COMPLEX CONTACT INFORMATION

Curtis Matzke T 517.214.4584

curtismatzke@unfurnishedfilms.com

SYNOPSIS Complex is a fiction film that follows Jeremy, a twenty-something who moves into his first apartment after being kicked out of his parents house. Jeremy struggles with realizing his independence through relationships with new and old friends. The actors improvised almost all of the dialog in the film. Complex was shot in East Lansing, Michigan.

DIRECTORS STATEMENT I wrote Complex to try to repair the common disconnect between process and story and create what I believe to be a very personal and independent production. Given various constraints, it would be unrealistic for me to make a professional feature film. It would always be slightly off, even if I had a huge crew, massive lighting setups, and hundreds of jib shots because the film would lack authenticity. The best option for me was to make an independent film that stripped away all the excess and focused on storytelling and character interaction. I was inspired by independent cinema for a long time, but never really saw it implemented by fellow students at Michigan State University (where I received a B.A. and an M.A.) and other young filmmakers. By making the film this way, I was doing something different from anything that I had ever done before. The decision to use a script that was only about twenty pages long, without dialog, was very risky. I greatly enjoy writing so leaving the words of the characters with the actors was very hard to do. Luckily, Jon, Nic, Mary, and the rest of the cast are phenomenal actors with experience in improvisation and were able to fully embody their characters. The resulting performances are far more genuine, exhibiting a rich and believable spirit and style. We created this film for less than $2,000 and with an average crew of three. Various scenes and characters in the film are taken from experiences in my own life or from people I know. This is the first feature film that I have written and directed and felt that it was important to focus on simple and honest storytelling rather than on outrageous scenarios. I hope I was successful in this effort to create something real so that you can connect with the story and its characters by recognizing aspects of your own lives and experiences. For me this is the goal of all film and all art. Thank you for watching and enjoy the show. ~ Curtis Matzke

CURTIS MAT ZKE Writer/Director/Producer

Curtis Matzke is an independent filmmaker from Michigan with a B.A.

and M.A in Media Arts and Technology from Michigan State

University. In addition to the above credits, Curtis also served as the

Director of Photography and Editor of Complex, which is his first feature

film. Curtiss last film, American Terrorist, which he wrote and

photographed, as well several other short films, have screened at over a

dozen film festivals nationally and internationally. He is currently in

post-production for another film, titled First Feature, a documentary

about a filmmakers first project.

PRODUCTION DETAILS Complex was conceived in the summer of 2011 and shot that fall. Post-production was completed by June 2012. The film was produced with a non-budget of merely $2,000. This was the first feature film for director Curtis Matzke, who also served as the director of photography, shooting the film with his own Nikon D7000 DSLR camera and most of his own equipment. The crew of the film was intentionally kept very small, as to ensure an authentic independent production. Matzke decided to keep most of the cinematography handheld, shooting with one zoom lens (a Tamron 28-75mm) that allowed him to make while filming. This style, when paired with the improvised dialogue from the actors, ensured an honest and unique telling of the story.

COMPLETED January 2012 LOCATION East Lansing, MI RUN TIME 93 Min CAMERA Nikon D7000

CAST JON WIERENGA Jeremy Jon Wierenga received his BFA in Acting from Michigan State University in 2011. Since then, he has moved to Atlanta, where he has been performing on stages and writing scripts. He spends an exorbitant amount of his seemingly negligible temporal allowance doing what he loves to do, and the rest of it is spent perusing thesauruses. MARY WARDELL Anna Mary Wardell is currently studying Multimedia Journalism at Northern Michigan University. She has been active in theater her whole life and starred in the 2010 Roman Spring Pictures film, The Myth of the American Sleepover, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Mary's future plans include traveling the world and eventually meditating out of it, if

possible. She is very pleased to have had the opportunity to work on this project.

NICOLAS DRESSEL Ben Nicholas Dressel is currently a senior at Michigan State University; he is earning his BFA in Theater. He has worked for three years as a standup comic and has studied improv at Second City in Chicago. He is thrilled to no longer live in his mother's house and is really into knitting scarves. ALEX POLING Matt Alex Poling is a student at Michigan State University pursuing a degree in Theatre. His goal is to move to Chicago upon graduation, where he hopes to make his living in television, film, and on the stage. Alexs special skills include balloon animals and beard growing. ANDY HUBER Phil Andy studied music and acting at Michigan State University, where he was active in the Theater Department and Community Music School. He has worked at an assistant director for youth theater programs. Any now lives and works in New York City. BRUCE BENNETT Dad Bruce Bennett lives in Grand Ledge, Michigan. He was born in Mason, Michigan 40-something years ago, and has been doing creative things in the Mid-Michigan area all his life. Bruce has been an actor and an artist for more than 25 years. Hes been art director for two ad agencies and a small newspaper (The Capital Times), and an illustrator at a large

newspaper (The Lansing State Journal, Gannett Newspapers.) Bruce currently does artwork as a freelancer.

ANNE MIRANDA Mom Anne K. Miranda is a Michigan-based actor with more than twenty years of stage and eight years of film experience. Between films, she assists her husband David at his investment firm in Okemos, MI and watches her two boys play baseball.

CREW

WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER Curtis Matzke LINE PRODUCER Greg Capoccia ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS Patrick Mack & Kelsey Hansen EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Jeff Wray CINEMATOGRAPHER/EDITOR Curtis Matzke CASTING Laura Aughton SOUND Sean Hildebrandt & Zach Hall GAFFER Sean Hildebrandt SCRIPT SUPERVISORS Kelsey Hansen, Patrick Mack, & Greg Capoccia

ART Kelsey Hansen, Patrick Mack, & Greg Capoccia POSTER DESIGN Kim Berens COMPOSER Josh Linsely SOUND EDITOR/MIXER Marlowe Mauly Taylor

To view the teaser trailer of Complex go to: http://vimeo.com/45869047

MORE INFORMATION facebook.com/complexthemovie curtismatzke.com CONTACT INFORMATION Curtis Matzke T 517.214.4584

curtismatzke@unfurnishedfilms.com