by James Honeycutt

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pitch 3
- Short Pitch 3
- Long Pitch 3
Synopsis 4
Storyboard Extract 5
Biography 6
Short Biography of Director 6
Long Biography of Director 7
The Films Universe 8
The Title: 8
Macedonia: 8
Letter of Intent 9
Film Aspects 10
- Look 10
Key crew members 11
- Kristina Ilievska- Producer 11
- Sin Popena- Director of Photography 11
- Romain Watts- Music 11
- Stills of Latest Film: 12
SHORT PITCH
Sash, a Macedonian girl, discovers with her friend, Mish, the importance of questioning her
received ideas about life, even if that means enduring the fear of having no answers. She spends
her days waiting in deserted places for the answers to come.
LONG PITCH
Sash and her friend Mish, two Macedonian girls in their twenties, talk about the changes in life
through analogy of the etymology of the word rock by the aqueducts where they often spend
their time waiting. At the same time, Witt, a scraggly man dressed in rags rummages through
trash cans and comes across a shovel that he uses to dig a hole on top of the mountains. Later,
the girls go to a concert, where Sash meets Chic, a mysterious guy who charms her. However, she
leaves in the middle of their conversation, because she has bigger things to contemplate than boys.
Sash and Mish are at an abandoned bus stop waiting, when Mish begins to have enough of this
waiting and leaves. Sash continues waiting, but after realizing nothing is coming she starts to head
home and runs into Chic who explains that she shouldnt be sad and that she knows where she
needs to go. She heads back to the aqueducts to see the sunset and smiles.
PITCH
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Sash and her friend Mish are hanging around the aqueducts of Skopje talking about the etymology
of the word rock and how its meaning in Macedonian has changed over time from meaning diamond
to all hard matter to just rock. They imagine this evolution as an analogy for life and its consistency
to remain inconsistent while never really changing all that much. They appear to be waiting for
something to come, but Mish becomes restless and asks if they can leave. Sash agrees reluctantly.
Later that night, an unknown man to them, Witt, rummages through the tin metal cans infested with
alley cats in search of hidden treasures negligently tossed away. He nds a shovel, a worn-out tie,
and binoculars. He attaches the tie around his neck and scurries off with the shovel to complete his
next task.
We nd the girls walking to a underground concert on the street parallel to where Witt was.
Sash is disinterested, but goes to accompany her friend. On their arrival, Mish is instantly enthralled
with the music and leaves her friend behind. Chic takes notice to Sash and accosts her questioning
her about the things she believes in, to which she has no answer and replies that shes in the
process of discovering that for herself, as a matter of a fact. They hit it off, but this is not their story,
so Sash tells him that she was pleased to meet him, but that she must go.
A few days later, the girls are waiting once again, this time at an abandoned bus station. Mish begins
to become fed up with all this waiting around, especially since Sash wont reveal what its for
(because she doesn't quite know either, it more of an intuition). This leads to a dispute between the
two friends, and Mish stomps away. Witt watched this dispute from the top of the mountains next to
the Millennium Cross with a pair of binoculars. He nd this ght to be petty and quite amusing.
He chuckles to himself, picks back up his shovel, and returns to digging a hole that is already nearly
six feet deep. Following the argument and a day wasted waiting, Sash sets out to return home.
On her way, Chic sees her and catches up to her and asks her why she appears distraught.
She explains that she doesnt quite know- that she doesnt quite know how to express her emotions
in words, and that she doesnt know what shes doing or why. He explains to her that she will nd
out and that everything she will know, she already knows, and thats its just a matter of discovering
she knows. This thought puzzles her. Then her contemplation is cut short when Mish suddenly
appears and asks Chic what time it is. Upon hearing the time, it hits her what she needs to do.
She apologizes to Mish for making her wait around with her, and that she can do this herself.
She races to the aqueducts, where the story started. She arrives and sits down on the rocks.
The sun rises and the light slowly envelops her. She smiles.

S
Y
N
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S
IS
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STORYBOARD EXTRACT
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BIOGRAPHY
SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF DIRECTOR
James Honeycutt is a 22 year-old lmmaker from
Texas living in Paris, France. He completed
a three-year Bachelors degree in Directing and
Cinematography at the International Film school
of Paris (EICAR). He is an ofcial lm buff with a
passion for lms since the young age of ten, when
his father rst passed him down the family VHS
tape recorder. After writing and directing
numerous student short lms, notably Four Frames,
which he completed in Fall 2013 and recently
received special mention at the Short Film Forum
Festival, he now aspires to create his rst short
lm outside of the connes of cinema school.
LONG BIOGRAPHY OF DIRECTOR

James Honeycutt is a 22 year-old lmmaker based in Paris, originally from Texas. Contrary to popular
belief, he is not a cowboy. His passion for lmmaking began at age seven. His father handed down
the family VHS videotape recorder. James began making his rst short lms with his friends, such
as the classic Mr. Cheese Man where a heroic astronaut must ght an evil cheese man in space.
In his early teen years he took up skateboarding and continued his passion by recording and editing
short montages of his skated-friends. He also used this camera to make videos for school each time
there was an opportunity. One of these won an award in a regional French video contest.

