Director: Thom Harp
Speed-dating-- that ever popular phenomenon that lets singles meet briefly at a safe location and take turns alternately summing up their personalities in a few minutes with the rationale that first impressions rarely lie, is used as an intriguing springboard by screenwriter Jennifer Matte in Thom Harp’s short film 8 Minutes to Love. When beautiful Joy (Sandra Oh) attends a speed dating event in Seattle, Washington, she’s alarmed by the attendees including a woman who tries to seduce men with photos of her cats and a man named Archer who has created what looks like an extensively prepared Power Point presentation illuminating his financial and relationship portfolio to prospective mates. However, only moments later, Joy is ambushed by her cheating ex-boyfriend who she’d been with for two years before she cruelly walked in on him having sex on the couch with her roommate. At first, Joy gets up to leave but then reluctantly lets her ex Scott use up his speed-dating time to try and win her back in a film that begins humorously but ends with refreshing drama that seems truer to life than the immediate set-up for which Harp had prepared the viewer. Although it runs longer than its eight minute title, the film is a clever slice-of-life that, due to Oh’s stature as an independent actress and given her popularity on Gray’s Anatomy, helps win audience empathy immediately even before we hear of Scott’s betrayal. Thom Harp, a director who studied film and theater at Occidental College, won the award for Best Short Fiction (2005) from the Forest Film Festival in Oregon for 8 Minutes to Love. Those curious about speed-dating and fans of not only Oh but short filmmaking in general will definitely want to check it out—it’s an excellent example of what the medium can do and would probably make a wonderful choice to screen for an Introduction to Production film class.
Speed-dating-- that ever popular phenomenon that lets singles meet briefly at a safe location and take turns alternately summing up their personalities in a few minutes with the rationale that first impressions rarely lie, is used as an intriguing springboard by screenwriter Jennifer Matte in Thom Harp’s short film 8 Minutes to Love. When beautiful Joy (Sandra Oh) attends a speed dating event in Seattle, Washington, she’s alarmed by the attendees including a woman who tries to seduce men with photos of her cats and a man named Archer who has created what looks like an extensively prepared Power Point presentation illuminating his financial and relationship portfolio to prospective mates. However, only moments later, Joy is ambushed by her cheating ex-boyfriend who she’d been with for two years before she cruelly walked in on him having sex on the couch with her roommate. At first, Joy gets up to leave but then reluctantly lets her ex Scott use up his speed-dating time to try and win her back in a film that begins humorously but ends with refreshing drama that seems truer to life than the immediate set-up for which Harp had prepared the viewer. Although it runs longer than its eight minute title, the film is a clever slice-of-life that, due to Oh’s stature as an independent actress and given her popularity on Gray’s Anatomy, helps win audience empathy immediately even before we hear of Scott’s betrayal. Thom Harp, a director who studied film and theater at Occidental College, won the award for Best Short Fiction (2005) from the Forest Film Festival in Oregon for 8 Minutes to Love. Those curious about speed-dating and fans of not only Oh but short filmmaking in general will definitely want to check it out—it’s an excellent example of what the medium can do and would probably make a wonderful choice to screen for an Introduction to Production film class.
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