Synopsis
When you’re one of the last human combat medics, underfunded and unappreciated for decades in a galactic war, you don’t always follow orders. So when Doc (Andrew Bowen) and Asher (John Asher) discover that command has abandoned a pair of injured soldiers on an alien planet, they concoct a risky and unauthorized plan to save them. The heroic but poorly conceived rescue doesn’t go quite the way they hoped, sending Doc and the soldiers (Lauren McFall and Taj Speights) on a wild and bumpy ride none of them expected.
About the Film
THE 716TH marks the exciting directorial debut by actor Andrew Bowen and the small group of talented artists who helped him bring this hugely entertaining science-fiction adventure to life!
Bowen and his creative team dedicated over a year and a half to creating the ambitious short film with a production budget of only 10K (12K total). Bowen not only wrote, produced, edited, directed and starred in the short but served as the production designer – drawing storyboards, building all the films props in his garage and spending nights over the course of two months constructing the sets with producer and friend John Maclay.
The short films combination of high energy, endearing characters, laugh-out-loud moments and impressive visual effects (lead by VFX supervisor/producer Jonathan Alvord whose 5 member team produced over 100 VFX shots) landed it a world premiered The Tribeca Film Festival. The shorts overwhelmingly positive audience and critic response (The 716th was named “Best Live-Action Sci-Fi Short” by the Solzy Awards) led to it’s digital release on Amazon Prime Video – where it’s been tracking a 5 STAR Customer Rating and was awarded a bonus by Amazon for audience engagement.
