"Truth Day"- 3 Day Shoot of Short Film
Jency Hogan and Elaine Powell star in “Truth Day”
I’m always looking for opportunities to give young talent an opportunity to shine. My student from Love Acting, my film acting school in Baton Rouge, Elaine Powell wanted to make her own short film. She was super excited to come up with her own story and make a film. The exciting part was that we all got to collaborate together with students from Love Acting to not only act in the film but also work as crew. Over the past 10 years my husband, Aaron, and I have been able to collaborate on many short films and we were excited to jump in and make “Truth Day” for Elaine.
We had a 3 day shoot in 4 different locations here in Baton Rouge. The shoot went well— there was a lot of passion and excitement. We wanted to keep the set fun and upbeat so we had lots of bloopers with multiple dance parties to lighten the mood. Although the film was about a heavy topic, the set atmosphere was relatively lighthearted and fun. Sometimes I think that’s the best way to get performances from actors, just to get them loose and not take themselves so seriously. I know that works for me.
It was fun to see Elaine be able to be goofing off one minute and then jump into a character going through childhood trauma in the next minute. Elaine’s family really rallied around her. Both parents made cameo appearances, even her little brother makes a cameo appearance in the carpool line scene we shot at Episcopal High School- who were nice enough to let us use their school as a backdrop for the private school scene. We used junior high kids that attend Love Acting as extras to play students in the background. The students from Love Acting really enjoyed getting to be involved in making the film and all of their hard work over the years in class paid off.
We are registered to submit the film to LA Film Prize in June and we are looking forward to watching Elaine’s career grow in the future.
Cast & crew on day 2 of filming “Truth Day”. Bottom row left to right: Esther Trahan, Jency Hogan, Elaine Powell, Aaron Hogan, Shea Tully. Top row from left to right: Mark Gibson, Scott Courrege, Elizabeth Achee, Alaina Canaday, D’Andre Lindsey, Chase Easley, Ava Cosby.
Elizabeth Achee and Jency Hogan on set of “Truth Day”.
D’Andre Lindsey and Scott Courrege on set of “Truth Day”
D’Andre Lindsey, Jency Hogan, Elaine Powell, Scott Courrege