Applause

Directors:

Writers:

Kat Sparks

Producers:

Jennifer Hutchins, Ana Dragomir

Run Time:

0:17:06

Awarded for the following Category(s):

Awarded Category(s)

When a struggling actor is replaced by a younger man, he doesn’t want to admit it isn’t because of his age.

Submitter Statement

We applaud a job well done. So when we’re near the end of life that’s what we all hope to hear. Eddie holds onto the memory of better days full of Tony awards and cheering fans. He isn’t aware that his quality of life has declined, and the universe where he has built his hopes and dreams has moved on without him. It’s time to go: He isn’t ready. Although the setting is a theater, the concept is widely relatable. My intention was to remind viewers to respect and support each generation's contribution to this world, those ending and those beginning. You can see that message in a few nuances throughout the film.

Kat Sparks is a writer, theatre director, and film director in Austin, Texas. She was selected as one of the New American Voices by the Queens Theatre, New York and voted by the public as a top drama director (theatre) in Austin. Her screenplay, Wolves of Beirut, has won eleven festival awards and been top-listed on the monthly Black List. Applause (short screenplay), won over a dozen awards in the fall of 2023. Applause (short film) was just released in June 2024. Kat began screenplay analysis over twenty years ago by reading for The Matthau Company, SpecScout, and the Austin Film Festival where she also worked as the Reader Coordinator and jurist. She is a filmmaker and private script consultant working with both playwrights and screenwriters.

Key Cast

Bill Karnovsky, Adriane Shown, Michael Burnett, Kimberly Girkin

Other Credits