ABOUT THE CO-PRODUCERS

kat scratch films, LLC

The fictional story of a family who seeks refuge in their attic from the rising flood waters of Hurricane Katrina, only to be trapped there for five days awaiting rescue. No food. No water. No escape. And, unfortunately, no one knows they’re there.

Written/Produced/Directed by Kathilynn Phillips

Co-Produced by Jeremy Nocon & Austin Haley

Executive Producer - Eric Springman

Run Time 20:35 mins.

Native 16:9, DVCPro HD 720P/24PN Color, Stereo

And if you have any doubt how horrific it was for those possibly 1,350 folks who mostly died after Hurricane Katrina while awaiting rescue that never came, check out Kathilynn Phillips' heart-breaking short film, – in the tradition of great tragedies, almost unbearable to watch. Maralyn Lois Polak WorldNetDaily.com Exclusive Commentary 10/10/07

ABOUT THE FILM

Synopsis

In advance of the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for the city of New Orleans on Sunday, August 28th 2005. However, over 100,000 people – mostly poor, disabled or elderly – did not or could not comply with the order. The next day, August 29th, at 6:01 AM CDT, Katrina made landfall near Buras, Louisiana, seventy miles southeast of New Orleans.

By 9:00 AM CDT, the storm surge had breached the levies surrounding the city and 6-8 feet of water filled the Ninth Ward of New Orleans and elsewhere ...trapping all those left behind. By eleven am, ten feet of water stood in St. Bernard’s Parrish. Thousands escaped to the Superdome, many made it safely to the Coliseum. Still others, unable to leave their homes, hospitals or elder care facilities, fled to higher floors, attics or roofs to await rescue. For many, help came quickly. For others, it took days. But for some ...help never came.

“Katrina’s Wake” is the fictional story of family who sought refuge in their attic from the rising flood waters. No food. No water. No escape. And, unfortunately, no one knew they were there.

Director’s Statement

On October 3rd, 2005, Louisiana officially ended its door to door search for hurricane victims with a reported 1836 persons having died as a result of Katrina and its aftermath. However, hundreds are still missing or unaccounted for; and bodies continue to be found in the rubble.

Though the characters in this story are purely fictional, it has been documented in a study conducted by the New York Times that most people who perished as a result of Hurricane Katrina actually survived the “height of the storm but died in the chaos and flooding that followed.” New York December 18, 2005. It appears that these individuals, physically unable to escape the rapidly rising flood waters of the Hurricane’s wake, died of injury, illness, lack of needed medication, dehydration, starvation or drowning while they awaited rescue. Though some nurses and physicians heroically remained behind with their patients, many victims that were found dead in hospitals and nursing homes had been abandoned by their caretakers to die alone.

For some dead, those who fled to attics or higher floors only to be become trapped and hidden from the world without food or water, their homes became their coffins. For many, their remains were never claimed. They were the nameless for whom no one mourned. For others, their bodies, or what’s left of them, remain among the rubble, never to be granted a proper funeral. As a memorial to those unidentified or un-mourned individuals, the characters in “Katrina’s Wake” have no names.

In this film you will not see images of the external devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina nor will you see flood waters pouring into the attic. In fact, you won’t see much water in the film at all. Not only did our tiny budget preclude the use of a flooding set and shots of the destroyed landscape, but it was also our intent to not use them. Photos of the flooded New Orleans, the devastated coastline of Mississippi and the damage in other states have been broadcast across the Earth. But it was the hidden victims that the world forgot. This film is about the ones left behind. “Katrina’s Wake” is not about what the water did. It’s about what we as a nation didn’t do.

For all those who perished as a result of this storm, whether by the hand of God, errors in judgment, willful acts by others, or by our negligence, let us never forget.

Production Notes

To add unparalleled realism to the film, it was shot over three days in actual old attic (though not in a home) in Tupelo, Mississippi. The cast was also issued only one set of clothing for wardrobe and had to wear the same clothes throughout filming. Just as a real family that might be trapped in an attic during the flood might experience, the cast was hosed down and remained wet for a large part of the first day of filming. The camera rolled for two more days, just short of the time lapse that is actually represented in the script. Filming had to be confined to morning and night schedules, however, with frequent breaks and long mid-day shutdowns in order to avoid heat exhaustion by cast and crew. Still, the temperatures averaged 115°F and hit as high as 118°F during the filming sessions...and this was in May! Imagine what it would it would have been like in August! Through these difficult conditions, the cast & small crew got a taste of what it must have been like for those trapped in their attics in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It was a wonderful bonding and learning experience for everyone involved.

