(upbeat bright music) (upbeat dance music) - Welcome back to "TVFilm".

I'm your host, Jermaine Wells.

While it saddens me to say this is the last episode of the season, the good news is that we're wrapping things up with two powerful shorts that are full of personality!

Our first is a film co-written and directed by Leigh LeFevre and Bill Murray III, titled "Never Again".

This is a dramatic short that takes place in the summer of 1997, which follows two best friends who set out for a fun-filled night at a local roller rink only to be interrupted by someone whose behavior becomes increasingly threatening.

Let's watch.

(people chatter) ♪ Time will tell ♪ (people chatter) (upbeat music) (skaters chatter) ♪ Time will tell ♪ (upbeat music) (lyrics indistinct) ♪ Time to kill ♪ (upbeat music) - Come on!

Let's go, are you done yet?

- [Sadie] Yeah, just a sec.

- I've been waiting forever.

This is why you need to get your own skates.

- Okay, I'm done.

Let's go.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Guys, grab your gals.

We're gonna slow things down.

(girls squeal) (girls laugh) - Oww!

- You guys okay?

- Yeah, we're fine.

We're just really over it.

- Yeah.

- Okay well, let me know if you need anything.

- Thanks.

- Okay, thanks, yeah.

(girls laugh) (chuckles) No.

Ugh, I can't stand this song.

It's so overplayed.

- Should we be a couple just this once?

Please, I never had anyone to skate with.

- Oh my God.

- Please!

- Ohh.

- Please?

- Fine, fine.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

- How's it goin'?

- Hi, good.

- Would you like to skate with me?

- Oh, um, I'm good.

We were actually gonna sit this one out.

- Um, do you wanna go grab some food?

- Yeah, let's get pretzels!

- [Sadie] Okay.

- Oh, yeah actually, we only have one pretzel left but I can save it for you if you want.

- Oh, don't worry about it.

It's fine.

- Nah, it's no biggy.

- You sure?

- Yeah, just meet me at concessions.

- Okay.

(light music in distance) - One hot pretzel comin' right up.

- Sweet, thanks.

I'm sorry, what was your name?

- I'm Nate, nice to meet you.

- [Jesse] Yeah, you too.

I'm Jesse.

This is Sadie.

- Hey, uh, I'm gonna get a chocolate bar.

- Uh, we're out.

- Um, okay, I'm good then.

Ready to head back out?

- Mmhm.

- Okay.

(upbeat music) ♪ I think we got to get together ♪ - Come on!

Some people are just generally nice.

- [Sadie] Uh huh.

- Plus, you know he's not my type.

- How's Chris?

- He's good.

He still hasn't asked me out yet though.

- Still?

It's been like three weeks!

- Three and a half.

- Jeez, yeah!

What is he waiting for?

- I don't know.

Maybe he just wants to take things slow.

I can respect that.

- Yeah.

I guess.

(Jesse sighs) - Ugh, this is reminding me of when we bailed on our dates for that, what was it called?

- No, freshman year, ugh!

The theme was disco fever.

- Ugh, that school dance sucked.

- Yeah.

God, why did we go to that?

- I don't know.

I guess 'cause everyone else was.

- Yeah.

Ya know what?

New rule.

We do what we want when we want.

- (chuckles) Deal.

(slow groovy music) - Wanna go see that new movie that's out, "Under the Moon"?

I think that's what's showing at 9:45.

- No, I can't take another one of your vampire movies.

- No, it's a romantic comedy.

I know better than to bring you to anything with blood.

You made that abundantly clear last time.

- Yeah, I'd have to call my parents.

Ya know, you'd think since I turned 18, I have a little more freedom but no.

- Awe, that's cute how much they care about you.

- It's annoying.

- Eh, well, my dad doesn't give a shit what I'm doing and I only see him every other weekend.

Could be smoking, could be smoking crack under a bridge right now for all I know.

- [Jesse] I'm pretty sure he knows you're not smoking crack.

(paper crinkles) (light eerie music) (phone rings) - Galaxy Glide, open till 10.

This is Jake speaking.

- [Caller] Yeah, uh, what time do you guys close?

- 10.

- [Caller] Cool, I just wanted to know like.

(phone clicks) - Dude, today dragged on.

I'm ready to go home and burn one.

- Yeah, it's a pretty dead night.

