Writer/director Quinn Armstrong's Survival Skills tells the story of Jim, a rookie policeman who gets in over his head when he tries to resolve a domestic violence case outside the law. Presented entirely as a mid 80s police training video, complete with a Narrator, played by Golden-Globe winner Stacy Keach, it will screen in the New Visions Competition at Cinequest Film Festival in March. In addition to Keach, the film stars Vayu O'Donnell (80/20), Ericka Kreutz (This Is Us, The Handmaid's Tale), and Spencer Garrett (Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood).
The film, which Fanboy Planet calls "delightfully disturbing", is drawn from the weird world of police training VHS videos of the 1980s, as well as from Armstrong's personal experience working at domestic violence shelters and interacting with law enforcement there.
Quinn Armstrong is an award-winning director and writer, who began his career as an actor, appearing on professional stages in a variety of roles and on screen in national commercials and broadcast TV shows, including NBC's Grimm. He wrote the Oscar-nominated short film Bolero, and produced Colin West's award-winning Here & Beyond.
Producer Colin West is also an award-winning director and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. His films have screened internationally at numerous high profile film festivals including Fantasia, Cinequest, and The Chicago Underground Film Festival, and have been featured on Vimeo as a Staff Pick as well as Billboard.com, io9.com, and Film Shortage.
The film was also produced by Michael Orion Downing who had previously worked with Amazon Studios, Paramount Pictures, Lin Pictures, Illumination, and Sierra/Affinity, and produced the feature film The Last Whistle, currently on Netflix.
Survival Skills will world premiere on Friday, March 6 at Cinequest Film Festival and have three additional screenings throughout the festival. The following showtimes are as follows and tickets are still available.
For tickets visit : https://www.cinequest.org/
Videos