A round of applause is in order for the team of Dodge College alumni working on “Hollywood Heroes,” a new short film recently entered into the brand-new “Shot on RED” Film Festival.  Director Burke Doeren recently reached out to us, to share the exciting news that his film has been selected as one of the festival finalists!

The team is composed almost entirely of Chapman film alumni, all of whom have graduated within the past few years.  It’s a darkly comic look at the culture of celebrity and fame surrounding the movie industry, focused – naturally – on the iconic Hollywood Boulevard, as a symbol of both the extravagant indulgences of celebrity, but also the gritty, hard-scrabble life of those still looking to make it:

After finding their Iron Man passed out in an alley, Skinny Hulk and Captain America must find a suitable replacement or forgo their panhandling turf on Hollywood Boulevard.

In the lawless wasteland of Hollywood Blvd between Highland and Vine, the dregs of human society don costume and character to panhandle for money, escape the drudgery of the modern condition and chase dreams of stardom. Two old friends, one dressed as Captain America and the other as an anorexic version of The Incredible Hulk, must find a third hero to play Iron Man and fulfill the stringent guild requirements of Hollywood street actors. Fending off vicious encroachments by rival packs of costumed characters and “nators” (celebrity impersonators), the Hollywood Heroes struggle to find their way in this cold unforgiving world of ours.

About the cast and crew:

After attending the prestigious Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University, Taylor Florio, Burke Doeren, Sam Bullard, John Botsford, Taylor Gledhill and Jesse Richards moved to Hollywood, California to pursue their dreams of producing film and television. But beneath the glitz and glamour of Hollywood’s storied Walk of Fame, they soon discovered a seedy underbelly of broken dreams and broken people. So they did the only thing they could do: they pointed a camera at it. The first project from this talented young group of filmmakers serves as a love letter to this city and its larger-than-life characters that bring the heroes of the silver screen to life.

The film is 9 minutes long, and was shot primarily on RED cameras: the RED EPIC 5KHD, and the RED SCARLET 4KHD, which qualified it to be entered into the brand new festival RED has created to celebrate the people putting its impressive technology to work.

RED is proud to host the second annual SHOT ON RED Film Festival, a showcase of short and feature length independent projects shot on RED cameras. RED and industry leaders will focus on selecting projects that best emphasize visual storytelling.

Held on December 5th this event is intended to bring together some of the brightest visionaries from all over the world, recognizing both the filmmakers and their work.

RED is committed to fostering the efforts of the independent community and invites filmmakers across the globe to participate in this incredible event.

The Festival screens this week in Los Angeles, so be sure to come support the success of your fellow students and alumni!

Tickets are completely FREE, and may still be reserved for the festival, which screens this Thursday, December 5.  You can begin the process on the event’s EventBrite page.

The team is currently at work developing a stand-alone website to house their promotion and marketing assets, so stay tuned!