I'll buy you a drink, if you give me your liver first.

About

The Prognosis(...an entirely serious note from Mary.... for real.)I am going to be hopelessly earnest and schlocky for a second. Bear with me. I promise I won't do it again.AFI's motto is "Let's go to the movies." I have been hearing this ever since I was a little kid, because my beloved godfather has been a teacher at the Institute for forever. To me, this is one of the most wonderful and moving phrases I have ever heard. Because, if I may be insightful and articulate, movies are AWESOME. Making them, watching them, everything. My earliest memory of the movies is the sheer terror of the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast," which my mother and godfather subjected me to. Obviously, they didn't know I would have such a ridiculous reaction. My second earliest memory, is receiving a VHS tape of "Meet Me in St. Louis" from my godfather for my birthday, and literally watching it until it wore out. So ever since I can remember, far before I was a student at the amazing American Film Institute, I have known the power of movies. Even seemingly frivolous stories can transport you to and envelope you in another world. Movies get embedded into your subconscious and attach themselves to your most precious, horrible, embarrassing, awkward, and wonderful memories. They can make you laugh, cry, squirm, scream or, they can be boring and awful. And of course, they can terrorize children. But I'll ignore that one. In short, my relationship with movies is long term and serious. We moved in together and I don't anticipate we will be breaking up anytime soon.Anyway, to AFI I say, I take your "Let's go to the movies" and raise you a "Let's make a movie." Thank you all for your love and support for helping me with this project. I am so excited and honored to be able to make a film, even if it is just about stealing livers. It may not be "Citizen Kane," but it is my first, and I plan to have a hell of a time with it. Hopefully, when it is finished, you will have as much fun watching it as my amazing, amazing lady friends (and Brad), and I had making it. See you all at the movies. Mary
SynopsisWhen Joan finds out that her longtime boyfriend, Chad, is going to die of alcohol induced liver failure, she vows to do anything possible to keep him alive. Her solution? To temporarily adopt the previously homeless Jimmy, clean him up and get him back on his feet in return for a portion of his liver. What could possibly go wrong?
Candidate Bios

CANDIDATE B I O S

Sara Lohman

D i r e c t o r

...grew up with a pomegranate tree in her backyard. True story. That's why she directs. She has made several short films and also directed a feature called WELCOME BACK SATAN which is weeks away from being transplanted into the marketplace. From pomegranates... to livers...

Anna Golin

P r o d u c e r

Catherine Goldschmidt

C i n e m a t o g r a p h e r

...loves old movie musicals and marmite. She received a BA in film studies from Weslyan and an MFA from AFI. Her award-winning short film cinematography credits include Egg (Best Animated Short, Slamdance 2005), You Know Where to Find Me (Best Graduate Student Short, First Glance Film Festival 2010), and A Cat Online (Best Music Video, London Independent Fim Festival 2011). Ms. Goldschmidts 16mm debut feature film, Northeast has been screened in the Tribeca Film Festival: On the Road, and is scheduled for video release later this year. In addition to being an award winning cinematographer, she is an aspiring poker dealer.
...grew up in Los Angeles where she schooled herself by loitering around sets and eavesdropping on business calls as a child,.Anna was formally schooled in philosophy at Wheaton College. She has been working on commercials, features and shorts since high school and is currently assisting a husband and wife directing team on their latest film as well as commercials. She also is working on various independent projects in her spare time.

Brad Halverson C o m p o s e r

MaryLouise Lukasiewicz Writer/Editor

San Francisco based composer Brad J Halverson has been involved in musicsince he was 10 years old. A proficient jazz Saxophonist, concert Bassoonist, rock Drummer and vocal Baritone, he combines his experience in many areas of the musical spectrum in his compositions. Though only composing since the end of 2010 (and the age of 24), Brad has alreadyplaced original compositions on ABC ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"),Animal Planet ("Swamp Wars"), Bravo ("Mad Fashion"), Spike ("Bar Rescue"),The CW ("America's Next Top Model"), and G4tv ("G4's Proving Ground"). Hehas also collaborated on projects with The American Film Institute Conservatory and the Screen Actors Guild. When not writing music, Bradkeeps himself on his toes as an active member of the United States ArmyReserve.
...has a very long name. And no, it wasn't hard to learn how to spell in Kindergarten, because everything is hard to spell when you don't know how to spell.Mary graduated from UCLA's Theater Film Television school in 2010, where she met Sara. They have worked together millions of times. Mary is currently in her second year as an Editing fellow at AFI. "Living Donor" is her thesis film, and she is so honored to have the help of this obscenely talented bunch of friends.
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