“In my preteen years I made a pile of short films about farmer’s children who get struck by comets, swamp monsters that metamorphose into house pets and malicious lawnmowers,” Andrew Mudge says. “In college I studied anthropology but spent most of my time directing theater and film.”
He is a graduate of Colorado College.
With films under his belt, other projects in the works and two prestigious awards Mudge is making it in his chosen career.
As a benefit for the Sunrise Theater, three of Mudge’s award-winning short films are planned at each showing. The films featured chronicle the evolution of this talented and charming young film amker, says a Sunrise spokesman.
“The Perfect Gooseys.”
All comedies, the showings will take place at 8 p.m. on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11, and Monday, May 12. Tickets are $7 each.
A meet-the-filmaker reception is also set for Monday night at 7 p.m. for $25 per person.
Mudge is a son of local resident Bobbie Mudge.
“He holds a soft spot in his heart for the Sandhills,” says organizer Maura Colulter, a board member of the Sunrise Preservation Group.
Mudge is the writer/director/producer of the three short films, most notably the award winning ”Chicken Pox Pal” and most recently, “The Perfect Gooseys.” Having screened in nearly 30 international film festivals including the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, “Chicken Pox Pal” was sold exclusively to the Sundance Channel.
His latest film, “The Perfect Gooseys,” was completed in June of 2002. The only American film to be shown this past September at the Telluride Film Festival.
Set in a New England prep school, Andrew used more than 150 extras in “The Perfect Gooseys” which he calls his most ambitious film yet. It was he winner of the LA Short Film Festival and won the Golden Starfish award at The Hamptons Film Festival.
In addition, Mudge’s “The Perfect Gooseys” was a semifinalist in Chrysler’s 2003 nine-month Million Dollar Film Festival, a competition related to an entertainment production company Hypnotic — a division of Enigma Media Inc.
Mudge has won several other awards and has been recognized for filmmaking in many venues.
Andrew Mudge was born in Sherborn, Mass, but lives in New York City where he is currently in development of a narrative feature film and a short documentary. He is also a freelance writer/documentary filmmaker associated with Cultural Survival, a non-profit human rights group dedicated to defending the rights of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities.
