriting, respectively, from Wesleyan University and Columbia University's School of the Arts. (At Wesleyan, he was a roommate and frequent collaborator with actor Bradley Whitford.) Relocating to New York, Greenberger became a Senior Producer for Showtime Networks, where he wrote and produced a variety of short-form programming, including the Cable Ace-nominated comedy series Let's Do Lunch.
In Los Angeles, he has written for the television shows Public Morals on CBS and Total Security on Fox, both produced by Steven Bochco. He also wrote for E's Talk Soup as well as Beyond Chance on Lifetime, The Cramp Twins on Fox, and created the pilots Captain Alpha Male and Swallow. He wrote and co-produced (along with Jeffrey Williams) the award-winning short film A Day in the Life of Your Cats which premiered at the 2012 Dances With Films Festival in Hollywood.
Greenberger is currently a Writer/Producer of on-air promos for CBS Television, where his credits include promoting How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Everybody Loves Raymond, Two Broke Girls, and many others.
Regarding the premise behind his original script for Man Up, Little Boy, Greenberger says, As we get older, each of us faces an inevitable deterioration of strength. Physically and mentally, we slowly begins to fade over time. Some of us endure this decline with grace and good will: others, not so much. Our character, Walter, is a good example of a man who simply can not accept the reality that he's not as young as he used to be. My friend Brad Whitford was the perfect choice for Walter he is obviously a gifted dramatic actor, but hes also one of the funniest people Ive ever known. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing him do comedy: he just plain makes me laugh.
Michael Helenek, Lighting: To read about Helenek's production process on Man Up, Little Boy, please visit: http://michaelhelen
