It’ll be Christmas in July when a locally made comedic short called Home Invasion for the Holidays screens this week at the Long Island International Film Expo (LIIIFE) in Bellmore.
The film is the first for Elizabeth Watson of Port Washington, who wrote, produced and starred in the short. The film follows a newly divorced mom (Elizabeth Watson) and her college drop-out daughter (Katrina Medoff) who, fearing not having a man in the house, are put to the test when they have to outsmart a dimwitted burglar (William Kozy) that breaks into their home.
“It was the first time I conceived of the notion that I could make a film, and the process was a lot smoother than I thought it would be,” Watson told the Press. “It was just a two-day shoot and much of it was shot at night as well in a remote location [in New Jersey]…They had a lot of fun with it, and we did a lot of improvising as well.”
The film is one of more than 100 being screened at the 20th annual LIIFF, many of which have local ties.
The film was made with the help of New York City-based production company Silver Sound. It was directed by Ted Robinson and produced by Reed Adler.
Even though it was a seamless process, Watson said there was some anxiety.
“When it’s your baby, you worry about it a lot,” she said. “I hope audiences connect with the film on the basis of how hapless all of the characters are—just cobbling life together like so many people out there…No one has a grand scheme; we are just improvising life in the moment.”
Home Invasion for the Holidays will be screened with several other short films in the 3:45 p.m. Tuesday film block at LIIFF, which runs through Thursay at Bellmore Movies, 222 Pettit Ave. in Bellmore. For more information, visit longislandfilm.com
Editor’s note: Katrina Medoff is editor-in-chief of BORO Magazine, which is owned by Schneps Communications, the parent company of the Long Island Press.