You can get outta here if you want, man.

- Sure you don't want a ride home?

Be like a 20 minute walk.

- Uh, no, I'm not stayin' there anymore.

Living with my Aunt Pat now.

It's not that far.

- Damn.

Didn't realize it was that bad.

Is um.

- Man, I don't wanna talk about it.

It's in the past.

I'm above it, okay?

- Well uh, what are you doing tonight?

My dad's workin' the night shift.

We could smoke at my place.

- Hey, before you leave, you wanna talk to that girl over there?

- Who?

- That girl, Sadie.

I wanna get her friend's number but it's hard when.

- You want me to ask for you?

- No, no!

I just need a moment in private, so.

- Ohhh, I get it.

Man, I'm just not as good at talking to people as you are, man.

How was skating?

- It was good, thanks.

- Just 10 minutes.

Just wanna ask her for her number.

(rock music in distance) - So, ugh.

- Uh, hey, sorry I forgot your name.

What was it again?

- Uh, um, it's Sadie.

- Nice to meet you and you too.

I was wondering if you wanna participate in a survey for the quality of the place.

- Yeah, um, sure!

- Okay, I'll go grab a pen and paper.

I started like totally making shit up.

- Can I be honest with you?

You're overthinking this.

All right listen.

We're men.

Those girls, they're lucky to have our attention.

- Yeah, I'm a man.

- You're the man.

- Yeah, I'm the man.

- You're a big man.

- Big man!

- Yeah.

- Yeah!

Okay so, how would you, overall, rate the quality of this place?

- It's pretty good.

Um uh, ya know what?

The um, the bathrooms could be a lot cleaner and the paint cans are bleh, awful, smells awful.

I'd actually been kinda meaning to ask.

Do you guys have half sizes here?

- Oh no, we don't carry those.

Oh, it's actually a funny story.

- Can I go out and sit at the car?

- Yeah, uh, my keys are in the front pocket.

- [Jesse] I'll take your stuff.

- [Sadie] Thanks, see ya in a minute.

Sorry, what were you saying?

(rock music in distance) - Want me to walk you to your car?

- That's okay, car's right there.

Uh, thanks again for the pretzel earlier.

- Yeah, no, I figured you'd enjoy that.

It's not really in my job description to give free pretzels to pretty girls but, whatever.

- Well, this is our car so, see ya?

- Come on.

You weren't just gonna leave it at that, were you?

Let me get your number.

- Wow, yeah, that's a funny story.

Well, I mean.

- Yeah, so um, what do you think of the customer service here?

- It's pretty good.

Maybe find a better way to regulate your line.

Guys seemed understaffed earlier.

Okay, I gotta run.

- Oh, that's so true!

- We're swamped on Saturdays.

You wouldn't believe what happened the other day.

- [Jesse] Uh, I have to go.

- [Nate] It'll only take a second.

Really hit it off, didn't we?

- [Jesse] That's nice, but I really gotta (gasps).

- Yeah and I haven't worked a league night since.

Do you think there's any way we can improve the quality and safety here at Galaxy Glide Roller Rink?

That's something my boss wanted me to ask.

- Yeah, um, like I said, cleaner girl's restrooms.

That's all I can really think of.

It's just a roller rink.

It's pretty equal, so.

(Jesse pants) - You're so pretty, Jess.

(Jesse pants) (Nate chuckles) - Okay well, I'm gonna go.

- Oh yeah, totally.

Thank you for baring with me and baring with the questionairre and for you returning your skates.

Not a lot of people do that.

- Yeah, it was nice meeting you.

- [Jake] Yeah.

(rock music in distance) (eerie music) - What the?

(Jesse whimpers) - Oh my God, are you okay?

- God.

- What happened?

(Jesse whimpers) - Okay, hey, hey, tell me what happened.

- I don't know, um, he wanted to walk me to the car and I didn't wanna give him my number.

I'm an idiot 'cause I told him he was nice.

- No, no, I should've walked out with you.

- No, no, no.

- I should've - walked out with you.

- No.

- I should've.

- No, no!

- You didn't do a damn thing.

You did not do a damn thing.

It doesn't matter if you said he was nice.

It doesn't matter and for the record, he obviously is not nice.

If he was, he would've listened to you.

I mean, he's just uh, he's um.

He was hurting you.

He was hurting you and that's just not okay.

