I would like to add some balance to th previous "review" in whom was a little on the harsh side.
SUM OF EXISTENCE was shot on digital beta (I bothered to ask what it was shot on) so having some limited knowledge of the film making process and how something that was shot as a "telemovie" would translate onto the big screen, I understood the look the film had when it was translated to the "big screen".
JD COHEN (writer, director and producer) has produced a worth while film for his maiden voyage into the film industry. While it was shot on an almost "shoe string budget", he and his team did a fine job for their first feature film. I certainly believe it was better than most directorial debuts I have seen over the years.
As for the person picking the "plot holes" in the script, well hey, welcome to the world of film making. I would certainly like to see some films of his or hers that DO NOT have plot holes (when thinking of plot holes, let us not forget a certain big budget sci-fi in which the world was saved when we uploaded a computer virus in an ALIEN computer .... and we think that windows and mac have compatibility problems ... HA!).
SUM OF EXISTENCE was well acted and well directed in my humble opinion (especially when the very small if not non-existent budget is taken into account!). This opinion I "qualify" as an indie film maker myself.
Above all things, the most important aspect to consider is that JD COHEN and the team have GOT OUT THERE AND DONE THE THING !!! Many plan to shoot something, won't try for funding and winge and moan about the state of our film industry in this country (which admittedly isn't all that good!!!), then they will have a dig at someone and their team that HAS GONE OUT THERE and MADE THE FILM.
Kudos to JD COHEN, TIM MADDOCKS and the rest of the team.
Kudos to SUM OF EXISTENCE.
Lets see more people willing to take a chance and get out there.
PS. I have been in contact with both JD and Tim since the screening, both are in planning and negotiations for their next respective films ... with substantial budgets .... so there's another reason for us all to get off our butts and make our films ... after all you never know where that project will take you
