The Last Passport,” a heartwarming and inspiring drama, is now available to stream on YouTube. The film, which premiered at the Solstice Film Festival in 2009 and won Best Actor (Jimmy Hager) and Best Director (Kent Smith and David Temple), has been screened at various universities across the country, educating film students on the art of making low-budget films.
What sets “The Last Passport” apart is that it was made on a shoestring budget of just $5000, and the entire process from writing to scoring took just 30 days. The crew was mainly comprised of locals from Charlotte, N.C., and the film was shot in just three days.
The movie stars Jimmy Hager, Dave Blamy (Rings, The Taking of Deborah Logan), Bonnie Johnson (Dopesick, ManHunt), and Rachel St. Gelais (The Blind Side, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn), and was written by Kent Smith (Mike, Little Package), David Temple (Chasing Grace), and Alex Bailey. It follows a mysterious old man dispensing wisdom in a magical passport office otherwise known as Purgatory.
From the very start of “The Last Passport,” the writers knew they were working with forces bigger than all of them. The story unfolded while Kent Smith was waiting for a passport for his up-and-coming trip out of the country, and the idea sparked the creation of the film. The team had to work quickly to write, produce, and shoot the film in just 30 days. “The Last Passport” is a unique production as it was streamed live over the internet, with over 10,000 people tuning in to watch the process with the help of Robert Reddick running live-streaming show.
We knew we needed a lot of help to make this happen within 30 days, so we contacted some of the best people we know to work on this project. We walked into Steve Saxon’s (Redneck Roots) office with the concept of our film in hand. We pitched him the story. After a moment, he told us: “if you do accomplish this…and I am not involved, then I will regret not doing this the rest of my life.” So, at that point, we had our Director of Photography ready to go and we began the process of adding more crew including Andy Boswell for Set Designer (Banshee), Ginger Knussman for Costume Design (The Hunger Games), Rod Honeycutt (Southern Gothic) as 1st assistant director, Kristi Stanfill (A Dance for Bethany).
The ball now rolling, we began to fill out the rest of the key crew. Next up was casting. The talent that showed up at the Lucky You Films doorstep amazed us. With only three days left till shooting began, we still hadn’t cast the main character. That was when Mitzi Corrigan (Cabin Fever, The Taking of Deborah Logan) of Corrigan & Johnston hit a homer for us. She sent over a list of great people, but one person jumped off the page. After taking to Jimmy on the phone, we knew we had our man for the part.
We were ready to shoot the film. There were only three short days allowed in our 30-day time frame to shoot the film. The controlled chaos that reigned in our small studio during these days was unbelievable, it was a like a three-ring circus. We decide to shoot this film on the Redone Camera, but also wanted to make it in the style of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope” which required long shots. That meant each shot had to be carefully planned out and the actors had to be on their game.
After the principal photography was completed, the heavy lifting began on post-production. We had a crew of editors (Jonathan Ayala, Raul Martinez and Amy Campbell) working around the clock piecing the film together. Kim Planert (Missing, Skid Row Marathon) scored the entire film in a week while the editors poured over all the footage and added sound design.
What is ‘The Last Passport’ about? It’s a story about self-reflection. The film challenges you to take a closer look at yourself, exploring the thoughts and experiences of real people just like you and me. The entire story unfolds within the walls of a passport office – or so it seems. George Miller, the main character, is a 70-year-old man who takes us on a journey through his life to reveal that we are not so different from one another. Along the way, he encounters a diverse group of individuals and profoundly impacts each of their lives, much like the effect the film might have on you.
“The Last Passport” is now available to stream on YouTube, and viewers are encouraged to rate and review the film on the IMDB page. Don’t miss out on this award-winning gem of a movie!
