Empty Bench is a new YouTube channel started by James Piccolino, Gabe DeVarona and Johnny Michael (That’s me). Our goals are to have fun, make films (learning everything about it along the way) and create creative opportunities for people who have passions for film and comedy. This here is our first short film production… it’s called Ghosted, and it’s a ghost story about getting ghosted. So many people contributed their creative talents and personality to this little film and it’s a joy to see it complete.
The Ghosted film poster below was designed by the graphic artist Steve Saiz.
Here’s a cut for the instagram, short and snippy.
Since we casted kids, we had the luxury of a few moms being around set to capture behind the scenes photos. Here are some of those. The campfire location was a backyard that belonged Gabe’s Aunt Maria and for the flashbacks we ventured around Tropical Park in Miami.
Storyboarding and communicating visually is a super helpful way to plan out the shoot, envision shots, and generate new ideas. I’m no certified pro at this yet, but I gave it a thoughtful effort. Here are some of those early iterations and ideas. After we finished the campfire scenes we knew we needed to punch up the visual comedy a bit, so a handful of those ideas would come later in the process. The story really evolved through the edits and feedback from the team and some ideas like my character holding his own hand came from Liah who did our original score.
To amp up the camp vibes, we created a fictional summer camp called Camp Little Bench and adorned out cast with the camp themed tees.
An Empty Bench Production
CREW
Directed by Gabe DeVarona
Script & Story by James Piccolino & Johnny Michael
Original Music by Liah Beaver
Assistant Director Alyssa Lopez
Edited by Andres Di Bono & Johnny Michael
Storyboard Art by Johnny Michael
Title Sequence Art by Steve Saiz
Color Art by Peter Fabiny
Sound by Louis Berdasco
Produced by Johnny Michael, Gabe DeVarona & James Piccolino
CAST
Camp Counselor 1 James Piccolino
Camp Counselor 2 Johnny Michael
Ghost Girl Anita Lauren
Camp Girl 1 Sami Martinez
Camp Girl 2 Aly Martinez
Camp Boy 1 Dominic Cipriani
Camp Boy 2 Roman Eli
SPECIAL THANKS
Aunt Maria (Coral Gables Campfire Location)
Heather Ciprani (Superb Behind The Scenes Content)
Liah Beaver (Story Notes)
Licardo Hospitality (Tasty Food)
Filmgate Miami
Tropical Park—Miami-Dade County
James Piccolino Law PA (Expert Legal Advice Services)
Mariquitas Chips (Bueno Snacks)