MARK GARDNER
We All Make Sacrifices
Kate Miller and Jonathan Horwich
In this tightly scripted drama, crewmembers Karen and Liam play a seemingly friendly, but fateful, game of cards (Triad) to decide who fixes a mechanical failure preventing departure of their ship. Tensions mount when Karen’s hand becomes jammed during repair operations and the ship must suddenly take off to protect the fleet. Imprisoned in the engine room where launch will bring certain death, she and Liam must urgently act.
“You don’t get to see much of the deck crew outside of the Chief. I wanted to make this story universal,” said Mark Gardner of his video, We All Make Sacrifices. “Everybody has a part to play, not just the pilots who get the public accolades. Everyone has to make sacrifices to make things work.”
Sacrifice is something Gardner is familiar with. To follow his passion of writing, he dropped a successful athletic training career to develop a new TV show. Although that venture did not pan out, the experience of writing a relationship-heavy drama can be seen in We All Make Sacrifices, his first short film.
“Some of the people you’re closest to aren’t blood relatives, they’re friends,” said Gardner. “The best shows, like Battlestar Galactica, take the time to dig into how relationships build.” Using humor, tragedy, and a twist ending, Gardner’s story revolves around the friendship between Karen and Liam. Their loyalty and integrity is called into question, both professionally and personally, as they sit alone in a crawlspace under the launch deck.
During filming, Gardenr leaned on friends for support. His friend Eugene appears as Liam, who made some of his own real-life sacrifices in the form of bruises received during action scenes. Another friend directed photography and spent all day building the crawlspace (set in yet another friend’s garage). The cramped, tight quarters themselves add to the tension as the story progresses. But not everything in We All Make Sacrifices is homegrown.
Gardner held auditions for the actress who played Karen. “When I watch other films using just friends and family, I feel guilty about having pro actors,” he confessed. “I thought, oh no, I suck! I should’ve just used my neighbor. I don’t even know my neighbor, but I should’ve knocked on the door and asked him anyway!”
To watch We All Make Sacrifices, click here: Sacrifice.