Millersburg native's film earns seven awards at festival
By Kyle Valentini
April 19, 2011
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Summary: Millersburg native, Taylor Hazlett participated in Malone Universitys Open Frame Film Fest for the second year in a row on April 15 at the Johnson Center Chapel on the campus. Hazlett directed her second short feature, Customer Satisfaction, which was shown with other student films at the 9th annual festival. Hazletts film earned seven awards at the festival.
Taylor Hazlett, a junior at Malone University in Canton, studies Communication Arts with an emphasis on film. Hazletts short film, Customer Satisfaction, was featured at the Open Frame Film Fest, a student film fest in its 9th year at Malone University. The film fest was held Saturday, April 15 at the Johnson Center Chapel at the University.
Customer Satisfaction walked away with seven awards at the film festival that included:
Best original score: Jon Lincoln
Best actress: Trisha Landis
Best non-Malone contribution: Joe Siebert (for cinematography)
Best editing: Jordan Grubbs
Best directing: Taylor Hazlett
Best Picture
Audience choice
The films were judged by a panel that included people from the community, Malone Alumni and representatives from the Los Angeles Film Study Center.
Customer Satisfaction is a wry comedic short in which a grocery store clerk narrates the story of her last day on the job to her best friend, all the while pressing the boundaries of her perceptions versus those of everyone else. Customer Satisfaction was co-written by Malone student Erin Chellinsky and Joe Siebert, a Malone alumnus, served as director of photography. Monica Small and Danyella Tonelli produced the film and did the art direction.
In her artistic statement about the film Hazlett wrote, When Erin Chilensky and I first came up with the idea for Customer Satisfaction, we were poking fun at ourselves. There have been so many times in our friendship that I have told her that someone did something horrible to me, only to have her respond skeptically, I dont think that really happened like that. She was usually right. The slight against me was a result of my perception of events, and not an accurate representation of them. In Customer Satisfaction, I wanted to explore what it would be like for a person to be so wrapped up in her own little world that it would be difficult for her to recognize what other people were feeling and seeing, or even what effect her actions had upon others.
Hazlett was one of five Malone students who applied for and received grant money offered by Open Frame in order to assist in the making of their films. Hazlett was awarded $1000 from Open Frame.
My family was really stoked about the film and all the awards it received, said Hazlett. My mom and dad and siblings attended the festival. This summer I would like to do some writing with people I worked with on the film. Ill have to get a job. Sometime over the summer I would like to show the movie at my church so my friends and family in the community can see it.
Hazlett had applied for a program in Los Angeles with The Los Angeles Film Study Center, a faith based program that offers students an opportunity to work in a small community dedicated to quality film making. The program includes classes, projects and internships to better acquaint the student with film making. Hazlett recently learned she has been accepted for the semester-long program.
