The Encouragement Clown

The Film

Summary

Barry, believing he’s proven the existence of God with a bold new math equation, is forced to turn to the aid of his personal encouragement clown, Professor Giggles, when his employees refuse to accept his findings.

Technical Details

  • Genre: Comedy
  • Running time: 5 Minutes 20 Seconds
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78 (16×9 Video)
  • Shooting Format: HDV
  • Exhibition Format: DVD, .MOV (Quicktime), BLU-RAY, DCP
  • Screener format: Secure Online Screener, DVD, BLU-RAY

Teaser Trailer

Crew/ Cast bios

Robert James Haynes – Writer, Director, Editor

Robert James Haynes

IMDB Link
Robert James Haynes is a writer, director, editor, producer, and podcaster. ‘The Encouragement Clown’ is his second narrative short film.
His first short film, ‘The Spell Book’ was an official selection of the 19th Annual Austin Film Festival (2012).  It was also featured on the SATURDAY SHORTS segment of the ‘Ain’t It Cool News’ website and screened at the ‘Short Indies’ short film showcase in Austin, Texas.
Robert is currently working on his next short film and a feature film script.

Christine Carstairs – Director of Photography, Visual Effects, Producer

Christine Carstairs, co-host of THE MILKSHAKE BOOM, during lighting tests.

IMDB Link

Christine Carstairs is a writer, director, producer, visual effects artist, and podcaster.

In addition to the visual effects on ‘The Encouragement Clown’, Christine provided the visual effects for the short film ‘Roadside Assistance’ which was a top 20 selection of the Louisiana Film Prize and has screened at numerous festivals.

On the directing side, her first narrative short film ‘Drastic Measures’ was an official selection in the 2013 Horrible Imaginings Film Festival in San Diego. She also directed, shot and created the visual effects for ‘Savage: The Shard of Gosen’, an upcoming video game commercial.

Christine is currently writing a science fiction feature film script that she will also direct.

Daniel Repp – Actor, Producer

Screen Shot 2015-11-07 at 9.42.48 PM
IMDB Link
Daniel Repp is known for his work on Through Hell (2011) and It’s History (2014). He is also the Senior Programmer and Event Director of the Other Worlds Austin Film Festival.

Adam Creighton – Actor – ‘Barry’

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 5.52.03 PM
IMDB Link
Adam Creighton is an actor and producer, known for Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013), Epic Mickey (2010) and Disney Infinity (2013).

Jose Victor Rivera – Actor – ‘Dick’

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 5.46.28 PM
Jose Victor Rivera is an animator, illustrator, logo designer, and podcaster. “The Encouragement Clown” is his onscreen debut.

Robin Kauffman – Actor – Caitlyn

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Robin Kauffman is an artist, actress, comedian, and podcaster. She also designed the clown make-up for the “Professor Giggles” character.

Scott Osborn – Producer, Sound Mixer

Skeleton - Green 1
IMDB Link 
Scott Osborn served his 10 years in the video game business for giants such as Electronic Arts and Acclaim Entertainment before turning to writing, where he managed to generate several produced screenplays (FAITH AND BULLETS, SECRET ADMIRER, THE MAID, and SIXUFUS).
He also wrote, produced, and directed some of his own dramatic projects (LET ME IN, NO QUITS, DECENT PROPOSAL, MIND READER 8, I AM JESUS, THE PERFORMANCE, and the animated web series INVADED); one of which (I AM JESUS) was distributed by OUAT Media, and the feature-length script optioned.

Additional Crew

Dylan Santurri – Boom Operator
Lindsay Young – 2nd Assistant Director
The Brothers Burn – Music / Score

Production Facts

  • ‘The Encouragement Clown’ was a one day shoot using a single Sony NEX-VG 900 camera.
  • In addition to the climatic clown explosion sequence, Christine Carstairs also created multiple other visual effects shots including the Donut Party Extravaganza gif party invite, computer screen replacement and boom mic removal.
  • Robin Kauffman created the clown make-up for the Professor Giggles character.
  • ‘THE MILKSHAKE BOOM’ connection – The director (Robert James Haynes), cinematographer (Christine Carstairs), and two of the actors (Jose Victor Rivera and Robin Kauffman) were co-hosts of ‘THE MILKSHAKE BOOM’, a cult film podcast. Dan Repp (Professor Giggles) also appeared as a guest on the podcast on two separate occasions.
  • Barry’s Donut Party Extravaganza – Lead actor Adam Creighton (Barry) absolutely hates donuts, but volunteered to eat an entire box of them for a shot that ultimately lasts for two seconds of screen time as a .gif file on a computer screen.
  •  Really Bad Math – If ‘The God Equation’ used during the climax looks like complete gibberish, well that’s because it is. Actor Adam Creighton used bits of dialogue from the script and created something that could be easily reproduced during multiple takes.
  • Home Improvement – The hit ABC sitcom ‘Home Improvement’ did run for 8 seasons that spanned 204 episodes, but it is not the greatest sitcom ever made as Barry claims.

Productions Stills

 -Still photography provided by Christine Carstairs.