The Deadline

A series of absurd events and bizarre characters at a cafe conspire against a playwright, until mysterious travelers stop in and offer him a way out.

  • Runtime: 12:46
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Format: 4k Digital 1.78:1
  • Finished: Oct 2016
  • Premiere: Aug 2017 (Middle Coast Film Festival)

The Production

The script, which I adapted from a feature film that I had written in 2014, was selected for the IFP/Chicago writers workshop in December 2015, where it was workshopped for a live audience with actors from the Steppenwolf School in Chicago.

We filmed in March 2016 at Delicious Cafe in the Northcenter neighborhood of Chicago, and post-production was completed in October 2016. As of December 2017, the film is not available to the public until the film festival run is finished in 2018.

Music features heavily in the film, a combination of an original score by Jess Disraeli, an L.A.-based composer, as well as two original songs by the Colombian band Ondatrópica.

If you want to know more about how and why the film was made, you can read an interview I did with IFP/Chicago, or just send me an email!

Cast & Crew

Cast

Mark Piebenga

Flavia Borges

Dill Costa

Loredan Krug

Nnamdi Ngwe

Rebecca Sohn

Felipe Jorge

Ray Hui

Buddy Heeley

Crew

Writer, Director, Editor // Robert Bruce Carter

Producer // Erin Miller
Associate Producer // Flavia Borges

Camera

Cinematographer // Nick Shamblott
Steadicam/Cam Op // Blaine Baker
1st AC // Cory Solon & Ian McAvoy
2nd AC // Brendan Babinski
Gaffer // Bradley Ian Smith
Key Grip // Charles Anderson
DIT // Hannah Welever
Stills Photographer // John Coumbe-Lilley
Camera & lensing // Camera Ambassador

Art

Production Designer // Stacey Buckner
Set Dresser // Sarah Blue Winslow Gerber
Leadman // Kyle Dodge
Assistant Set Dresser // Mandy Stoehr
Art PA // Ronnie Kwasman, Rosaleah Gonzalez
Wardrobe Consultant // Kate Grube
Costume Designer // Abbie Stallings
Makeup Artist // Jacqueline Meller-Vogt

Sound

Sound Mixer // Derek O’Rourke

Production

Script Supervisor // Jon Santiago & Alyssa Alexander
AD // Dane Haiken

Production Assistants //

Ellie Garza
Joseph Mueller
Livia Margon
Kevin McAuliffe
Danny Williams

Casting

Casting Assistant // Sarah Little
Casting Consultant // Devon Carson

Post-production

Color Grading // Parker Jarvie (Company3)
Sound Design // Derek O’Rourke
Composer // Jess Disraeli

Special Thanks

Nansen
Kathy Byrne
Emily Oscarson
Keaton Woodon
Mary Ruth Clarke
Autumn Smith
Delicious Cafe
Elliott Robinson
Travis Life (Leavens, Strand, & Glover, LLC)
Erica Duffy
Chris Johnson
Chicago Film Office