On February 4th The Happy made its online debut at Film Daily. This hilarious short film follows the misadventures of Par, a bewildered Indian-American from Texas and New Jersey who is mistaken for something of a swami as he searches Los Angeles for his own fulfillment. Parekh wrote, directed, produced, and stars in the eight-minute comedy, which also serves as the pilot for a web series based on the lovelorn and spiritually-lost Par.
After bumbling through an awkward conversation with his ex, our protagonist stumbles into a wayward flyer that, like falling leaflets from a rescue helicopter, offers him salvation…in the form of a free hug (this is LA, not Saigon). What unfolds next is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film Brazil (in which a government worker swats a fly which falls into his typewriter resulting in a typo that leads to the arrest of the wrong man). In The Happy, due to a house number’s missing screw, Par lands not at the house of free hugs, but rather at the apartment of a self-obsessed, new-age actress Astrid desperately seeking her own transcendental happiness.
Astrid, who has been expecting her Past Life Regression Therapist, opens the door to find the Indian-American Par before her (not as he is, in his jeans and t-shirt, but as an ashram guru bathed in a golden aura). She instantly mistakes him for her new therapist, and he becomes her unsuspecting savior. As our silent, meat-loving hero anticipates his hug, his quest for fulfillment is hijacked by the chakra-focused, militantly-vegetarian stranger. Using cleverly-chosen music and sound effects straight out of a spaghetti western, Parekh brings anticipation, suspense, and surprise to a zany, one-sided conversation.
The Happy parodies LA’s fascination with rediscovery and spiritual enlightenment as a disharmonious mixture of self-reflection and self-aggrandizement, a place “where everybody talks and nobody listens.” In the film’s LA, absurd human tendencies to over-mystify just about everything and mankind’s tendencies to typecast just about everyone are depicted with humor.
The Happy, An Absurdist Short Film By Filmmaker Par Parekh
@welcometothehappy
www.thehappy.tv
SPW CreditsWritten, Directed, Produced, & Edited by Par Parekh
Co-Directed by Rebecca Feldman
Starring - Par Parekh & Sherra Lasley With Cenan Pirani as The Skateboarder
Producer - Kelsey McManus
Director of Photography - Favienne Howsepian
Production Designer - Emmy Eves
Gaffer - Nina Ham & Jessica Pantoja
Additional Production Design - Laura Barr-Jones
Sound - Delroy Cornick & Christian Lainez
Production Assistant - C. Leigh Goldsmith
Animal Trainer - Joel Norton & Amanda Posen
Visual Effects - Electric Theatre Collective
Visual Effects Producer - Serena Noorani & Adriana Wong
Visual Effects Compositor - Gretchen Capatan
Colorist - Kaitlyn Battistelli
Audio Post Production - One Thousand Birds
Sound Designer & Mixer - Andrew Tracy
Title Design & Illustration - Adrianne Born
Title Animator - Olivia Rogers
Title Compositor - Matt Andrews
"One Particular Avenue" Written, Performed, and Produced by Chris Ruggiero (C) 2019 by Chris Ruggiero
"Los Angelez" Written by Par Parekh Performed by Par Parekh, Miles Jay, Rod Castro, Luke Notary, Zóra Urbanyi Produced by Miles Jay (c) 2019 by Par Parekh
The Undeniable Voice of Art
Creative Growth, the first organization dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities, has teamed up with creative marketing company, John McNeil Studio to unveil its new brand. Representing 50 years of elevating the work of artists with disabilities within the arts community, Creative Growth’s new brand campaign includes a new identity and logo, new positioning, brand film and a redefined strategy centering on the ‘undeniable voice of art.’ Creative Growth’s evolved brand is at the forefront of a shift towards art that stands for the inherent reveal — the power of artistic expression to bring understanding and connection to us all. The brand’s new expression includes unobtrusive color and design choices that purposely don’t compete with the voice of the artist and instead, serve as a container for the art to have a voice of its own. Executive Creative Director, Gerald Lewis of John McNeil Studio explains “We needed to create a powerful, distinctive voice for the brand. But, it couldn’t compete with the voice of the artists because in the end, the art has to speak. It had to be simple, honest and genuine, in line with the mission of Creative Growth. Artists will spend 30 years making work, honing their craft and following their voice inside this space. We wanted to celebrate that. So, while the mark, the brand, is simple and honest, it’s also expansive and energetic.” Kicking off the new brand campaign is a short film capturing the voice of artist William Scott as he walks through downtown Oakland and enters... Read More