What Ever Happened to That Weird Kid?

“Put simply? Comedy Gold!” – indyred.com

“Lucien E.G. Spelman’s directorial debut is one of the most notable short films of the year.” – Bosco’s Grindhouse

“Whatever Happened to That Weird Kid? is a unique piece of storytelling that showcases a bright future for Spelman and Knight.” -moviecynics.com

• WINNER,  BEST ACTOR, ’12 BEVERLY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
• WINNER, BEST SCREENPLAY, ’12 BEVERLY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
• WINNER, BEST 30 MINUTE FILM, ’12 SNOB FILM FESTIVAL
• WINNER, BEST COMEDY SHORT, ’13 BLOODY HERO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Every neighborhood has that kid.
You know, that weird kid…. 

What Ever Happened to that Weird Kid? catches up with the former child prodigy Lucien Spelman, who in the 1970s was billed as the youngest professional Classical/Flamenco guitarist in the world. Home schooled, eccentric, and with a penchant for satin ruffled shirts, Lucien was served a daily cocktail of humiliation and childhood trauma by the neighborhood bullies of his youth.

A documentary crew follows Lucien as a middle-aged man who, having survived the daily indignities of childhood, has laid down his guitar to immerse himself in the competitive brutality of mixed martial arts. Unable to find a credible trainer to help him exorcise his demons, Lucien falls under the tutelage of an ‘energy manipulator’ he meets through Craigslist.

When a seedy fight promoter allows Lucien to buy a shot at redemption by getting into the ring with a professional fighter, both student and teacher realize that there is much more to the fight game then they anticipated, and just maybe more to themselves as well….

 

Contact: legspelman@gmail.com

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Director’s Statement:

I was the Weird Kid in the title.

I have grown up to be a peculiar adult, and have spent most of my life among odd people.

For me there is great comfort in the extraordinary.

I set the music world aside early on to focus on film and acting, but eventually middle age and fickle fate set me to work as a tour-guide, driving WWII amphibious vehicles through the streets, and into the waters of Boston.

When I started at “The Ducks” I expected to find other lost, eccentric souls like myself there, but what I didn’t expect to find was such an unbelievable talent pool. On any given day I would find myself in the company of brilliant actors, comedians, writers; all of whom were, by virtue of necessity or choice, dressed up in silly outfits entertaining tourists, all the while each struggling to insinuate their own weird stories into their daily life as tour guides.

I pitched the idea of What Ever Happened To That Weird Kid? around work as an ‘alternate universe’ version of my own life, and much to my joy everyone that I worked with was immediately on board. I was especially happy to enlist the brilliant comedic mind of co-worker Johnny Kinsman. We sought about securing other necessary talent, including an editor of singular vision, James Faust, and the wonderfully talented Steve Walther Orchestra, and over the course of two years we shot What Ever Happened To That Weird Kid? for a few thousand dollars, with 5 different cameras.

It was a purely guerrilla affair.

When it is all said and done, What Ever Happened To That Weird Kid? is an improvisational, high-concept, low-fidelity short movie that raises its dirty little flag on the mountain of misunderstandings and misjudgments and mistakes that make us ALL …That Weird Kid.

I hope it makes you scratch your head just a little, but I hope more than anything that it makes you laugh.

- Lucien E. G. Spelman
Director/Producer/Story What Ever Happened To That Weird Kid?

Read an interview with Lucien and Johnny here.

Contact: legspelman@gmail.com

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