A modern-day Narcissus enters a tea room where he meets a modern-day Echo. Does history repeat itself? The Incredible True Story of Two Complete Strangers Who Stumbled Into Each Others' Lives (and Were Too Oblivious To Realize It), or TEA brings the archetypal Greek myth across boundaries of time and place to tell the timeless story of love lost and found. Featuring Konrad Aderer, Jovinna Chan, and Kenneth Lee
Photographed and edited by Branan Edgens and Michael Magno
Written and directed by Christine Simpson
Currently streaming online at SPIKE
Director's Statement TEA began mostly as a visual concept in 2002. I was watching a friend work at a newly opened tea room in NYC. As I sat there, I realized that the room had no corners. Everything in the room was rounded, giving the place feeling of liquidity. Everything was soft except for one wall, in the middle of all this flowing movement. There was one long wall with wood boxes sitting on clear shelves: four rows of five square boxes that broke this movement and sat squarely in the center of this wall. When I looked closer, on the box face was the grain that moved. So even within this solid structure was fluid movement. The film then developed around this visual discovery. I found that the combination of wood and water fit well with the myth of Echo and Narcissus: a wood nymph who could not speak, only repeat, and a beautiful boy who meets his demise in water. These two distinct stories that flowed into one another - one of a woman with no footing in the world because of her lack of language and one of a man too rooted to his world to see the beauty in the intangible - built the structure for TEA. -- Christine Simpson, 2004
Cast (in order of appearance): Echo: Jovinna Chan
Narcissus: Konrad Aderer
The Customers: Tina Lee, Angela Liao, Flora Zhang
The Waiter: Kenneth Lee
Claire's Phone Voice: Ivi Acuna
Agent's Phone Voice: Branan Edgens
Production Staff Writer/Director: Christine Simpson
Producer: Michelle Chen
Directors of Photography/Editors: Branan Edgens, Michael Magno Assistant Director: Jesse Jou
Production Coordinator: Irene Yung
Location Supervisors: Vivi Sun, Tan Ping
Production Assistants: Alexia Anastasio, Kelsy Chauvin, Nissara Horayangura, Nancy Kim, Angela Liao, Yair Marcow, Kellie Rogers, Barbara Toy, Flora Zhang Sound Consultant: Frank Bland
Camera & Lighting Equipment: UltraMegaCorp, PAL East, Charlie Moss
Production Insurance: The Film Emporium Music: "Lover of Mine"
Written & performed by Mieka Pauley
Courtesy of 9 Music "Daydream"
Written & performed by Mieka Pauley
Courtesy of 9 Music "This Is"
Written & performed by Jessica Tardy
Used by permission from Jessica Tardy "Afraid to Fall"
Written & performed by Jessica Tardy
Used by permission from Jessica Tardy
Shot on location in Astoria, NY, and New York, NY
A Fluid Motion Theater & Film Production, Copyright 2003
Cast
(Narcissus)
As an actor, Konrad Aderer has played principal roles in the independent features "City of Strangers," "Use Your Head" (Finalist for SXSW's Best of Fest Award), and "Ignatz and Lotte" (Independent Spirit Award nominee). He also starred in the short films "Giant Metal Insects" and "Reverse Shot." His theatre credits include: "Fuenteovejuna" (National Asian American Theatre Company); "A Majority of One" (Jewish Repertory - Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival); "Cymbeline" (Pearl Theatre Company); "Love's Labor's Lost," "Romeo and Juliet" (Peterborough Players); and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (North Shore Music Theatre). Konrad currently freelances as a cinematographer and editor and produces short documentaries under the auspices of his project LifeorLiberty.org. He received a NYSCA grant for his feature documentary, Enemy Alien.
(Echo)
Jovinna Chan received her acting training from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Upon graduation in 1999, she continued her acting training through an internship program with Kings County Shakespeare Company that focused on classical training. Besides acting, Jovinna has also received training in modern dance. She has been involved in numerous productions (including The Rivals, The Tempest, Henry V, Punk Girls, The House of Bernarda Alba), staged readings (wAve), independent films (TEA), and collaborative projects in theater and dance (Dance Space Center). In April 2002, she co-founded Fluid Motion Theater & Film, Inc.
Production
(Producer)
Michelle Chen is a New York City-based theater, film, and television producer. She is Producing Director of Fluid Motion Theater & Film and Associate Producer at Thirteen/WNET. She received an Emmy for her work on the PBS Kids show CYBERCHASE.
(Director of Photography / Editor)
Originally from Rome, GA, Branan Edgens received a bachelor's degree (Studio Art and Art History) from The University of the South and a master's of fine arts (Film Arts) from Syracuse University. In 2000, he founded UltraMegaCorp, a film and video company housed in NYC, and continues to work as a freelance DP and editor in the tri-state area. His film, Cold Comfort, received the Shapiro Prize at Tel Aviv International Film Festival, and he received the Barbizon award for best Cinematography for his work on Breeding Space.
(Director of Photography / Editor)
Michael N. Magno studied film at Syracuse University's College of Visual & Performing Arts. He graduated in 1998. Besides motion pictures, he enjoys working in a variety of visual media.
