(Chicago, IL, May 20, ‘09) – Michael O'Rourke has won the Accolade Competition Award of Merit for direction of his first short film, “Refuge of Dragonflies,” one of three films cited for direction in that category. Based on characters in Victor Hugo’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” O’Rourke’s contemporary adaptation features an international cast and crew from 11 countries filmed on location in West Palm Beach. The film uses stunning images and soulful direction to tell the centuries-old story of the struggle between innocence and corruption, creativity and destruction, love and obsession.
O’Rourke, executive producer of Shadow F/X Films, wrote, directed and edited “Refuge” while attending Palm Beach Film School in West Palm Beach, Florida, last year. On hearing of the Accolade’s recognition of the film, Jim York, founder and director of the Film School, said, “Michael established himself as one of the ‘quiet leaders’ in our hands-on training program. He wrote an excellent script. His directing and producing abilities were exemplary.”
About bringing “Refuge” to the screen O’Rourke says, “I’ve had a ‘Hunchback’ project on the back burner for a long time, and with it so many aspirations—a fairy tale with dirt under the fingernails; a sexy, one world, human rights, poetry dance with irony, that reflects the war, famine, and climate change of our time. Before film school, I never considered making a short film. How could I put all those ideas and visions into 15 minutes? The teachers and staff of Palm Beach Film School turned that around. The mantra was simplify, simplify, simplify. I’ve produced theatre on a shoestring for 30 years, so it wasn’t hard to convince me to be practical. But it was a lot of painstaking and ego smashing work to get down to the bedrock of this chapter out of Hugo’s masterpiece. As I did, I found all my aspirations were in fact already imbedded in the original, and then some. Updating it proved to be a process like Michelangelo sculpting what is already in the stone.”
The film school curriculum requires all students in a class to rotate crew positions for each student film. “There were numerous challenges translating the script to a visual medium. As fate would have it, I found a great cinematographer among my classmates—Vilmar Borges of Brazil.”
In postproduction O’Rourke turned to John Mazzei (http://www.johnmazzei.com/), a composer for Harpo Productions, to write the original score for “Refuge.” “John and I have been collaborating since the late ‘80s. I wanted my first film to feature his music in a big way,” O’Rourke comments. Mazzei recently completed the score for the independent feature “Meipporul,” which opened in May concurrently in the US and India.
The Accolade recognizes film, television and videography professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity, and those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change. Thomas Baker, PhD, who chairs The Accolade, had this to say about the latest winners, “This is not an easy award to win. Highly qualified professionals judge entries received from around the world. O’Rourke and Shadow F/X Films join the ranks of high-profile winners of this internationally respected award.” Information about the Accolade and a list of recent winners can be found at http://www.theaccolade.net/.
For more information about “Refuge” contact O'Rourke at (847) 483-5726 or visit http://www.sfxfilms.blogspot.com/. The Palm Beach Film School website is http://www.palmbeachfilmschool.com/.
O’Rourke, executive producer of Shadow F/X Films, wrote, directed and edited “Refuge” while attending Palm Beach Film School in West Palm Beach, Florida, last year. On hearing of the Accolade’s recognition of the film, Jim York, founder and director of the Film School, said, “Michael established himself as one of the ‘quiet leaders’ in our hands-on training program. He wrote an excellent script. His directing and producing abilities were exemplary.”
About bringing “Refuge” to the screen O’Rourke says, “I’ve had a ‘Hunchback’ project on the back burner for a long time, and with it so many aspirations—a fairy tale with dirt under the fingernails; a sexy, one world, human rights, poetry dance with irony, that reflects the war, famine, and climate change of our time. Before film school, I never considered making a short film. How could I put all those ideas and visions into 15 minutes? The teachers and staff of Palm Beach Film School turned that around. The mantra was simplify, simplify, simplify. I’ve produced theatre on a shoestring for 30 years, so it wasn’t hard to convince me to be practical. But it was a lot of painstaking and ego smashing work to get down to the bedrock of this chapter out of Hugo’s masterpiece. As I did, I found all my aspirations were in fact already imbedded in the original, and then some. Updating it proved to be a process like Michelangelo sculpting what is already in the stone.”
The film school curriculum requires all students in a class to rotate crew positions for each student film. “There were numerous challenges translating the script to a visual medium. As fate would have it, I found a great cinematographer among my classmates—Vilmar Borges of Brazil.”
In postproduction O’Rourke turned to John Mazzei (http://www.johnmazzei.com/), a composer for Harpo Productions, to write the original score for “Refuge.” “John and I have been collaborating since the late ‘80s. I wanted my first film to feature his music in a big way,” O’Rourke comments. Mazzei recently completed the score for the independent feature “Meipporul,” which opened in May concurrently in the US and India.
The Accolade recognizes film, television and videography professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity, and those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change. Thomas Baker, PhD, who chairs The Accolade, had this to say about the latest winners, “This is not an easy award to win. Highly qualified professionals judge entries received from around the world. O’Rourke and Shadow F/X Films join the ranks of high-profile winners of this internationally respected award.” Information about the Accolade and a list of recent winners can be found at http://www.theaccolade.net/.
For more information about “Refuge” contact O'Rourke at (847) 483-5726 or visit http://www.sfxfilms.blogspot.com/. The Palm Beach Film School website is http://www.palmbeachfilmschool.com/.
