| FreeLance | |
| Director: | Drew Sawyer |
| Producer: | Jason Clairy Jason Fordham |
| Starring: | Bob Kunkel Sean Mann Jackson Williamson |
| Music: | Robb Stregowski |
| Cinematography: | Robert Mallin Drew Sawyer |
| Editing: | Drew Sawyer Sean Mann |
| Runtime: | 63 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
FreeLance is a 2007 low-budget independent film directed by Drew Sawyer and written by Sean Mann and Drew Sawyer.It was filmed in Rome, Georgia[1] and premiered at the Rome International Film Festival. Later that year, it showed at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival.
Elliot Guilespie (Bob Kunkel) is a smalltown twentysomething with aspirations of stardom in television news as his alter-ego, Lance Windchaser. He idolises the local TV news anchor, Rod Reel (Tim Hensely), who is intermittently shown reporting on the spree of a local serial killer known as the Rubik's Cube Killer, or "RCK".
Elliot's home life is less than ideal; he still lives with his mother and never knew his father, who was killed in a "freak hospital accident". Compounding Elliot's frustratinglife is Roy-Henry Ringold (Sean Mann), who terrorized Elliot in high school, but is now a recovering alcoholic and desperately seeks his forgiveness. Roy-Henry's quest for forgiveness is conflicted with the fact that he is sleeping with Elliot's mother and feels compelled to act as a father figure to the aimless Elliot. As if that weren't enough, Elliot works for Roy-Henry's landscaping company.
Elliot does not own a car and is unwilling to ingratiate himself to Roy-Henry for transportation, so his main mode of transportation comes from Toby's Taxi Service, driven by Toby (Jackson Williamson), a depressed family man who vents to an unwilling Elliot about the horrors of his hen-pecked homelife.
After a disastrous attempt at handling the filming and the reporting simultaneously, Elliot enlists Toby as his cameraman. Desperate for friendship and an opportunity to escape his horrible marriage, Toby happily agrees and the two begin a whirlwind escapade of freelance journalism marked largely by failure, ridicule, and numerous injuries.
Things start to look up for Elliot when Roy-Henry is killed in a hit and run accident. Elliot is overjoyed to be free of Roy-Henry's smothering presence, but his newfound happiness is quickly shot down by his idol Rod Reel, who mercilessly ridicules Elliot's work. Elliot becomes unhinged as he realises his only shot at making the news may be to actually "make the news". Soon after his epiphany, Elliot is shown reporting suspiciously quickly on several acts of anti-Rod Reel vandalism. Further complicating things, Elliot falls in love with a prostitute (Nichole Harrison) he meets while riding along on Toby's taxi runs. Believing Elliot is interested in her services, she gives him her card. When Elliot goes to her place to see her again, he is surprised to find she has committed suicide to escape from the shame of her past misdeeds, of which, prostitution is the least troublesome. Finally snapping, Elliot decides to use her body to fake the next RCK killing and be the first to report it, thus showing up Rod Reel and proving his worth as a reporter. His plans are thwarted as Toby arrives and witnesses Elliot arranging the gruesome tableau and, believing his friend to be a killer, calls the police. The film ends with a blood soaked Elliot being dragged away into a squad car as Rod Reel ironically reports live on the scene of Elliot's capture as the "RCK Killer".
FreeLance was produced on a budget of only $3,000, thanks largely to a dedicated volunteer cast and crew. During post production, FreeLance attracted the attention of Atlanta soundman Roy Clements, known for his previous work on Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.[2] Thanks to his expertise and studio time donated toward the film's sound production, the actual production value of FreeLance ended up being closer to $25,000.[3]
FreeLance was well received by audiences and critics, who commended its combination of satireand slapstick.[4] It was awarded the Best Local Feature award at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival.[5]