Acting
American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.
College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.
Chronicles the life of Curtis Clemins, who is torn between the love of his life and accomplishing his dream. When hitting rock bottom during the Sundance Film Festival, Clemins' calls upon his old college chum, Kevin Prouse, giving the now drunken acting instructor in the throes of a divorce, the only clue that will salvage Clemins' rapidly deteriorating life.
A fashion photographer gets more than he bargained for when a roll of film in a used camera contains sinister imagery of high-society menace that sends him into a labyrinth of imminent danger.
The ghost of Hamlet's father orders him to kill his uncle, and the easily distracted prince makes up a bunch of excuses to avoid doing it.
A documentary charting the rise and fall (and inevitable undead rise) of fictional killer Jason Vorhees from the Friday the 13th series, which takes in the "video nasty" phenomenon in general.
Dude Schmitz, an independent filmmaker, attempting to secure funds for his second feature, blows an opportunity at what promises to be a lucrative interview with pop sensation Britney Spears. Dejected, Schmitz discovers Robert Stephens, a young, gay Britney impersonator. Schmitz takes off for New Orleans with Stephens, promising him a chance to meet his teen idol, all the while taking film of Stephens' cross-country exploits and pawning them off as footage of the real deal.
An alcohol/drug abuser re-examines his life until he nearly dies from an overdose. Then a friend convinces him to join a self-help group which turns out to be demonic.
A world within a world within a world
Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank, the stars of AMERICAN MOVIE, host George Romero's classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD from lawn chairs parked in a suburban front yard on the northwest side of Milwaukee.
