director | producer | cinematographer
line producer | composer | post production facility

director

Jacob Gentry (right) and David Carradine swap stories on the set of "Last Goodbye."

Jacob Gentry (writer, director, editor) has been making short films in Georgia since he was 14. He never went to film school. In 2000, Gentry co-founded Atlanta-based POPfilms which was named Best Film Collective in Atlanta, 2002 and 2003. With POPfilms, Jacob wanted to take the underground Atlanta film scene to the next level. “It’s really a punk rock community of filmmakers who show movies like bands play clubs…The talent is here… We just need a bigger forum for people to see our work. A feature film with talented Hollywood actors could be the thing.”

That feature film is Last Goodbye, Gentry’s first feature as writer director and editor. “My first priority was to Patrick… to be true to his brilliantly honest novel. My second was to get rid of the notion that everyone in the south talks like Scarlet O’hara. Atlanta has the world’s busiest airport and is the home of CNN and Coca-Cola… this is not your sittin’-on-a-plantation-porch-drinking-sweet tea-Faulkner-by-way-of-Billy Bob Thornton-deep-south-story.”

Gentry also credits the band Altruistic with giving Last Goodbye added dimension and rich emotional texture. “I sure do value my relationship with those guys. What they brought to the table through music and energy really changed what Last Goodbye has become. The band in the book was sort of non-descript, but Altruistic… their songs and their performances… changed everything.

producer

Alex Motlagh (left) and Jacob Gentry on the set of "Last Goodbye."

Alexander Motlagh (producer) or "the- most- non- stressed- genius- producer we have seen… or may ever see" — as his friends and co-workers commonly refer to him, first collaborated with director Jacob Gentry in 1999 on the film Sleepless. Three years later at a bar in Athens Georgia, Motlagh had the following conversation with Gentry, “Hey Gentry… I mean Jacob”, “Yeah Alex?", “You’re a pretty genius director right?”, “I mean I guess, I mean yeah”, “And I am a decent producer right?” “No Alex, you are the most non-stressed genius producer I have seen or may ever see”, “Yeah I know. And you have that production company POPfilms which needs a producer right?", “Yeah”, “ Well I ain’t sayin’, but I’m sayin’.”

After that night Gentry and Motalgh assumed POPfilms as their creative vehicle, to produce films that break the traditional Hollywood mold but yet resonate with audiences. “We want to be different, not for the sake of being different, but to tell stories that we believe in, that attempt to portray the beautiful and sad moments of life and give that give people a bit of hope. We also want to do a Pirate vs. Ninja movie.”

cinematographer

Thomas Bingham frames the perfect shot.

Thomas Bingham (cinematographer) is a skateboarder, turned rock star, turned camera destroyer. Bingham is not afraid to sacrifice a few cameras to get the shot (don’t tell the rental house). After helping to pioneer a film program while an undergrad at The Savannah College of Art and Design, Bingham began his film career shooting action sports films and then transitioned to feature documentaries and music videos. In Last Goodbye Bingham’s debut narrative feature, verite camera movement and high contrast lighting were his weapon of choice. Always open to trying something new and unconventional, Bingham had no problem under and over exposing the unforgiving 24p Hi Def format to help motivate a scene. “I backlit the entire movie…I had to leave something for the colorist to do.”

line producer

A rare moment of calm captured — Linda Burns stands still long enough to be photographed.

Linda Burns
(consultant & line producer) graduated from the University
of Michigan, then promptly squandered her education living in a VW van on Kauai setting net, pulling seaweed,
and diving for lobster. In Key West, she raised hell as an on-air DJ for an underground radio station but, tired of tourists, she moved to Atlanta. Linda began her career by accident, volunteering on a no budget kung fu movie, which led to producing a low budget slasher film. 12 years later, she is an award-winning indie producer, but until recently she spent most of her time working on large budget commercials and music videos.

In the spring of 2003, Linda began getting calls from some kids working on an indie feature called Last Goodbye. They seemed bright and asked all the right questions, but they wouldn't quit calling her. Months later, she realized the only way to stop them was to join them. The experience re-ignited her passion for indie filmmaking, inspiring her to launch her own film studio with Love & Convention©, her first script acquisition. She looks forward to collaborating with POPfilms on future projects, especially the Pirate vs. Ninja movie.

composer

Between takes in the recording studio, Ben Lovett contemplates the many uses of cotton swabs.

Ben Lovett (composer) began his musical career on top of a flat-bed trailer hooked to the rear end of a tow’n truck parked in an empty concrete lot somewhere in rural Georgia. Armed to the teeth with a healthy abundance of guitar ampage and unbridled teen angst, Lovett and his fellow punk rock misfits patiently awaited the sound of the stadium airhorn which would signal their inagural performance. Within moments the buzzer sounded, the two teams cleared the field, and the high school Homecoming parade marched out to meet a sudden invasion of guitar feedback and adolescent fury. Mass confusion ensued, the PA announcer was drown out completely, and another great moment in Rock and Roll History was forged.

Years later Lovett wrote, performed, and produced orignal music for the film, Last Goodbye. The film marks the fifth collaboration with director Jacob Gentry, though the first to see payment in anything other than beer, as a half box of Q-tips and commemorative Last Goodbye shoelaces were thrown in as a bonus.

post production facility

During post-production, Dave Ballard (right) tells Jacob Gentry a joke about two Klingons who walk into a bar.

Dave and Pete Ballard of LAB 601 Digital Post were first approached by Jacob Gentry in the summer of 2002. Jacob wanted to learn more about HD and to get post production advice for this movie he wanted to make called Last Goodbye. Nearly a year later the three met again to design a revolutionary post production workflow in partnership with Avid Technology. Dave said, “How about we take your HD footage and put it on a firewire drive, then give you the software so you can edit your movie in 24p on your computer, wherever you want.” “When you’re done, we can finish it in HD, create the look of the movie, create the effects, and do the 5.1 sound design and mix here.” Jacob thought it sounded pretty good, but he wanted to know one more thing, “Has this ever been done before?” “Nope. The products that we’ll use, well, for the record they don’t exist yet.” Jacob’s response, “Cool!”

LAB 601 Digital Post is a full-service digital post-production facility and they are recognized experts in High Definition (HD) post. They have been doing things that have never been done before since Dave founded the company five years ago. Last Goodbye represents the sixth independent film produced in association with LAB 601. To find out more, visit www.lab601.com.