JOHN C. KOCH
director | d.p. | editor
NARRATIVE PROJECTS
THE RED GOODNIGHT
Feature Narrative (2018, 80 min., b/w) View Teaser Trailer View Official Trailer
Director, DP, Editor, Writer. OFFICIAL SELECTION: Montana International Film Festival 2018, NewFilmmakers New York 2019, L.A. Neo Noir Novel, Script, & Film Festival 2019.
The Red Goodnight is a neo-noir fever dream about the corruptive nature of ambition, entering the mind of a man who makes a seemingly simple but fateful choice with devastating consequences. Freddy (Nick Zibro), an amateur boxer, makes an impulsive bargain with Johnny Angel, a powerful impresario (Joseph C. Reyes), as he tries to gain favor with him. After a horrendous fateful mistake, darkness closes in as Freddy becomes trapped in a labyrinth of his own making. Desperate to hide his actions from his kind-hearted neighbor Jill (Ana Ribeiro) as well as his doting mother (Nancy Walsh), Freddy must face what he has done. But can he escape or ever atone for his sins?
Merging influences from classic film noir and mid-20th century European modernist cinema, the film is a boldly unique black-and-white visual feast and cinematic puzzle that leaves a lasting impression.
WINTER SOLSTICE
Short Narrative (2016, 14 min., color)
View the film here
Producer, Director, DP, Editor, Writer. Featuring Shawnee Witt, Ron Garritson, Ryan Kabeary and Christina Kechanin
Carissa, a Los Angeles transplant, traverses the western plains as she returns home to rural Montana with her new fiancé, Steve. They are making the trip to spend Christmas with her ailing father at his remote ranch, where he is the last family member remaining. The family has just received some shocking news that puts an end to a decades old mystery. The revelation has been too much for her father to bear and he has suffered a stroke. The family has coped with its share of tragedy through the years, and Carissa must come to terms with the painful memories of the past as she tries to comfort her father. On the precipice of a new life, the pain of her youth is finally receding, but not without a cost.
LATE DECEMBER
Short Narrative (2016, 16 min., color)
Producer, Director, DP, Editor, Writer. Featuring Sofia Murnion, Brian Murnion and Nancy Walsh
A father must leave his daughter to take a job out of state. They spend one special day in New York City together before they must part ways and she goes to live with her mother. Part II in the "Winter Solstice" trilogy.
STALEMATE
Feature Narrative (2014, 60 min., b/w)
Director, DP, Editor, Co-writer with Billy Frey. Featuring Sarah-Doe Osborne, Billy Frey, Catarina Morgado and Nadia Kiyatkina. "Stalemate" began as a short film, evolved into a web series, then evolved again into a feature.
Julia (Sarah-Doe Osborne) is a filmmaker in the middle of shooting a feature film project which has a narrative strongly influenced by her own experiences. She is beautiful, talented and determined, but suffers from increasingly troubling psychological issues. This mental and emotional instability creates a rift in her relationship with Clive (Billy Frey) and arouses deep suspicions about her lead actress, Angela (Catarina Morgado). Losing her fundamental ability to determine what’s real, she fights to find a solution to her terrifying delusional quandary.
THE SEDUCER
Feature Narrative (2009, 101 min., b/w)
Producer, Director, DP, Writer, Editor. An adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story "White Nights." Featuring Zachary Humes, Betsy Hieb and Jon Ferguson. Associate Producer Brian Murnion. View full cast and credits here.
A lonely meandering bicyclist, known only as the Dreamer, tours the empty streets of his city at night. One evening he happens upon a young woman, Sophia, who is standing on a bridge alone. She is waiting for a long-absent lover to make his promised return. The two outcasts form an uneasy new friendship, and they proceed to meet on four consecutive nights, each night again awaiting the appearance of the mysterious man from her past. As the two become closer and the trust between them grows, the situation takes an unexpected turn. It is an unrequited love triangle with desire moving in all the wrong directions.
JE NE SAIS QUOI
Feature Narrative (2008, 82 min., color)
Producer, Director, Editor, Writer. Featuring David Andrae, Victoria Nohl, Emily Zimmer, Jon Ferguson, Carolina Yolen. Cinematography by Greg Yolen. Image credit: Brandy Sadovnikova.
This is a story of the mysterious force that fuels attraction and desire, success and vitality, that elusive 'je ne sais quoi'. Some have it, some don't, and Paul, an unpredictable loner, falls into the latter category. A frustrated creative living a dead end life, Paul is at odds with everything in his environment and with himself. When he reaches out to Anna, a seemingly kindred spirit who lives across the hall, could things be changing for him? With a distinctive sharp wit and visual expression, the film explores the complexities of 21st century relationships and the fine line between acceptance of others and settling for less.
TOMORROW
Short Narrative (2010, 6 min., color)
Producer, Director, DP, Editor, Writer. Featuring Betsy Hieb, Andy Elwell and Jonathan Waldo. Commissioned by Cinema Revolution Society for Minneapolis Project 2010, a collection of short films about Minneapolis neighborhoods.
A woman heads with anticipation to a first date at a popular Uptown Minneapolis restaurant, only to ultimately be stood up. She leaves the restaurant and roams the streets of a neighborhood once a thriving home to musicians and artists that is now primarily a playground for young bourgeois suburban drunks. Street musicians perform on the sidewalk to ambivalent passersby, standing on the former site of the Uptown Bar – the venue that launched the Replacements and Hüsker Dü – which is now an upscale computer retailer. A film about alienation, change, loneliness and disconnection between people, environments and time.
DANCE FILM
SURFACE TENSION
Experimental Short (2013, 8 min., b/w and color)
Co-producer, Director, DP, Editor, Writer. Featuring choreography and performances by Victoria Murphy and Angela Patrinos. Commissioned by Dances Made to Order.
A man falls asleep, questioning, summoning…memory drifts into dream. Searching for understanding, answers are elusive, figures of the past move about in silence. He engages and observes these figures, striving towards resolution, ultimately yielding clarity which allows movement back into the flow of life.
OVERFLOW
Experimental Short (2010, 5 min., color)
Co-director, DP, Editor. Concept, co-direction, choreography and performance by Vanessa Voskuil. Commissioned by Cinema Revolution Society for Dance Film Project 2010.
With a surrealist twist, "Overflow" is a meditation on love and surrender. Inspired by the writings of Hafiz (c. 1320-1389).
THRONE/THROWN
Experimental Short (2008, 8 min., color)
Co-director, DP, Editor. Co-directed, choreographed and performed by Vanessa Voskuil. Commissioned by Cinema Revolution Society for Dance Film Project 2008.
Taking its impetus from W.B. Yeats' poem "The Second Coming," “throne/thrown” explores the search for a position in one's life by which to conduct one's authority over it.
NON-FICTION
FORMLESS FORM QIGONG PROMO
Short Documentary (2014, 7 min., color)
Producer, Director, DP, Editor.
This is a short documentary piece commissioned by Formless Form Qigong and Acupuncture. Founded by Peng Her, the studio focuses on the benefits of combining qigong and acupuncture to encourage healing and physical well-being. In this video Peng describes his approach, we get a view into an acupuncture session and a qigong class and we hear testimonials from several of Peng's clients.
STAYING ON MY FEET
Short Documentary (2014, 8 min., color)
Director of Photography.
Directed by Ivy Jelisavac, Edited by Adrian Hollman.
An inspiring documentary portrait about a woman who never, never, never gave up - and overcame her disability.
© 2019 John C. Koch
