California Collective Tackles Mark Twain, Adam and Eve

Talk about a couple of iconic first touchstones. Designed to harness the bounty of performing and production talent in the California high desert, the Eastern Sierra Community Film Project (ESCFP) is starting off with short films based on Mark Twain and the Old Testament.

The Starvation Proclamation is adapted from the Twain satirical piece “Cannibalism in the Cars.” It's done tastefully, even though the subject matter involves a train cabin full of blizzard-stranded men and the desperate measures they must contemplate to maximize any chance of survival.



Up next is The Eden Diaries, a relationship comedy based on the struggles of the world's eponymous first couple, Adam and Eve. Here's a teaser excerpt from the faux diary that will be mined:

Adam's Journal: MONDAY: This new creature with the long hair is a good deal in the way. It is always hanging around and following me about. I don’t like this; I am not used to company. I wish it would stay with the other animals…. Cloudy today, wind in the east; think we shall have rain…. WE? Where did I get that word–Oh yes, I remember, the new creature uses it…
 

The creative director of ESCFP is Jason Steele. His group premiered The Starvation Proclamation on October 20th at the Lone Pine Film History Museum.

[Stainless Films / ESCFP]