I just worked on a short Sci-fi film The Final Moments of Karl Brant from writer/director M.F. Wilson who wrote the cult graphic novel "Fluorescent Black". The film stars Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman) and Janina Gavankar (True Blood).
The story is set in the near future where experimental technology enables a neurologist and two detectives to digitally resurrect a murder victim in order to question him about his final moments.
One of the reasons I got involved was because I was taken by the script and Wilson's exploration of the subject matter. Digital immortality and downloadable consciousness is endlessly fascinating to me and I thought it would make a great movie and stimulate a really interesting debate.
In Wilson's words:
I was influenced by the theories of Ray Kurzweil on the Singularity and digital immortality and curious to see how the law will deal with the situations that arise from it. I'm excited about the idea of copying memories into code. Imagine that after your body dies, you can go on living in a digital state. This technology is in our near future and will challenge the very definition of life and death. It makes a great basis for a high tech crime story...
The crew consisted of an amazing group of young artists who believed in the film and rallied to see it through by investing talent and time to create something far beyond the scope of the small budget.
ArtistDirect sums up the film:
Rounded out by stellar performances from the iconic Paul Reubens and one of the screen's most scorching presences Janina Gavankar, this is the kind of sci-fi-mystery tryst worth lusting over. Gavankar's both engaging and enigmatic on screen... Reubens' protagonist proves riveting at points. Moments evoke Blade Runner, but The Final Moments of Karl Brant is its own mini-epic begging to blossom into something much larger.
The Final Moments of Karl Brant just had its World Premiere at Comic Con, debuted on Nerdist.com and jumped to the top of Youtube movies the next day.
Won't you join us in the conversation.