Despite the rough conditions, kat scratch films employed cutting edge technology in the making of the approximately half hour movie. It was shot in high definition 720/24PN using the New Panasonic DVCPro HD HVX200 camcorder. More extraordinarily, however, no tape media was used to store the footage. All recording was to Panasonic P2 digital data cards and downloaded to a portable “P2 Store” hard drive on set. Though the extreme heat took its toll and we lost some stored digital footage, the remainder was then transported back to Pennsylvania. It was then transferred to a kat scratch films’ hard drive on the nonlinear HD editing suite for post production.

ABOUT THE ACTORS

Jocelyn Amos as “Mama” Jonathan H. Jackson as “Son” De'Ja Evans as Daughter”

LaVita Brooks as “Grandmama”

Actors’ Biographies

Jocelyn Amos and De’Ja Evans are a mother/daughter acting team from Jackson, Mississippi. Though this was Jocelyn’s first film (she has commercial experience), she did an extraordinary job, portraying “Mama” in the story with great passion. Little De’Ja has stage, print and commercial experience. Her portrayal of “Daughter” will certainly touch the heart of audiences all over. Jonathan, who lives in Clinton, Mississippi, has held roles in commercials and in theatre and has print and runway credits. While in the role of “Son”, Jonathan brought forth such depth of emotion that it surprised even him. Audiences will be pleased with his performance. LaVita hails from Memphis and has theatre, film and television experience. Though she is only in her early thirties, she portrayed “Grandmama” with such realism that the cast quickly began treating her as such even off set!

All members of the cast brought great life and genuineness to the characters they portrayed, adding to the compelling nature of the film. Their tireless efforts were greatly appreciated, especially since the working conditions were less than ideal. These actors never complained and consistently maintained a positive attitude. What a joy to work with them!

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Kathilynn Phillips

Writer/Director/Producer

A multi-award-winning writer/filmmaker and former Assistant District Attorney, Kathilynn Phillips began her entertainment career as a writer while living in the San Francisco Bay area of California. There, she completed many screenplays and wrote a novel. She also became involved in independent films by joining a filmmaking association and the Film Arts Foundation. Additionally, she began taking formal writing, producing and directing courses offered by various Bay area organizations and institutions. Kat’s opportunity to produce one of her scripts arose upon a move to Philadelphia, where another strong independent film community existed along with a very helpful film office. Shortly thereafter, she and her husband, Eric Springman, formed kat scratch films and began work on the high definition production of her short script “SPACE AVAILABLE”© 2003.

Though the short film “SPACE AVAILABLE”©2004 was Ms. Phillips’ movie-making debut, it screened to thousands all over the United States and in Britain via nearly thirty film festivals thus far and has garnered many awards. Additionally, the short has built an audience of loyal fans nationwide who consistently remark that the film moves them, provokes them to think and discuss and to entice others to watch the film as well. It continues to be invited to screen even though it has officially retired from the festival circuit. In fact, it was selected to screen online as part of 2007 Live Earth. It has also received two non-exclusive distribution contracts and may be purchased on DVD. Award-winning “Katrina’s Wake”©2006, is Kat’s fifth short film project, is currently on the festival circuit.

The feature script of SPACE AVAILABLE has been completed and was chosen as a Semifinalist from nearly five thousand submissions internationally in the 2006 Nicholls Fellowship in Screenwriting competition. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) administers the annual competition. The script is currently under consideration by an internationally known company for production as a feature film.

Kat is now in postproduction on her third joint venture with Austin Haley and his Little Bo Productions. The feature film, tentatively titled, “Chasing the White Dragon”, was shot in high definition (1920 x 1080), and involves five small town America characters who are trapped in the nightmare of crystal methamphetamine addiction. It stars Ryan Kennedy (The Invisible, etc.); Amanda Ward, Preston Vanderslice, Learyn Wilde and several other stars of independent film. Visual effects for the film will be created by the team at DIVE; Mark Forker (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Titanic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc.), Andy Williams (Rendition, In the Valley of Elah, Blood Diamond, Kingdom of Heaven, etc.) and John-Michael Trojan (Shadowboxer, Teeth, etc.)

Kat presently resides in the Philadelphia area with her husband and son. Between projects, she continues to write, study the changes in the ever-advancing technology of digital motion picture production and to seek new stories and messages to bring to audiences utilizing this new medium.

Austin Haley

Director of Photography & Co-Producer

Austin Haley is an award-winning filmmaker who resides in Tupelo, Mississippi and operates his film/video production company, Little Bo Productions. Through his company, he has shot and produced many commercials, documentaries and short films and an upcoming television pilot. Previously, Austin lived in New York City where he once starred as “Zack Austin” on the daytime television series “One Life to Live”, as “Michael Parmel” in the film, “The Kings of Brooklyn” (2004) and off-Broadway. He also had recurring roles in daytime television on “Another World” and “Guiding Light” and starred in a music video with Faith Hill.

