Shane Morrisun – Notification

Shane Morrisun is a local actor and filmmaker in Utah. His recent short film Notification has been selected to play at the Utah Film Festival Friday January 6th at the Towne Hub in American Fork Utah.

What was the inspiration to make Notification?

Everything just happened kind of spur of the moment. I have been trying to get my production company Free Reign Films more work, so I asked a few of my partners to write short 3 to 4 page scenes to film for actors for their demo reels. Unfortunately I wasn’t having much luck trying to promote the service and only received a couple of bites from my flyers and posts.

I was also getting antsy from not directing or acting in anything myself for a while at the time and I really liked the script that J.R. Curtis wrote, so I decided we should make it to help promote our actors reel service and scratch the itch that had been building to direct and act in another film. It was also the first opportunity to see how the new partners in the company would work together in the production process. I am very pleased with the results.

From idea to completion, how did Notification change?

In the original script J.R. Curtis wrote, there was only one scene; written in a way to demonstrate an actor’s ability, a.k.a. dialogue heavy. Once I decided that this was the film I wanted to make and read the script a few times, I had the idea to film two extra scenes to show the subject matter that they were discussing within the scene. I had initially thought of adding the extra content to cut on top of the dialogue during the original scene but after watching the performances,  I wanted to show all of it. The final order of the scenes was decided in post – during the editing process.

What was the biggest challenge in getting Notification made?

The biggest challenge was finding the right actor to play my son. All of the other roles were easy to fill from within the company, but no one immediately came to mind with this role. I asked a few of my actor and director friends who might be a good fit and one suggested Ryan Hoskins, and I immediately thought “Perfect!”

Another challenge was trying to make the accident look realistic and the car look like it had actually been in a wreck. With virtually no budget, we just tried to do the best we could.

What do you think is the most important takeaway from Notification?

A person should not be defined by their mistakes. The outcasts of society can be the best of us when it really matters.

If you could have a do over with your film is there anything that you would have done differently? If so, what would you change?

No, I am perfectly happy with how everything turned out. I learned a lot through trying to figure everything out, gaining a wealth of knowledge in the process, and formed tighter bonds with my filmmaking family.

What do you have in the works?

I always have several things in the works. I am never just working on one thing. I am finishing up a few edits that I need to finish, one for an actor’s reel (a scene they wrote themselves) and a couple sequels to other films I have made. I am currently working as a producer on Rob Diamond’s latest film, an action thriller. Gearing up to produce a short film with writer/director J.C McNaughton called “Sweet Molly”, a thriller/horror about a 16 year old girl growing up in one of the FLDS sects, who is being forced into arranged plural marriage. We are trying to bring more awareness to the subject and are hoping to crowdfund this winter and film this spring. I also have several feature length screenplays I am developing and looking for investors to get made. Whenever I am not doing my own films, I am helping other filmmakers with making their films. I am always open to collaboration and if you need to hire any crew I am happy to fill in!