PLAY
2010, 18 minutes
PLAY imagines a not-too-distant future where video games have become indistinguishable from reality. These fully immersive games are nested inside each other like Russian Dolls – each new game emerging from another and connecting backwards with increasing complexity. The players of these strange game worlds must confront a new state of “playing” where the distinction between the real and the virtual blurs and their true identities are called into question. When it is impossible to tell where life ends and the game begins, only one question matters: Are you playing? A collaboration between writer/director David Kaplan and game designer Eric Zimmerman, commissioned by the Independent Television Series (ITVS) as a part of their ongoing series FutureStates.
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LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND OTHER STORIES - NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD!
2009, 30 minutes
16-year-old Christina Ricci stars as a not-so-innocent Red Riding Hood in writer/director David Kaplan’s underground cult classic hailed by viewers as "breathtaking", "a masterpiece", "perfection", and "one of the greatest short films of all time". With narration by Quentin Crisp, based on the folktale "The Story of Grandmother". This short film collection includes new director's cuts of Kaplan's rare award-winning short films "The Frog King" and "Little Suck-a-Thumb" as well as audio commentary from Kaplan and folklore scholar Jack Zipes.
"OUTSTANDINGLY SEXY... expertly directed." - Leslie Weishaar, Indiewire.
"A stylish, scary film for grown-ups" - Heather Wisner, San Francisco Weekly.
“In an evening of explorations of Little Red Riding Hood, the most notable is a 1997 short film starring Christina Ricci, narrated by the late, great eccentric Quentin Crisp.” – Choire Sicha, The New York Times.
"SINISTER FUN.... Absolutely gorgeous film... woozy, Murnauesque sets, narration from Quentin Crisp, and, above all, the preternaturally expressive visage of Christina Ricci as an all-too-knowing Red." - Hazal-Dawn Dumpert, L.A. Weekly.
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TODAY'S SPECIAL
2009, 99 minutes
Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show) stars alongside Bollywood legend Naseeruddin Shah (Monsoon Wedding), Harish Patel (Run Fatboy Run), and acclaimed actress Madhur Jaffrey (Shakespeare Wallah) in this eclectic, heartwarming comedy set in a struggling Indian restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens. Also starring Jess Weixler (Teeth), Dean Winters (30 Rock), and Kevin Corrigan (The Departed).
YEAR OF THE FISH - coming soon to DVD
2007, 96 minutes
YEAR OF THE FISH is a rotoscoped/animated feature film based on a 9th century Chinese variant of the fairy tale Cinderella, set in a massage parlor in modern-day New York’s Chinatown. This offbeat love story stars acclaimed actress Tsai Chin (Joy Luck Club), Randall Duk Kim (The Matrix Reloaded), Ken Leung (Rush Hour, Lost), and introduces An Nguyen as the lovely Ye Xian. It is narrated by a magical carp. The film was executive produced by Janet Yang (The Joy Luck Club) and produced by Rocco Caruso (Judy Berlin). Kaplan’s screenplay was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs and was the recipient of a 2005 Annenberg Fellowship. YEAR OF THE FISH had its world premiere as an Official Selection of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was named "Best Film" at the 2007 Avignon Film Festival, "Best Film" at the 2007 Asheville Film Festival, won the Audience Award at the 2007 Independent Film Festival of Boston, and was nominated for the Piaget Producers Award at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards.
The film was shot entirely on location in New York City’s Chinatown using live actors and then animated in post-production via “rotoscoping” – the process of tracing over live-action footage to create an animation; in this case, a flowing, watercolor effect that pops from the screen like a painting brought to life. A GIGANTIC PICTURES release.
"IMAGINATION, CHARM... FANTASTICAL DELIGHTS" - Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times.
"Appears to have leapt directly from a painted Chinese screen onto the silver screen." - Bob Mondello, NPR.
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LOVEDEATH
2003, 4 minutes
LOVEDEATH is a Machinima-animated film. It was commissioned for Lincoln Center’s 2003 New York Video Festival and was co-written and co-directed by David Kaplan, Dan Torop, and Paul Marino. It was nominated for Best Direction and Best Editing at the 2003 Machinima Film Festival.
WHAT IS THE CITY?
2002, 15 minutes
“What is the city but the people?” William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, 3.1.199.
WHAT IS THE CITY? is a short documentary about the missing person posters that appeared throughout downtown Manhattan in the wake of September 11th, 2001. The faces shown are a demonstration of the diversity that makes the city unique. WHAT IS THE CITY? was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and Ireland on the first anniversary of the attacks, and was screened at the 10th Hamptons International Film Festival.
THE FROG KING
1994, 9 minutes
THE FROG KING is a dark and provocative adaptation of the classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, starring Eden Riegel (All My Children), John Seitz, and Evelyn Solann. It is a story of the passage from childhood to adulthood, exploring the anxieties surrounding early sexual encounters and ambiguous feelings towards the genitalia of the opposite sex. It was an official selection at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, was awarded a Silver Plaque at the 1994 Chicago Film Festival, and was a recipient of a Panavision New Filmmaker Grant. THE FROG KING was broadcast nationally on The Sundance Channel.
LITTLE SUCK-A-THUMB
1992, 9 minutes
LITTLE SUCK-A-THUMB is a psychosexual interpretation of the infamous cautionary tale from Heinrich Hoffman's storybook Struwwelpeter. The wickedly funny short film stars Cork Hubbert (The Ballad of the Sad Café), Evelyn Solann, and Jim Hilbert as the Great Tall Scissorman. LITTLE SUCK-A-THUMB won awards at the 1992 Chicago Film Festival, the 1992 Cork Film Festival, and the 1993 Grenoble Film Festival. It was also awarded 2nd place at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts annual film festival and was screened as an Official Selection at the 1992 Munich International Festival of Film Schools.
"A Cronenbergian account of youth castration fears in explicit detail." - Eric Kohn, New York Press.
"Genuinely unsettling. One could imagine a child watching this and being scarred for life." - Michael Tully, Hammer to Nail.