'Debutante Hunters' acclaimed
BY BILL THOMPSON - Post and Courier - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Just having her short film "The Debutante Hunters" selected for the Sundance Film Festival was a triumph for Summerville native Maria White.Having it win the Audience Award, complete with a $5,000 check, was validation.
The Los Angeles-based producer-director was basking in the glow Monday.
"I was standing way in the back -- eating, of course -- when they called my name, and I ran up," White said from home Monday."I was so moved. I felt strongly about the piece but was just grateful to be in the competition. Sundance always has been a huge inspiration for my husband (writer-producer Matthew Mebane) and I. It definitely has helped shape us as filmmakers. This has been an amazing experience."
"The Debutante Hunters" focuses on a group of Southern belles who "reveal their rugged side, showcasing their skills as they hunt off the land and dismantle stereotypes in the process." Representing a long-standing if seldom publicized American tradition, the women are part of families where hunting is handed down from generation to generation.White, who already has been contacted by a number of networks and production companies, said she plans to use the award money to develop the short into a film series.
"I hope I get to make more films about these women and the community they created. I have so many hours of footage remaining and hope to show more of their stories on TV or in a longer documentary format. It's very encouraging for me as a filmmaker that there is already an audience for it."
White attributed part of the film's success to shrewd use of social media as well as its content.
"We emailed. We used Facebook," she had said backstage. "As a cast and crew, my entire team was pretty relentless. My composer Jasper Randall contacted five hundred of the musicians he knows. When we saw positive comments, it fueled us. We would reach out. Members of the 'cast' would comment. It was like wildfire!"
Sundance selected "The Debutante Hunters" as one of only 64 short films out of the more than 7,000 submitted. The movie was made with the aid of a South Carolina Film Commission Indie Grant, filmed entirely on location in the Lowcountry with Trident Technical College students serving on the crew.
White is working on three new feature-length projects: a comedy called "Fast Cars and Babies," "Taxi Dancer" and the thriller "Lowcountry."
Reach Bill Thompson at 843-937-5707.