Austin relinquished his promising acting career in NYC to return to Tupelo to care for his aging grandmother. There, he currently resides with his wife, Ginger, his grandmother and his three lovely children.

Jeremy Nocon

Co-Producer

Jeremy Nocon received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with high honors from Rutgers University in 2000. He received his Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law, where he focused his studies on entertainment law and contract law. Upon graduation, Jeremy came to realize that the skills that he honed in law school were perfectly transferable to the world of film producing.

Being from the Philadelphia area, Jeremy sought out local production opportunities. He got his start in the film industry as a production assistant with an independent production company. On his first feature, “The Door Between,” Jeremy immediately impressed the executive producers and was promoted to associate producer. As the AP, he readily adapted to the new role and successfully shouldered the responsibilities associated with it.

After getting his feet wet on that film, he went on to work as an associate producer on the kat scratch films production, titled “The Awakening”, starring David Forsyth (All My Children, Another World, etc.) and Laurence Lau (Another World). Subsequently, Jeremy served as an Associate Producer on kat scratch’s “Chasing the White Dragon”.

Dr. Eric Springman

Executive Producer

Eric Springman holds a PhD in Molecular Biophysics from Florida State University and continues a successful 18-year career in biochemical and pharmaceutical research. Dr. Springman has been executive producer on all five of kat scratch films projects and has served as an editor on four of the most recent films. He has also authored three screenplays. As a division of kat scratch films, Kat and Eric have also formed, Paradocs Post, a post production service company which specializes in NLE hi-def editing and color correction. Paradocs Post is responsible for the color correction of “Katrina’s Wake” and the picture edit for “Chasing the White Dragon”.

CREDITS

Cast

Jocelyn Amos.......................................Mama

LaVita Brooks......................................Grandmama

De'Ja Imani Evans................................Daughter

Jonathan H. Jackson.............................Son

Michael Griffin......................................Rescuer #1

Paul Taylor...........................................Rescuer #2

Voiceover/ADR....................................Austin Haley

Crew

Eric Springman.....................................Executive Producer/Editor

Kathilynn (Kat) Phillips........................Writer/Director/Producer

Austin Haley.........................................Director of Photography & Co-Producer

Jeremy Nocon .....................................Co-Producer

Michael Griffin ....................................Production Designer

Charles Faust ......................................Boom Operator

Charles Cox ........................................Set Construction

Kathilynn (Kat) Phillips ......................Makeup

Jamelia Wright ....................................Production Assistant

Kenneth Darryl Mayfield, II.................Production Assistant

Adam Wells .........................................Production Assistant

Joshua Witherspoon ............................Production Assistant

Josh Mabus ..........................................Graphic Artist

Fact References

Hurricane Katrina Victim Facts from USA Today (online):

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-14-katrina-toll_x.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-21-katrina-missing_x.htm

Hurricane Katrina Timeline from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hurricane_Katrina_timeline&oldid=30620485 (last visited December 11, 2005)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-katrina-body-found,0,3388735.story

Various 2005 & 2006 articles of the New York Times.

http://ita.wisc.edu/currentstudnews/lancer/Hurric

FILM STATISTICS

20:35 minutes running time.

Native 16:9, DVCPro HD 720P/24PN Color, Stereo

Exhibition dubs: DVC Pro HD, DigiBeta (NTSC Anamorphic) &

BetaSp, DVD (NTSC Letterboxed)

WEBSITE

http://www.katscratchfilms.com/Katrinas%20Wake.htm

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS & AWARDS

World Premiere

2006 Rhode Island Int’l Film Festival, Honorable Mention “Best Editing”

2006 Artivist Film Festival

2006 IndieMemphis

2007 International Family Film Festival

2007 Magnolia Film Festival, “Best Dramatic Short”

2007 All American Film Festival “Best Film in the Festival”

2007 Cleveland Int’l Film Festival Honorable Mention “Best Women’s Short”

2007 Crossroads Film Festival

2007 Austin Women’s Film and Literary Festival

2007 Tupelo Film Festival

2007 Pocono Mountains Film Festival

2007 First Glance Philadelphia

2008 Delray Beach Film Festival

CONTACT PERSON

Kathilynn (Kat) Phillips

2310 Sienna Drive

East Norriton, PA 19401

610.517.9151

kat@katscratchfilms.com

2310 Sienna Drive East Norriton, PA 19401

http://www.katscratchfilms.com