The Park: Chet Burchett

Friday, March 6, 2009

Chet Burchett

I want to take some time away from this blog and about film. Considering what I will be doing is so community based and how so much of me comes from Wilton, I need to say something about the recent passing of Chet Burchett.

Though I didn't know Chet as a very close friend, I feel confident enough to say that we were friends. We weren't close, but we certainly were more than aquaintances. Chet's shocking and sudden death can be described as nothing short of tragic. In the nearly seven years that I knew Chet I can confidently say that he was a trustworthy and compassionate guy. Despite what seemed like a tough exterior and even some stubborness, the core of Chet was something special. Chet's antics may have gotten him into trouble every so often, but there was never a doubt in my mind that he was the all around good guy.

Perhaps I wish that I had known Chet better, but despite the sparcity of moments I had with him they all meant something to me. Little memories of exchanges with Chet flicker through my mind now and I'm angry with myself for not remembering them with more clarity.

The only that is really clear to me now is that whatever Chet had suffered with is gone. We're here to feel sad and shocked, but there's no doubt that Chet had changed us, affected us in some way or another. Slowly but surely things will fall back into place, but I know that in some part of me and in some part of everyone he knew, there will be Chet and he'll live forever through all of us.

Chester Wayne Burchett 1989-2009

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The Park

A stroke of luck hits Nick, a homeless man when he finds a ten-dollar bill on the ground at the park. His newfound fortune is short-lived when he finds himself with the obligation of taking care of Annabelle, a young girl forgotten in the park by her reckless parents. During their time together, Nick depletes his finances caring for Annabelle. It becomes increasingly evident that the relationship between the two is not simply based on obligation or responsibility, but a deep emotional connection related to each one's own sense of abandonment. They lend each other a sense of companionship and courage for the lives they know away from one another.

click HERE for a Wilton-based prospectus

Jill Sapenoff (director, writer, co-producer)

Jill is currently a 3rd year Film and Television Production major at the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Jill has worked on more than 10 student and independent films since starting film school. She has worked as a production assistant on an upcoming Sam Mendes. Jill also worked as the assistant director and stage manager to the "Voices in Conflict" production, which played at The Public Theatre in New York, The Vineyard Theatre, and the Culture Project. Jill continued work on the production through its adaptation to television for CPTV and is credited as the Associate Producer of the televised production. Click HERE for CV.

Mike Wright (co-producer)

Michael Wright is a 3rd year Film and Television Production major at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He has been involved in several student and independent productions, and has held the role of producer on several short films, documentaries, and a music video, both international and domestic. His most recent production role is Line Producer on "A Refugee," an award-winning 16mm color film about the Muslim/Hindu riots in Bangladesh in 2001. Michael is excited to be working with director Jill Sapenoff on "The Park", which reflects her talents as director and screenwriter. Click HERE for Michael's film, "Unfamiliar Faces."

Owen Levelle (cinematographer)

Mallory Westfall (art director, script supervisor)

Mallory is currently a junior majoring in Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She has had experience in student productions ranging from screenwriting to directing to camera work. She has also worked for an independent television company working on factual programming for the A&E Biography Channel. Recently she took part in a training and internship program with the BBC in London. She is very excited to be working with Jill as both an art director and script supervisor.

Nick Mann (assistant director)

Nick Mann is in his third year studying film production at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He recently came back from a semester abroad in Dublin where he focused on screenwriting and traveling for a semester. Immediately prior he attended a summer program in Prague where he wrote, directed, and edited an a short film on 35 mm. The short film that he collaborated on for Apple's Insomnia Film Festival in 2007 came in 3rd place of over 1900 submissions. While Nick serves as an assistant director and 2nd asstant camera on student sets, his true passion is directing his own scripts.