After an affair, a woman finds redemption in the city of New York. This zero-dialog short film has been an Official Selection of at over a dozen film festivals across the USA and worldwide. Written, directed, and edited by Patrick Ortman.
From Patrick:
I'm a sucker for redemption stories. Always have been. I wrote and shot "New York Love Story" in about a week. What happened was I was called from LA to New York to shoot a commercial project. When I got off the plane, I found out it'd fallen apart. I was alone, feeling like a loser, running out of money. I decided to make the best of this time I had, because I'd brought a RED camera and a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera (the OG one) plus a couple of lenses.
I sat in my tiny apartment and wrote this, then went down to B&H to put a couple grand on my credit card for a DJI Ronin. I called up my buddy Chad and his brother Jason for crew. And we shot without sound, because I didn't have the money for a sound person.
I knew the star of the film already, Joann Ryan was a friend and we'd worked together before in LA. She and I lucked out with the rest of the cast- including one Broadway star- who were willing to work for food.
And then we shot it. Oh man, we got lucky. Strangers went out of their way to not bother us, including a NYPD cop who specifically held people out of our shot even though we were shooting without permits on the street. It's like New York wanted me to make this story, my love letter to the city.
When I made it back to LA I called in a few favors from people like Martin Schloemer (SONY now, was ToddAO), Moritz Fortmann (Blackmagic), and Brandon Balin (Paramount) for some post-production love. I did the VFX and the edit, because again- no money!
And it's funny. Truth is, this short film has helped me so much in my life. It's one of the top things that ad agency or brand people mention when they say they want to work with me. But more than that, I think as creatives we only rarely get to tap into our own, unfiltered essence. This was one of those moments in my life.
So "New York Love Story" is a redemption story that helped me on my own redemption journey. I am grateful.
- Patrick Ortman