Both telecommunications majors graduating in May, Brezina and Flower are production partners who have worked on multiple short films and projects together.
“We live together, we work together and basically everything we do, we do it together,” Flower said.
They are currently focusing on their short film series “Vanguard,” which details the lives of individuals who are somehow related to the vigilante called Vanguard and how their lives are affected by him.
Flower said they have been working on the “Vanguard” film series since last year when Brezina asked Flower to act in the series. Brezina said it is up to the viewer’s own interpretation as to whether Vanguard is actually a hero or not.
After the first film for the “Vanguard” series, Brezina said they decided to continue the story, and this time Flower filmed it instead of acting. Since then, the two have been partners when it comes to film and production.
Brezina and Flower did not meet until the first semester of their junior year at IU, they said. Brezina said he originally wanted to be in SPEA, but he took a theater class he fell in love with and eventually became more interested in telecommunications and the production side of things.
Flower also said she started with acting but then moved toward production, where she fell in love with camera work. In fact, part of the reason Brezina asked Flower to act in the first film of Vanguard was because she was in the telecommunications department, he said.
“I had seen her films before I even knew she had done them, and I was like, ‘Damn, these are really good,’” Brezina said.
Brezina is the writer and director of the “Vanguard” series, and Flower is director of photography and has co-directed two of the films. Each film focuses on a new character and how their storyline somehow relates to Vanguard, the vigilante.
The duo said they are most proud of the third film of the series titled “Illusion.”
“Shooting that movie, wow, it was rough,” Brezina said.
They made “Illusion” for Campus Movie Fest, which Flower said is the largest student film fest in the world. The film festival travels between campuses around the nation and challenges students to make a 5-minute film in the period of one week.
Brezina and Flower wanted to shoot the film in a prison, but due to scheduling issues they said they were forced to shoot and edit the film in 36 hours.
“That about killed us,” Brezina said.
“Illusion” won best cinematography and best actor of the IU entries. The film also placed in the top 4 at the IU Campus Movie Fest, and the team had the opportunity to move on in the competition to the final film festival in Los Angeles.
“It’s really cool just to meet who did all these cool projects and see what everyone else is doing in the country,” Flower said.
After they graduate in the spring, both Flower and Brezina said they want to continue to pursue film. Brezina said he wants to pursue film acting more than anything, while Flower said she would like to be a professional cinematographer. Although this is their last year together, Brezina said he is hopeful he and Flower and the rest of their team will work together again in the future.
“We want to end this year with a bang,” Brezina said.
They are about to shoot an independent project, to which he said the University is paying close attention. It is going to be new character storyline in the “Vanguard” series titled “Disdain.”
Flower said she doesn’t know what their plans are for Vanguard in the future, but she knows that they would like to continue and improve upon it.
“The biggest reason we do this is because of our team,” Brezina said.
Everyone on their team is the best at what they do, and they couldn’t have done it without them, Brezina said. Flower and Brezina’s independent project, titled “Siren,” will premiere at the IU Cinema spring 2016.
