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CALIFORNIA — Utah native Cameron Sawyer said personal experience provided him with the material necessary to create an award-winning short film.
"She's a Fox" was based on his first relationship in the 5th grade. It was initially released in the festival circuit in 2009, but has recently regained popularity because it was featured on Vimeo's home page as the staff pick of the week and stars an Academy Award nominated actress, Hailee Steinfeld.
Steinfeld was cast in the movie "True Grit" shortly after she shot "She's a Fox" and was nominated for an academy award for her "True Grit" role. She recently played a leading role in "Ender's Game."
“In life things don’t work out exactly the way you think they’ll work out, but most of the time the learning experience is the most important thing," Sawyer said. "That’s what the movie is about — the experience of love and loss. I think that’s universal and I think that’s why people like the film.”
She's a Fox from Cameron Sawyer on Vimeo.
Set in 1987, the actor playing Cameron starts the film sporting a mullet as he plans how to get the hottest girl in school to notice him. The video is currently available to watch for free online.
"As much a love letter to the eighties as it is a story about budding hormones and young love, Cameron Sawyer’s film is a warm, delicious sandwich of nostalgia laden goodness," wrote Ivan Kander of Vimeo.
The short film was screened at more than 50 festivals around the world, including the Academy-accredited LA Shorts Fest and Cannes Short Film Corner. Sawyer said his most memorable experience was attending the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
“She’s (Steinfeld) an incredible actress,” Sawyer said. “She actually saved us a lot of money on film because we never had to shoot more than a couple of takes with her. We just got really lucky to cast her. She’s just way beyond her years as an actress, and it’s nice to see her getting recognized for that.”
Sawyer made the film for his final project as a graduate film student at Chapman University. He still lives in California, but is a Utah native and received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.
Sawyer said he loves to entertain and make people laugh.
“It was funny because when I was in film school everyone was doing movies on violence and sex and drugs and I just wanted to do a real simple, basic story that was close to me,” he said.
Sawyer's next project: a low-budget independent feature, also draws on his own experience. The story will follow an impeached high school student body president who is trying to win a leadership scholarship to the school of his dreams in the 1990's.
“I was probably the worst student body president in Orem High School’s history," Sawyer said.
He hopes to shoot the film on location in Utah in the fall.
