Local Film Grad Directs Movie on Silver Spring

For as long as he can remember, Nate Schardin has wanted to be a filmmaker.

After taking a film production class at Nicolet High School, he went to Milwaukee Area Technical College, where he recently received his degree in television and video production.

Shoppers on Silver Spring Drive received a sneak peek of him filming his latest effort, "The Vampire Formerly Known as Dracula," Friday morning in front of the former El Guapo's building near Berkeley Boulevard.

Schardin directed the film, which was written by Milwaukee High School for the Arts freshman Ian Walls. Schardin decided to shoot some of the scenes outside the former El Guapo's space because he works next door at , which is one of three historic theaters in the Milwaukee area .

Schardin got involved with the film because of his long involvement in the Milwaukee Film Festival's Collaborative Cinema program, where he has interned since his days at Nicolet. Schardin has done everything from staffing the craft services table to shooting a promotional documentary for the program.

“For as long as I can remember my life has been devoted to the love of and production of movies," Schardin said. "I am so honored, excited, and humbled to have been chosen to direct this year’s Collaborative Cinema film. To stand amongst the talented and visionary directors of years past is incredibly validating.”

The film is a comedy about a traditional Dracula ending up in contemporary America only to find himself displaced by a new breed of fashionable vampires. The short film will be shot over the course of three days and will premiere in "The Milwaukee Show" at the 2012 Milwaukee Film Festival, which runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 11.

This year, over 50 high school students, college students, and local writers enrolled Milwaukee Film’s Collaborative Cinema screenwriting workshops. Writers developed a short script idea from a one-page treatment into a 10-page script, and worked with screenwriters, educators and filmmakers over the course of several months.

The top five scripts were then pitched by five emerging local directors to a deciding panel of industry professionals, which included Carlo Besasie (Tempest Pictures), Mark Foote (Flexible Films, LLC), Jeff Kurz (Milwaukee Film Production Coordinator), and Kara Mulrooney (Gal Friday Films).

“Ian’s script immediately won over the Collaborative Cinema screenwriting mentors with its wit,” said Milwaukee Film Education Director Susan Kerns. “In Nathaniel’s pitch, he followed the script’s lead and sold us on an amusing, historically based tale of past meeting present and cultures colliding. Ian and Nathaniel will be a terrific fit for each other’s work. I couldn’t be more excited to be working on this production for the next few months with these talented young filmmakers.”