Director's Statement
I can pinpoint the moment the idea for this film came into my mind:
Almost a year prior to the production of CONCRETE, I was at the location that would be utilized for the short. I was there assisting with another film. During a lunch break, I had laid down on the rivers incline hidden by the cover of the bridge’s shadow to avoid the heat of the sunny LA day.
Staring at the bridge above, my mind wandered, and the morbid thought popped into my head: "That would suck to fall off of." Immediately followed by “Could someone survive that?”
Throughout the rest of the day, more questions followed suit. “What would their injuries be?” “What type of person could do something like that?” “Who would find their body?” Then finally it hit me...
“How would they get out if they lived?”
This question dictated the story all the way through the completion of the script. I became excited at the thought of telling this story of one person, alone, fighting for his life, just after trying to end it moments prior. It was interesting, ironic, but most of all something that I could understand.
Unfortunately, I relate to Charlie. I've been in situations where I have felt how he does. It's something I've struggled with for a good majority of my life. But the struggle leading up to the choice of taking one's life isn't something I wanted to focus on, it’s been told before.
Instead, I wanted to tell the story, not what got him to the bottom of that river bed, but what he does in response. To me how we respond after we are at our lowest is what I relate to.
The Cast
Douglas William Smith "Charlie"
Douglas started his acting career in Hollywood, ironically, not the one in California, but in Florida. His first step into the world of filmmaking was in 2009 as a featured extra on the Emmy nominated television series “Burn Notice”, which is when he caught the bug for performing.
Looking to advance his career in any way possible, he jumped into community theatre with such classics as Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge” where he starred as the leading role: Rodolpho.
But soon he realized he needed to come to California to continue his pursuit in acting, and in 2011, he packed his bags and left. In Los Angeles he has focused on the craft of acting, studying with the likes of John Ruskin (The Ruskin School of Acting) and Matthew Modine. After this training, Douglas knew he must take the leap and start performing. This where he initially met the director Ryan on the set of “Monitor”, and soon after, would come his biggest project to date: “Concrete”.
Kolby Ross Mitchell "Mason"
Kolby told everybody he was going to be an actor from the minute he could talk. One summer Kolby’s parents signed him for a cooking camp at SoFab in New Orleans. As luck would have it, the casting directors of Gordon Ramsey’s hit show Master Chef Junior contacted the camp and invited Kolby to attend a casting call to try out for a spot. He killed it, and in March of 2018, Kolby got a spot as one of only forty junior home chefs on the Season 6 premiere of Master Chef Junior.
After this experience, he had the bug and started acting classes at Launch Model & Talent in New Orleans. He did so well that he was invited to participate in an acting showcase in Los Angeles and signed with KMR Talent that fall of 2017.
Since then he has appeared in multiple shorts, student films, and commercials. Notably appearing in a PSA with internet sensation Lele Pons garnering over 23 million views. For Kolby, each project opens new doors and bigger opportunities.
