FDU Alums Play ‘Big Role’ in Garden State Film Festival

By Dan Landau

Make a full-length feature film. Check.

That’s one thing recent FDU alumnus, Chris Dimoulas, can check off his bucket list. A 2011 graduate of FDU’s film program, Dimoulas recently wrote, directed, and edited his film “Ever Last” as his senior thesis here at FDU and is now screening it on the film festival circuit. The film features a cast and crew of mostly FDU alumni and students.

The movie follows Kimberly Alves, an assistant bank manager, as she meets Wolf Sutcliff, when he robs the bank she works at. She learns that Sutcliff is immortal, indestructible, and can turn invisible. Never really understanding his powers, Sutcliff has been alive for thousands of years, always knowing he is different from other people and living as an outcast. Sympathizing with Sutcliff’s plight, Alves takes it upon herself to help him find reason and purpose for his life.

Dimoulas took his time writing the screenplay for “Ever Last,” working on it “pretty much over the course of my entire college career.” However, shooting the film took only 19 days. “Completing ‘Ever Last’ as a feature film was a huge personal goal of mine,” says Dimoulas. “I am so happy that my crew and I were able to realize it together.”

Given what Chris and his cast and crew were able to accomplish in just 19 days, Nicole Aleles, second assistant director and 2009 FDU alumna, was very impressed. She says, “The one thing that struck me while I was on set, was the level of professionalism shown by Chris, the crew, and the actors.”

The production of “Ever Last” was an excellent learning opportunity for current FDU students. “Helping to film ‘Ever Last’ with Chris and the crew was a great experience for me, says Thomas Magg, a junior at FDU, and the assistant director. “It taught me many skills that I will use for future projects.”

Jacob Cormier, a sophomore at FDU, worked in the crew as a grip and agrees with Magg, noting this was his first experience working “on a feature-length film and I had a great time. It was great to have the opportunity to work on a project like this.”

“Ever Last” will debut on the big screen later this month as part of the 10^th annual Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park, NJ.

“Almost all of the film was shot in New Jersey and we are incredible excited that ‘Ever Last’ has been accepted to the festival’s ‘Home Grown’ category,” says 2010 FDU alumna Angeline-Rose Troy, who produced and also starred as Kimberly Alves in the film.

Dimoulas is eagerly anticipating having his film screened at the festival and says, “The most exciting thing for me is that the film will be seen by an audience of people I don't know. The whole reason I wanted to make films in the first place was for audiences to be able to view my work.”

“Ever Last” shows at 2:30 p.m. on March 25. For more information, visit GSFF.org or EverLastFilm.com.

“I hope that this is the first of many successes for ‘Ever Last,’ and that people enjoy viewing it as much as we enjoyed making it,” says Dimoulas.