I Am Not The Last
A sci-fi drama about that unbearable weight of love and responsibility we feel at the brink of letting go.
Project type: Fiction Short
Project status: Development
Writer/Producer: Mark Tenn
Director/Producer: Alvaro Donado
Cinematographer: Daniel Andrade
Production Designer: Alicia Herrera
Casting Director: Amy Devra Gossels
Email: marktenn@me.com
Website: marktenn.com/iamnotthelast
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Logline
Fearing the loss of his 60-million-year-old mother, a boy marooned by time and place refuses to believe he is alone.
Synopsis
In the depths of a natural world untouched by humankind, the impossible has emerged: a young boy and his mother living alone in a sphere.
The boy has never seen another human being — not even his father who died before he was born. And fearing the inevitable solitude should he outlive his mother, the boy spends his days searching for a second impossibility: others like them.
Could others have defied all odds to emerge from a sphere like theirs? A sphere buried deep in hibernation underground to outlast an extinction event. A 60-million-year-old catastrophe from which the planet has healed through time. Time taken to expel their sphere from the earth and into a new world. A lonely world that sends a desperate boy on a bold journey to a surprising fate beyond his own imagination.
Meet the Filmmakers
Mark Tenn – Writer/Producer
Mark is a versatile British-American writer-producer based in NYC whose storytelling experience spans international development, production and distribution. Driven by outsider stories of belonging and moral duplicity, he is a 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist and NALIP Latino Media Market Fellow with his feature screenplay, Bountiful. He co-wrote/produced the short film, Midnights, which aired in Sony/NALIP’s Voce Nuevas 2020 series on Cine Sony.
While working in film acquisitions for leading Japanese distributor, Little Magic Films/Toshiba Entertainment (now Hakuhodo), Mark helped to curate annual slates of films from bold visionaries such as Kenneth Branagh, Terry Gilliam and David Twohy, and intimate storytellers like Jonathan Glazer, Francois Ozon and Zhang Yang. Later production and distribution credits include Jonathan Teplitzky’s Burning Man, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Eden and Comedy Central’s Important Things With Demetri Martin executive-produced by Jon Stewart.
Alvaro Donado – Director/Producer
Originally from Colombia, Alvaro is an NYC-based director/producer, a Sundance Producer’s Lab Fellow, and a NALIP Latino Media Market Fellow who has led projects across the US, Central/South America, Europe and Africa. He was awarded Best Direction for Drama at the New York Television Festival 2018 for his directorial short film debut, Midnights. The film was selected by Sony/NALIP for the Voces Nuevas 2020 series broadcast on Cine Sony.
Alvaro produced the short films, La Milpa, Family Portrait (Dir: Patricia Riggen) and Zen & The Art of Landscaping (Dir David Kartch) which collectively received two Student Academy Awards, a Sundance Jury Award, and a Mexican Academy Award. His production credits include the features Eden (Dir: Mia Hansen-Løve), Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (Dir: Christopher Columbus) and Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (Dir: Sidney Lumet), as well as TV shows for HBO, Sony, CBS and Warner Bros.
Daniel Andrade – Cinematographer
Daniel shot and produced the feature drama, Lo Invisible (Dir: Javier Andrade) which was Ecuador’s official entry for the 2023 Academy Awards, Spain’s Goya Awards and Colombia’s Macondo Awards having premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.
Based in Quito, Ecuador, Daniel’s 20-year cinematography career spans international film, TV, documentary, music video and over 600 TV commercials worldwide. His 12 feature credits include collaborations with directors such as Sebastián Cordero, Manolo Sarmiento, and María Victoria. Daniel also co-directed the feature films, Esas No Son Penas and Ochentaisiete with Anahi Hoeneisen. He holds an MFA from the American Film Institute in LA where he received an Honorable Mention from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) for his work on the short film, On Wee! (Dir: Azazel Jacobs).
Alicia Herrera – Production Designer
Alicia production designed the feature film, A Son of Man (Dirs: Luis Felipe Fernández Salvador & Pablo Agüero), which was Ecuador’s official entry for the 2019 Academy Awards.
Further production design and art direction feature credits include Heart of the Earth (Dir: Alberto Muenala), Dolores (Dir: Patricia Yallico), and Los Nápoles (Dir: Santiago Paladines). Alicia has also production designed/art directed over 300 commercials worldwide for brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever and Diner’s Club.
During 25 years in the industry, Amy has been the casting director, and in many cases a producer, for more than 100 film and TV productions and cast more than 1500 commercials (including numerous Super Bowl spots and CLIO winners).
Amy Devra Gossels – Casting Director
Feature film credits include Nancy Meyers’ Something’s Gotta Give and Godfrey Reggio’s Visitors. Short films she has cast and/or produced include Student Academy Award winner and Sundance Honoree, Zen & The Art of Landscaping. TV credits include Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah and HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Amy also dedicates a great deal of time and energy towards developing and leading educational programs at numerous organizations including the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory and Foundation.
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Contact
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