Okay?

Come here.

I'm so sorry!

I am so sorry.

What do we do now?

(Jesse sighs) - I have an idea.

- Okay.

(synth) (upbeat music) (engine grumbles) ♪ You think it's fine to hide ♪ ♪ Behind that smile ♪ ♪ You believe the lies ♪ ♪ That you're always telling ♪ ♪ She's beautiful, she's everything you want ♪ ♪ Nothing's waiting but the echoes in your heart ♪ ♪ Doesn't matter if she doesn't see it too ♪ ♪ You say this was meant for us ♪ ♪ I'm meant to be with you ♪ ♪ It's time you were left behind too tight ♪ ♪ Time to kill ♪ ♪ Dead are the days you're just in time ♪ ♪ Time will tell ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Never again ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Never again ♪ ♪ You pretend it's right ♪ ♪ You're stuck in your state of mind ♪ ♪ Think you'll take what you want ♪ ♪ And pushed it too far this time ♪ ♪ She's beautiful, she's everything you want ♪ ♪ Nothing's waiting but the echoes in your heart ♪ (film slate clicks) - My name is Bill Murray III.

- And my name is Leigh LeFevre and we created the short film, "Never Again".

- I've seen a lot of sexual harassment and revenge movies in the past.

And I thought can't that situation be stopped?

- You had reached out to me and said like, women empowerment film, love your acting, I'd love for you to just act in it and then, you sent me over like just a couple ideas and said that I could give feedback if I wanted.

So, I did and then you were like, "Wanna write this together?

Do you wanna direct it too?"

I was like, "Of course!"

So, that's kind of how it happened.

The writing process, at first, was a lot of troubleshooting, going back and forth about what the structure of the film would be or how it would end.

- I admit, at first, I wanted it to be a little more violent.

I come from a horror background.

Leigh's more of drama background, so, - Yeah.

- having those two different sides really made us, I think, really good collaborators.

(light upbeat music) - Here it is, the final film of the season.

"The World Said No" is a short animation by Jennie Thwing based on the question what if nature decided to fight back?

A combination of hand-painted backgrounds, cell animation, and stop-motion.

This is an allegorical piece about ecological apathy and its consequences.

Let's check it out.

(soft bright music) (birds squawk) (wind gusts) (light guitar strums) (people chatter) (water splashes) (guitar strumming continues) (birds chirp) (figure blows) (rain falls) (children laugh) (birds chirp) ♪ Playing's so fun ♪ ♪ Lie in the waters ♪ ♪ We are so happy ♪ (fruit crunches) (upbeat percussion music) (tree cracks) (saw whirs) (bird coos) (intense music) (gunshot blares) (horses neigh) (light percussion music) (shovel clicks) (rain stick clicks) (wind gusts) (train horn blows) (car horns blow) (tractor engine whirs) (bird coos) (iron clinks) (rocks crumble) (rain falls) (light upbeat music) (water ripples) (majestic music) (water ripples) (water splashes loudly) (explosion whirs) (soft music) (missiles crack) (explosions boom) (people scream) (water splashes) (thunder roars) (fire crackles) (soft vocal music) (thunder cracks) (dramatic music) (light guitar strumming) (birds chirp and coo) (leaves crunch) (rain falls) (light guitar continues) (wind whirs) (light guitar continues) (light zen music) - My name is Jennie Thwing and my film is called "The World Said No".

My goal in this film was to just experiment with kinda creating nature.

I didn't initially start with a premise or a story.

I started with animations of nature and then it kind of morphed into people existing in nature and then, nature fighting back.

My work is really sound-driven.

So, a lot of times, I'll start with the sound or creating the atmosphere of that moment, if that makes sense and then, as I start to get a feel for like, "Oh, this is a quiet moment."

Now, the wind is blowing and it, ya know, and because the wind is blowing, I'm animating trees moving and there's, there has to be the sound of water and so, there's a creek moving through the scene.

So I think I, I think a lot of the story is kinda audio drive.

(light music) - That's a wrap on this season!

Now, before you go enjoying that nice weather, check out WMHT.org/TVFilm to learn more about our selective films and filmmakers.

Don't forget to connect with WMHT on social media and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Thanks for watching.

I'm Jermaine Wells and I'll see you next summer.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] TVFilm is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the governor and the New York State Legislature.