King's Elevator (1982)

Major Lazer, a radio warlord, takes the King's Elevator to the basement floor, the mezzanine, and the penthouse, encountering various challenges and ultimately transforming into Pegasus.

Director:

William Kirk Kennedy

Writer:

Dan Santistevan

Storyline

Major Lazer, a radio warlord, takes the King's Elevator to the basement floor, the mezzanine, and the penthouse, encountering various challenges and ultimately transforming into Pegasus.

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Genres:

Short | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 July 1982 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$12,180 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Everyman Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

6 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was essentially a two month, intensive effort by a group of Colorado Springs artists and musicians, led by Dan Santistevan, the leader of the band Once (their name was changed to Gibraltar before the post production was completed).

At first, William Kirk Kennedy and Artie Romero were the only people involved who had any animation experience. Santistevan brought Animart FX Animation Co., Bob and Linn Trochim's new studio, into the production, utilizing their Colorado Springs facility for the work. The Trochims were Hollywood animation veterans who had recently relocated to Colorado Springs.

The film had an original working budget of $500, which was enough to pay for animation paper, cels, paint, supplies, film and processing. Later on, Bob Trochim was kind enough to give a total of $1000 to the starving artists, which kept them from losing their apartments. He also had hundreds of boxes of beautiful animation cels, purchased from Alexander Film Company, originally used in theatrical commercials, and these contained effects such as sparkles, explosions, etc., which he freely allowed the crew to use in the film.

After the filming was completed, Romero contracted with Kaleidoscope Production Company to produce the first video edit at an additional expense of roughly $1000. Then Santistevan raised another $1500 for video post in Las Vegas. Unfortunately there were no digital tricks at that time which could repair the poor photography that had been done by the amateur camera crew. The final product is, overall, embarrassing for Romero to watch, especially since his title was "technical director." It's a miracle that this film was finished in any form. The only serious exposure the film ever received was an airing on "America Rocks" in the summer of 1982, a syndicated show consisting of music videos that was broadcast in 22 U.S. cities.

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