Pen Island

Tom Delancey is inches away from ending his life when he receives a call from Howard, a life assurance agent at Pen Island. After a free trial of their service, Tom finds friendship and regains his will to live.

Director: Ryan Sheehy
CAST: Tad Cooley
CAST: Joey Long
company: http://www.Sheehy.tv
Producers: Ryan Sheehy & Bryan Casserly
1st AD / Narrator: Croix Provence
DOP & Color: Amber Steele
1st AC: Kenny Stemmons
2nd AC: Dan Willard
Gaffer: Rayner Hallera
Grip: Noah Kang
PA: Liam Terlecki
Production Design: Rachel Dreger
Sound Mixer: Paulo Sbrighi
Sound Mixer: Jose Gallo
Sound Design: Tyler Thompson
Sound Editor & Rerecording Mixer: Zach Egan
John Denver Cover: Nick Howard

Pen Island is a film about self loathing, isolation, and the importance of self love and friendship. For me the film was about recognizing within yourself that you’re worthwhile and are deserving of the happiness that life has to offer. Tom is a character who hates himself but through conversations with an unsolicited caller (Howard), he finds self worth and a will to live.

As for the name. I wanted to take a subject like self loathing and put it in an awkward and ridiculous world. I portrayed this with the coloring of the sets, the quirky nonsensical and timeless props, and a silly name inspired by a website of the early 2000s. To me film making is creating a faux world that you wouldn’t see in day to day life so my goal is to add a little weirdness to each one of my projects.

Our production had it’s challenges just like any indie film, but our small volunteer crew came together and brought our collective resources to create Pen Island. Most of our team was comprised of students, actors, musicians, florists, and me an independent music video director trying to break into the narrative world. We managed to shoot the film over the course of three days and with different crew members subbing in each day to wear multiple hats. At one point we had our G&E crew rigging art, our lead actor getting us coffee, and me doing special FX. This film was my first project as writer/director and my biggest take away was; no matter how small the budget your greatest asset is a passionate team of friends who believe in your story and will do whatever it takes to bring it to life.

I hope you enjoy and thanks for watching!