Sport Star
United States, 18 mins, Digital
In-Person & Online
An aging black high school football star, living a quotidian life and married to his high school sweetheart in a small town, reminisces over a long-lost lover - a man he once shared the football field with.
Director: Ellis Finney
Writer: Ellis Finney
Producer: Jeff Lichtenstein
Director of Photography: Kevin "GK" Frederick
Editor: Ellis Finney & Jeff Lichtenstein
Production Designer: Benny Perkinson
Composer: Alex Symcox & HB
Cast: Sean Tyrik, Mike D. Marunde, Mark Evans, Carolyn Corsano Wong, Kyle Larsen
Contact: jl6279@columbia.edu
Program A
Friday, May 16th at 7:00 PM
About the Writer/Director
Ellis Finney is a screenwriter and director born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Gloucester, Virginia. A Columbia MFA graduate, his latest short film "Sport Star" received support from the Robert Gore Rifkind Foundation and the Cook Foundation. In 2022, Ellis was named a Cy Twombly Graduate Fellow by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
About the Producer
Jeff Lichtenstein is an award-winning producer and editor from Columbia, Maryland. A former marketing and finance professional, he produced films and videos for brands like Google and Capital One. His work includes Sport Star (Robert Gore Rifkind Prize, Cook Foundation) and The Allowance (Emerging Filmmakers grant). In 2024, he won the Arthur Krim Award for Excellence in Producing.