With maturing skills, he acquired a more professional camera and began an emphasis in short lms.
At 16, he funded his lm-making obsession by working at a retail store concurrent with continued high
school education. Just prior to completing high school, and with his interest in lm and the French
language, he identied EICAR - International Film School of Paris - website. The schools programs
were a direct match with his aspirations. He applied to the school with a video candidature.
A few weeks later, he received the exciting letter that he had been accepted. He packed his bags and
with the huge support of his family, he left his hometown of Flower Mound, Texas and set out for Paris,
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France. The past few years he spent in Paris have been a large learning curve for him, and not only in
terms of lmmaking. In the course of three years, he managed to perfect his French, write and direct
a few student projects, as well as land multiple internships for French production companies.

The 3rd and nal year of school, he wrote a script for a short lm called Four Frames and was
green-lit, meaning he would be able to shoot it with the equipment and support of the school.
It was a fairly large-sized project with nearly thirty people who took part in the artistic collaboration
that is making a lm. It was an incredible experience for him to direct in French real actors on a real
set with real equipment. He learned a plethora of lessons during the production of this lm ranging
from the understanding of the pre-production and organization of a lm to the ability to come up
with solutions to problems quick on set to the realization of the importance of catering .

This year James will embark on a new journey- to shoot an independent short lm.
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THE FILMS UNIVERSE
The Title:
CKOPA (pronounced skora) is a deformation of the word fast in Russian written in cyrillic,
CKOPO, one of the themes of the lm being the passing of time.
Another interesting component of CKOPA is that, although written in cyrillic, one can still type it on
any QWERTY keyboard when typing in capitals. Once you familiarize yourself with the pronuncia-
tion, which is given in the international phonetic alphabet, when you see the word CKOPA you no
longer read it kopa but rather skora and picture the lm, keeping the esthetic of the word
intact. This also covers the theme of etymology of words, which is closely tied to time as etymolo-
gy is the study of words change over time.
Macedonia:
Macedonia is a beautiful country rich in culture, yet remains fairly unknown to the rest of the
world mainly due to its small size. You may know it as the birthplace of Alexander the Great or of
Mother Teresa.
In 1963 an earthquake stroke the capital of Macedonia, Skopje, and stopped the clock of the train
station, now transformed into a museum. The time remains locked on the time when the earth-
quake struck. This will be a topic of conversation in the lm which reveals an interesting aspect of
Macedonian culture as well as the fear of time eeting with the juxtaposition of its standstill.
Skopje is undergoing construction and among some of these changes statues being erected
everywhere in the city. This makes it an ideal shooting location not only for its great landscapes,
but also because the theme of waiting is without doubt the major theme of the lm, and who
waits around longer than a statue?
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LETTER OF INTENT
MACEDONIA
To reveal aspects of our collective humanness through the lens of Macedonia and its culture.
Cinema allows us to see and explore parts of the world we wouldnt have seen or even known
about otherwise. For many people, Macedonia may fall in the latter category. With this lm, I
plan to show people a fascinating place full of wondrous landscapes, an ancient history, a new
architectural faade and the chance to hear the language of Macedonia, Macedonian.
COLLABORATION
To celebrate an aspiration of international collaboration and expression through lmmaking.
Living abroad and having gone to an international lm school, I had the chance to meet and
work with many great people from all over the world. After graduation many returned to their
respective countries, but the ones that have stayed remain good friends and are exciting to
have another opportunity to work on a lm. Its a great mix of kids and an international collabo-
ration for the rst time outside of a school setting making an independent lm.

REVELATION
To express and contrast the anxiety and revelation of young adults in pursuit of a hope.
Twenties is the age in which many people go through a transition and begin to apprehend their
future, a time of discovery where they learn they can reject the ideas received from society.
This can be a challenging time for young adults and I would like to express it for a newer
audience and for those who have already been through it.

SPIRIT
To elevate the feminine spirit in both its strength and frailty.
Bechdel Test. Ever heard of it?
For a lm to pass this test it must have a scene where two women talk to each other about
anything other than boys. It may seem simple, but surprisingly more than half of all lms fail
the test. I wanted to create an environment for two girls to talk about anything other than boys-
etymology of words, fears, and their intrapersonal conicts.
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FILM ASPECTS
Estimated Duration: 9 minutes
Camera: Black Magic Pocket (Color)
Filming Days: 4
LOOK
Cinematographically speaking, I see the lm as a cross between The Tree of Life with its landscapes
and The Czech lm, Daisies, which was highly inspired by the French new wave and incorporated its
original way to edit, its color palette, and more importantly its freedom.
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KEY CREW MEMBERS
Kristina Ilievska is a Macedonian MBA student
living in Paris. She has experience in project
management and recruitment as well as broad
knowledge of marketing and international business.
At the moment she does fashion marketing. She
has always been deeply interested in movies and
worked on James two previous lms as a casting
director and costume designer. She is also working
on co-starting a start-up communication agency.
KRISTINA ILIEVSKA- PRODUCER
A certied cinephile, Sins route to
lmmaking was through a BA in lm theory.
If theres one thing she believes in its Godard.
Sin likes to travel and explore new cultures,
so she is looking forward to shooting in Macedonia.
SIN POPENA- DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Creator of ambiance and atmospheric sound and the ability
to capture nature in its crudest form, Romain has collaborated
numerous in the past, but his other works include the music
for the trailer of the new lm with Scarlett Johansson, Lucy.
ROMAIN WATTS- MUSIC
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She has already constructed a network of Macedonians in the art sector that she regularly recruits
for her businesses whose experience in the art world will be benecial to our team for the movie.
STILLS OF LATEST FILM:
FOUR FRAMES
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design: Ana Nastevska