More Ink for Inspiration and IS Films

The Angels Behind a Student Project
Industry largesse plays a vital role in 'Inspiration'

Martin Zaharinov majors in directing narrative fiction at Emerson College, but don't underestimate the importance of his minor in leadership and management. Lately he's demonstrating plenty of that important filmmaking skill known as getting it made.

Zaharinov is founder and president of IS Films Inc., a nonprofit intended to help fund student films beyond the normal thesis projects. And he and the IS (Independent Student) team, which includes treasurer Elizabeth Daly and non-student board members Paul Turano and Glen Livolsi, have reeled in some serious bounty for their first production.

Inspiration, filming in and around the city this month, is a roughly 25-minute film with a cast of four, written by Michael Gray Beckett (Emerson '84) and directed by Jackie Carr (an Emerson senior). It's the kind of indie often shot on the most threadbare of shoestrings.

But Zaharinov and company have scored a ton of film-industry largesse to get Inspiration done right: the loan of a complete 35mm camera and equipment package from Panavision (worth low six figures to rent for a few weeks), a film stock grant from Kodak (worth perhaps $3,500), and processing from the FotoKem post-production company that Zaharinov said will probably be worth $30,000 or more.

All this is just the beginning, says Zaharinov, who is credited as executive producer and assistant director. He hopes IS Films will become a producing umbrella that will help many more students realize their filmmaking dreams.

Click here for complete story.