Short Film

Gutters

Drew Reynolds

Northford, CT

Advisor: Justin Liberman

Artist Bio

Drew Reynolds (They/Them) is a filmmaker and playwright currently studying Digital Film/Video Production and Sociology at the University of Connecticut. They have written and directed several narrative short films and plays, with their work thus far culminating in an original two-act stage-play known as “The Saloon”. They have also worked on Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TTRPG) Actual Play content for the stage and screen with projects such as “Dungeons & Tuskies: A D&D Live Show” and “J.U.N.C. – An Extra-Cleanly D&D Story”.

Their narrative projects explore love, loss, and queerness, often leaning towards the supernatural or fantastical. Their focus on narrative work has allowed them to hone their skills as a writer. Whether on the stage or screen, they hope to create work that challenges our preconceptions about ourselves and the world around us.

Artist Statement

I have always been fascinated by comic books, which act as the modern myths of our society. Heroic tales of Superman using his immense strength harken back to tales of Hercules and Sisyphus. As a child, these comics were the first medium that truly shaped my interest in storytelling. The ability to ground these larger-than-life characters in a world that feels real and alive continues to keep me reading to this day.

With GUTTERS, I wanted to combine these beloved modern myths with the ancient stories they come from, reframing the tragic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice within the comic medium. The film’s style is meant to emulate the feeling of reading a comic through the use of text panels and frames-within-frames. The film’s title comes from the blank borders that surround the panels of action within a comic. J’s struggle to work through her writer’s block is emphasized by these empty spaces. And as the final tragedy of this infamous myth comes to pass, it is placed inside these gutters, reframing the tale in a modern medium that I have always loved.