News

Original Article: Gazette Extra

JANESVILLE — A Janesville production company’s short film placed high enough at the Filmapalooza festival last week in Lisbon, Portugal, to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

More than 200 filmmakers from around the world gathered in Lisbon March 20-23, for what amounted to the finale festival for the 48 Hour Film Project.

Pico Blvd Entertainment’s short, “Reasonable Doubt,” was filmed in Janesville and placed in the top 15 of 103 films entered in the 48 Hour Film Project, in which teams had 48 hours to write, film, and edit a movie.

Eight winners and one audience favorite film from Filmapalooza will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival May 14-25. Of those eight, five were nominated for best short in Lisbon, including “Reasonable Doubt,” qualifying them to be screened in Cannes. The top film in Lisbon was “Do Outro Lado,” a Lisbon short film produced by 2880 Filmes.

“Reasonable Doubt” team members who traveled Lisbon for the premier include:Daniel J. Pico (team leader, director, co-writer, co-editor); Matthew M. Jones (co-writer and co-editor); Jeffery Siljenberg (cinematographer); Jen Smith (production designer); Tanya Lovecraft (assistant director and assistant editor); Sam Sorenson (camera operator); Teller Sorenson (cast); and Maddie Sorenson (cast).

“Ninety-eight plus movies were made and turned in on time and we made it in the top five, so that was very exciting,” Pico said. “It was a really good program of movies, we thought. We had no idea if we were gonna get in until we were nominated for best short, we were kinda like, I think that means that we’re in the top five.”

On a Friday evening at 7 p.m. they received a list of things to include and had to submit the film on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. They started out on that Friday night with a prop, a character with a name and occupation, a line of dialogue and a choice of two genres where they can choose to do one or both.

For “Reasonable Doubt,” the genre was drama, the prop was a gift, the character was Samantha Morganstitch who was a hobbyist and the line was “You can count on me.”

“Reasonable Doubt” is a seven-minute-long legal thriller short drama. It revolves around a car accident, during which a mother loses her son, and the offending parties won’t say who was driving or what happened. It was filmed in Janesville on Dec. 2, 2023.

While in Lisbon, the production company met other filmmakers from Wisconsin. They referred to themselves as the “Wisconsin Delegation.”

“It was interesting to see so many Wisconsin folk there,” Pico said.

The “Wisconsin Delegation” includes team Pico Blvd Entertainment and a team from Studio 88 for the film “The Gatekeeper.” Including Sam Sorenson (director and producer), Leigh Mills (producer), Rene David Gotiear II (cast), Maddie Sorenson (cast) and Vincenzo Pugliese (cast); and Coronado Films for the film “A Sidekick’s Guide to Adventuring,” Wil Looper (co-writer and co-director) and John Looper (cast and co-writer).

Besides experiencing delicious food, Pico also cherished the high energy of the film festival.

“It was amazing to meet so many of the other filmmakers from around the world,” Pico said. “It was amazing to see what people were able to accomplish with no planning. These were wonderful movies that you would not believe were made in 48 hours or less.”

The team has worked hard to make the film and to have it recognized in the competition is exciting, Pico said.

“To be able to screen it at the Cannes Film Festival is really just overwhelming. We were elated,” Pico said.

The, he acknowledged, “reality set in pretty quickly and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m gonna pay for it.’”

Pico has set up a GoFundMe to help him attend the Cannes Film Festival: www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-me-go-to-the-cannes-film-festival.

Pico was invited to the Cannes Film Festival back in college for a different competition to screen his thesis, but he couldn’t afford to convert the short to a film print at the time.

“So, this is a pretty big deal for me,” Pico said.

An upcoming screening of “Reasonable Doubt” will take place at COPA, 2841 Index Rd., Fitchburg, on Wednesday, April, 10 at 6 p.m. The arts organization showcases different local artists, and April is Pico’s month. Multiple short films of his will be featured during the screening in April.

Another of Pico’s most recent projects is a TV series called “RZR.” It’s about a dystopian world full of artificial intelligence, brain implants, and black-market crime. It’s set to be released on April 14. “RZR” can be viewed for free at film.gala.com.

While raising funds for Cannes, Pico Blvd. Entertainment will also be filming its next 48 Hour Film Project assignment. “We’ll be filming a new 48 towards the end of April and we hope to make it to Cannes in May,” Pico said.