YOU’RE NOT ALONE…

2023 | 16 MIN | USA | ENGLISH | SCI-FI

Ashley Gwen Patrick

Wanda Chapin (voice)

Beverly Ann Danneman (voice)

And Frankie the C.A.T.

STARRING

WRITTEN BY

Ashley Gwen Patrick

DIRECTED, PRODUCED & EDITED BY

AGP & JME

DOP & VFX BY

Jaime Chapin

COMPOSER

ToughLEE

LOGLINE:

An alienated single woman discovers her house cat is a creature from another planet.

On Earth, an astrobiologist named Jean has just been fired. She returns home to her loving cat, Frankie. If it weren’t for Frankie, Jean would be all alone in life. 

Jean needs to find another job. Frankie distracts her with a game until Jean stumbles upon a box of family secrets. Deep down, Jean wants to find out what really happened to her grandmother so she can understand why her mother believes in aliens. Frankie, on the other hand, has a mission of her own…

As Jean searches for the truth, Frankie encounters a strange creature that arrives through a portal in the apartment. Jean knows too much and is in danger. Frankie disappears. Jean searches for her in vain until the shocking truth is revealed - there is no such thing as cat cats.

SYNOPSIS:

  • Writer-Director-Producer, JEAN

    Ashley Gwen Patrick (aka AGP) was born in Wheaton, Illinois, USA, Earth. She is an actress and writer-director-producer. From a young age, she wanted to work in the movies. Ashley grew up with a VHS camcorder glued to her hand making home videos with her siblings.

    C.A.T. is not the first time Ashley has performed with one of her pets. Pursuing acting in high school, Ashley gave a memorable performance in The Wizard of Oz as Auntie Em, alongside her pet Yorkshire Terrier, Curry as Toto. Previous theater roles include Dr. Jacqueline Hyde in Alibis and the Ring Girl in The Life and Death of Trotsky. This led to performing as an uncredited extra in feature films and television series such as Repentance, Grimm, Broad City and High Maintenance.

    AGP has 15 years of experience working in the film and television industry as an assistant director. Most recently, Ashley has become a member of the Coach House Players, a community theater organization, in Kingston, NY where she resides with her wife and pets.

    X: @agpatrick

  • Director-Producer, DOP & VFX

    Jaime Chapin is a non-binary filmmaker of drama, sci-fi, and fantasy. She is from Argyle, Texas, USA, Earth. They are a writer, director, and producer known for The Whale (2011) and The Morning Tide (2013).

    X: @JaimeChapin

  • Composer

    ToughLEE (Lisa) is a producer, singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Memphis, TN. ToughLEE is a childhood nickname given to her because of her inner strength. The sounds that influenced her played in her home of soul, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and gospel.

    The music is a blend of emotional sounds of soul, upbeat, dreamy, epic, and chill vibes that sonically connects to the heartstrings. Perfect for telling impactful stories.

    ToughLEE stands for resilience. The superpower is music.

    www.toughleemusic.com
    YouTube: @lisa-toughlee-sync
    Instagram: @tough.lee_beats
    #tough.lee_beats

  • FRANKIE/NIXO

    Francis “Frankie” Liberty Chapin-Patrick is a catress and couch potato from Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, Earth. She is named after Baby Houseman from Dirty Dancing. From the moment she was adopted and aptly named by AGP, Frankie knew she was a star just like Jennifer Grey.

    Frankie grew up on the road with Ashley. Much of her kittenhood was spent in Louisiana, Alabama and Montana. While AGP followed their dreams of working in the movies they travelled more and more of USA, Earth and spent time in Oregon, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and New York. Stardom comes naturally to Frankie and she always finds adoring fans wherever she goes.

DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT

Wives and filmmakers Ashley Gwen Patrick and Jaime Chapin, collectively AGP & JME, tell diverse and inclusive narratives about curious characters trapped in Americana fabulism. They met while working on the comedy series Broad City in Brooklyn, NY. Both are devoted to writing, directing and producing stories that change us. 

“The genesis of C.A.T. a Cosmic Alien Thing came from a dream. I drafted it into a short screenplay. When Jaime read it, she knew we needed to make it into a movie. 

Let’s be honest, cats are pretty sus. In the script and film, things get weird quickly when the main character’s family history with alien conspiracy theories resurfaces. With Jean and Frankie in C.A.T., we wanted to showcase the millennial cat person. We think most cat people witness otherworldly behaviors from their feline friends (iykyk). For years, we’ve basically been programmed by our cat to be obsessed with her. So aside from being inspired by Frankie, we also wanted to make the short film different from what-your-pets-do-while-you’re-at-work stories because the real question is what does your pet do while you’re at home…

Thematically, this story calls upon the viewer to question what you believe and the motives of cats . By twisting the stereotype of the crazy cat lady, we show that friendship with an animal does alleviate loneliness to an extent and provides an outlet to some relationship problems. 

Tonally, the main character, Jean, is at conflict with herself (and then the intruding envoys from the planet Grimalkin). As an astrobiologist, life beyond Earth should be a no-brainer, but she denies herself that because of what happened to her mother and grandmother. 

Visually, it is a contemporary sci-fi plot with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial vibes, early M. Night Shyamalan sensibilities and Predator-esque visual effects. The action itself carries shifting POVs with close-ups and subjective camera angles enhancing the suspense. 

Between the two of us, we have 30 years of filmmaking experience. Armed with our iPhones, a Zoom recorder and a puppet, we produced C.A.T. on a shoestring budget with an all female/nb cast & crew, including our cat Frankie. Literally, it was just the two of us. In post production, we licensed “Space Rock” from our Composer ToughLEE (Lisa Shea Smith). 

Our intention is to leave the audience with a sense of hope.

Adopt a pet, you’ll save two lives!”

— AGP & JME

TECHNICAL INFO

  • 15 Minutes 58 Seconds

  • 16:9

  • iPhone 11 Pro

  • English

  • Color

  • Frankie and AGP met when she was a teeny kitten called Flopsy at a shelter in Shreveport, Louisiana.

    “From the moment I saw her, I knew she was a star. She was playing with a crumpled piece of paper to get my attention and won my heart. When Jaime and I set out to make C.A.T., Frankie was 12 years old. We had all been together for so long that we knew what Frankie’s talents and capabilities were and designed her scenes and coverage around that.”

  • “For us, the best part of production was working with our pets. Frankie has always been food motivated and performed well for treats. When she would get full (or tired) we would shoot my coverage. Our dog Atlas would stand in for Frankie or be my eye-line. Atlas would get so excited while we were filming she would sometimes blow takes lol.”

  • “It’s a really big cabinet lol but once you’re inside it’s pretty cramped in there (even though it’s a portal to space). Jaime had to crawl in too - with the camera equipment - for one of the shots.”

  • “In the short, C.A.T.s are from the planet Grimalkin which is an archaic noun for cat (used especially in reference to its characteristically feline qualities).”

  • “The same way you teach a dog - with treats!”

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