Movie Makers Honored
3 state residents win in competitionBy MEREDITH GUINNESS
Staff writer
Stratford filmmaker Gary Maynard came back from a Los Angeles stint two years ago to make a splash on the fledgling Connecticut film scene.
The decision paid off when the 33-year-old won one of three top prizes in the Connecticut Film and Video Competition last month. Maynard's entry, and films by Branford native Carol Jennings and David Kaul of Redding, were recently broadcast by Connecticut Public Television.
Culled from more than 30
entries, the three films show the breadth of Connecticut's film and
video industry, said Susan Docker, a spokesman for the competition.
"All of them were of very high quality," she said. "We have a lot of
creative, qualified people in Connecticut."
Maynard's film "Medicine Men" deals with a Native American man who
chooses to be a medical internist rather than follow what may be his
ancestral destiny as a traditional medicine man.
Maynard worked in Los Angeles after graduation, including a stint as a
special effects technician on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The
producer left the hectic L.A. lifestyle behind to work on his own films,
teach screenwriting and film appreciation and work as a literary agent
for script writers from his Stratford home.
Though it's not a true story, Maynard said he hopes his film will foster
discussion on cultural expectations and medical dilemmas.
"It's like "Kung Fu" meets "ER," he said. "But the film asks a lot of
questions, like, Is it best to preserve life after it's lost a certain
quality? The story is very intimate.
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