(Singer/Songwriter)
Her voice ranges from haunting, delicate beauty to an explosion of shattering, soaring soul. Her lyrics bloom from a place of uncompromising honesty and naked emotion, aimed straight for the heart. Her roots are the blues, classic soul and R&B, rock, and folk and the result is a sound that blends and transcends these genres into a unique and personal brand of pop music all her own. Billboard Magazine and the Boston Globe have compared Mieka Pauley to everything from "a young Sarah McLachlan" to "Aretha in the husky vocal turns". But anyone who's seen her agrees on one thing: with a history of launching talents such as Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, and Tracy Chapman the cafés and clubs of Cambridge have once again produced the next unmistakable voice of a new generation. This past year, aside from spending her nights playing throughout the Boston, New York and New England and her days busking in Harvard Square, she won BMI's Rock Boat Song Contest as well as a top three finish at the famed Telluride Troubadour Competition, was invited by the Boston Red Sox to sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park and Camden Yards and graduated from Harvard with a degree in Biological Anthropology. This summer, after a busy year of touring, she has been invited to perform at four of the top music festivals in the U.S: The Newport Folk Festival, Dancin' In The District in Nashville, On The Bricks in Atlanta and a return to The Rock Boat.
(Writer/Director)
Christine Simpson is a Korean-American writer/director based in Manhattan. As a director, Ms. Simpson has directed with Ma-Yi Theatre Company, New Georges, Reverie Productions, Peculiar Works Project, Blue Heron Theatre, Bumblebee & Blackbird Productions, Present Tense Productions, Fluid Motion Theater & Film, Happy Lady Productions, at The Public Theater, and the NYC International Fringe Festival. Plays penned by Ms. Simpson have been produced at the Blue Heron Theatre, Baruch Performing Arts Center, the New York City International Fringe Festival (2003 and 2006), and Theatre Row. She has also written and directed two short films that have screened globally. In 2005, Ms. Simpson was selected as one of five filmmakers to compete in the Asian American International Film Festival Michelob Light Music Video Contest. In 2006, she was named one of nytheatre.com's People of the Year.
(Singer/Songwriter)
Jess Tardy grew up in Palmyra, Maine, where she started singing at local variety shows by the age of four, and won state and nation-wide awards as a standout tenor-saxophonist and vocalist in her high school's jazz program. By the time she entered college at Harvard, she had already performed twice at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, jammed at the North Sea Jazz Fest, and had been 'discovered' as a vocalist by jazz great Clark Terry at a jazz camp at the University of Wisconsin. After trading the sax for a gig as lead vocalist with the Harvard Jazz Band, Tardy collaborated with the likes of bop diva Sheila Jordan and bass virtuoso Steve Swallow. She also appeared in the Chicago Art Institute's 1998 tribute to Ella Fitzgerald as well as the Chicago Endowment for the Arts' tribute to George Gershwin the following year. Her appearance to honor Fitzgerald earned her rave reviews from Chicago Tribune jazz critic Howard Reich, who wrote; "With a sound so lush, phrasing so distinctive, and technique so assured...she's something of a discovery." She toured Ireland with The Late Money Band, as the soul band's sax-wielding lead vocalist. Recent performances in Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco have announced Tardy as an insightful new voice. Her songs blend smart lyrics with blues and jazz sensibilities, while her vocal sound reflects her musical upbringing as a self-described "jazz nerd in a country music town."
Currently streaming online at SPIKE:
http://www.spike.com/video/2639866 MORE INFORMATION26th Annual Asian American International Film Festival (Official Selection, June 2003, NYC) MORE INFORMATION1st Annual Reel Venus Film Festival (Official Selection, July ’03, NYC)MORE INFORMATION5th Annual Chicks With Flicks Film Festival (Official Selection, August ’03, NYC) - Nominee, Best Narrative Film and the Nancy B. Cirillo Award for Best Actor and Best ActressMORE INFORMATION4th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival (Official Selection, October ’03, San Diego, CA)MORE INFORMATION3rd Annual Cape May NJ State Film Festival (November ’03, Cape May, NJ)MORE INFORMATIONMiami Beach Film Society (November ’03, Miami Beach, FL)MORE INFORMATION9th Annual Chicago Asian American Showcase (Official Selection, April ’04, Chicago, IL)MORE INFORMATION2004 Asian Film Festival of Dallas (Official Selection, June ’04, Dallas, TX)MORE INFORMATION2004 East Village Short Film Festival (Official Selection, July ’04, New York, NY) - Runner Up for Best Film2004 Independents’ Film Festival (Official Selection, September ’04, Tampa & Hillsborough County, FL)MORE INFORMATION2005 International Festival of Cinema and Technology (Official Selection; 2005 screenings in the UK, Australia, Los Angeles, Orlando, and New York)MORE INFORMATION2005 Lower East Side Film Festival (Official Selection, May ’05, NYC)Little Theatre Emerging Filmmakers Series (Original Screening December ’03; “Best of” Screening July ’06, Rochester, NY)MORE INFORMATIONBroadcasts & Web:
* IFILM.com (More than 13,000 viewers since June ‘04; Named official “IFILM Pick” and “IFILM Plus+ Featured Pick”; ranked among Top 10 Most Viewed Shorts)
* Host Stream TV (Channel 67, NYC cable access)
* Chick With Flicks (Channel 34, NYC cable access)
* The Education Channel (Channel 18, Tampa & Hillsborough County, FL)
Sorry, no reviews are available for this production at this time.
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