About Extropy

Director: Jonathan Sanden

Country: USA

Running Time: 16 min

Format: Shot on Super16mm Fuji Eterna, Transferred to HD, 35mm print on Kodak Vision

Websites: www.extropymovie.com

Premiere Status: USA Premier

Science Topics covered in film: Extropy explores concepts involving the genetics of the human aging process, specifically the possible impact of telomeres. Telomeres are the repetitve sections of DNA on the end of chromosomes that do not code for any proteins but are simply meant to protect genetic material from damage. During cell division, DNA duplicating enzymes are not able to copy all the way to the end of the chromosome and thus the telomeres shorten and this protective buffer zone shrinks with each split. Some believe that this shortening mechanism that controls aging by determining how many times a cell can divide. Extropy proposes the idea that if this mechanism could be stopped or reversed then so could the aging process.

Synopsis

Philip Zephyr believes he has made a breakthrough in his field of gerontology; the study of human aging. Ambitious and impatient, he takes his stunning results to an eccentric and eager investor. Against the will of everyone around him, he enters into a potentially dangerous experimentation process to prove that his revolutionary age-defying gene therapy really works..

Cast & Credits

Written and Directed By
Jonathan Sanden

Produced By
Jonathan Sanden
Alexis Ward

Cinematography
Chris J. Lytwyn

Editor
Ian Ogden

Starring
Gregory Waller

Editors
Siv Lamark
Nick Rutter

Director’s Bio

After graduating from NYU’s Undergraduate Film and TV program in 2006, Jonathan went to work for The Weinstein Company in New York. While there, he worked on the post-production of numerous feature films that have premiered in both wide and limited release. He edited the final cut of the 2007 film Dedication with director Justin Theroux, and completed the U.S. version of Wong Kar Wai’s first English language film, My Blueberry Nights, in early 2008. He recently left the Weinstein Company to work in the digital intermediate department at the brand new Deluxe New York post-production facility. Extropy, produced in NYU’s Advanced Production Workshop in 2006 and completed in 2008, is Jonathan’s first short film to reach the festival circuit.

Previous Festival Screenings

This film has screened publicly twice this spring. Once at the NYU First Run Festival ‘09 and the NewFilmmakersNY festival at the Anthology Film Archives. At First Run, the film received undergraduate awards for screenwriting, editing, producing, original score, sound design, and a faculty commendation for excellence in filmmaking.

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