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The Tech theater is hard at work producing a student-written film, “Two Strangers,” which is set to be a double feature with “All the ways the world will end, but not you,” a one act, at 7 p.m. on March 31, April 1, and April 2. Both the play and the film are directed.
“Two Strangers” is a dark comedy written by Sarah Pollock and Kyndal Atkinson. The duo set out writing a screenplay after Atkinson thought up the idea with a conversation with her parents.
“My parents and I were talking about picking up hitchhikers. And they said what if you pick up a serial killer? And I was like, well, jokes on them. I’m a serial killer. I thought that would be a funny movie.” Atkinson said.
The storyboarding and ideas are mostly Atkinson’s wheelhouse, with Pollock at the helm for dialog and writing.
According to Pollock, the movie has several twists and turns, as well as funny moments sprinkled throughout. The writing has recently came to a close, with Pollock adding the finishing touches before filming, which is set to happen on February 17.
The story follows a killer breaking into a person’s house, but the victim in question remains calm throughout the entire ordeal.
“This guy is actually not too bothered by the intrusion. He has some kind of underlying motive; he doesn’t mind being a victim. The serial killer is like an answer to his prayers,” Pollock said. “I don’t want to give too much away, because I want people’s butts in seats. Just know It’s going to be really fun.”
According to Roberson, this film will be slightly different than films directed by her before.
“[There will be] No special effects, only two actors, and one location. This is a simpler and shorter film than last year’s film, and that was intentional because we are also at the same time as we are producing this, we are producing a one act,” she said.
The original movie script, according to the duo, was much longer than the final cut. Pollock highlighted the fact that the film will be shown on the same night as the One act play “All the way the world will end, but not you,” and so the writing was cut much shorter.
“We’re doing it with [the other play], so we don’t want to take up a whole hour of that, and then a whole hour of the play. I feel like it would be a little too long,” Pollock said.
Roberson, who also directed last year’s film, “Beauregard Bottoms,” also cites the shorter length as an important factor for consideration for film festivals.
“It should be about a 25-minute film, but I’d like to ideally have it be about 15 minutes maximum. The shorter the film is, the easier it is to premiere at festivals,” Roberson said. “It’s really hard to festival mid-length films, because it’s longer than most shorts, and shorter than most feature films.”
Information about both postings can be found on The theater’s Instagram as the information becomes pertinent, at atu_theatre_film.
