I AGREE WITH YOU

Directors:

Writers:

Jake Vankersen

Ross Compton

Producers:

Scott Cupper, Tyler Core, John Otterbacher

Run Time:

1:16:00

Awarded for the following Category(s):

Awarded Category(s)

After canceling plans with friends, Hector & Penny begin a game of role-play that threatens to undo their relationship. Fortified celebrates open communication, no matter how weird it gets.

Submitter Statement

"With "I Agree With You," I was looking to make a film like Kramer vs Kramer. Which is to say a character driven film about relationships, in this case a long-term couple too afraid to confront their issues. I recognize that it is far too easy to romanticize the past but these character driven films used to be regularly made by major studios. I might have missed that time by a few decades, but I wanted to honor these films by making one like them. Or at least try."

Jake grew up in the 1980s, a perfect time to be a kid who loved movies. He could watch Spielberg movies in the theater, watch the original Star Wars Trilogy on HBO, or rent Back to the Future over and over again from the video store. It was a great decade to fall in love with filmmaking.

That love for films never dissipated. The day after he turned 16, Jake was hired as an usher at his hometown movie theater. As fate would have it, he was working there during 1999, the much-celebrated year in film, which only solidified his love for filmmaking.

Jake tried to explore other career options but couldn't shake his desire to pursue filmmaking. During an uncertain time in his life, he moved to Chicago and immediately fell in love with the city. From there, he turned his attention to Columbia College Chicago and decided to throw himself into studying film.

After graduating in 2008, he went to work for a Chicago-based company that made camera gear, rented equipment, and also produced a variety of web series. Working for this company allowed Jake to further his film studies by working on productions. During this time, he produced and acted in a web series called Hank Frisco: Galaxy Defender, wrote and directed a short film called "Right," multiple music videos for local artists, and a web series documentary called Audition, which chronicled the lives of working actors.

Realizing that no one was stopping him, he went to work to finally make a feature film. Working with screenwriter Ross Compton and producers Scott Cupper and Tyler Core, Jake developed the film "I Agree With You". The film was shot during five days in August 2023 and post-production was completed in June 2024.

Key Cast

Stevie Shale, Ross Compton

Other Credits