Palmer High School filmmaker to unveil his second feature film at Glenn Massay Theater

PALMER- After shooting his first full length film on an iPad, Ethan Feaster picked up a nice Canon DSLR camera- stained with fake blood- and upped the ante to produce his second film, ‘Codicia,’ which will premiere next week at the Glenn Massay Theater. After winning second place in a national script writing contest and bringing his vision to life on the Mat-Su Valley’s finest theater, he’s come a long way from making movies with his Legos and toys in the fourth grade.

“It was inspiring to shoot out of the ‘impossible folder,’ ” Feaster said.

He said he keeps two main folders with his movie ideas, the practical, “can be shot in high school,” and the impossible with epic and complicated scenes like Codicia’s wagon chase scene. He said that after he finished his film, ‘Crow Haven,’ he was “pumped” and filled with encouragement.

The Palmer High School (PHS) senior amassed a crew of 23 actors, support from his family, peers, and teachers to create ‘Codicia,’ an epic movie with a whopping 2 hour and 56 minute run time. He got the idea while shooting ‘Crow Haven.’ He said that he was captivated by the movie, ‘The Revenant” and went home to start putting a script together.

“I have a very strange creative process,” he laughed.

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‘Codicia’ is Spanish for greed. This dark and gritty film takes that theme and runs wild with it. It takes place on the Yukon during the Gold Rush era. The story follows multiple points of view with characters in search of gold and glory. Some of the characters are particularly sinister and will stop at nothing to get their way- even murder. Feaster said that in spite of the overwhelming greed and malice, some characters find hope and the film ends with a “happy yet not so happy ending.”

“We all shared the same vision.”

The cast is a mixture of high school upperclassmen and some fresh graduates. Some of them rolled over from his first film but he said he’s working with a lot of new actors. He acts in both films, but he prefers to work behind the scenes as much as possible. Production began last May and wrapped up back in December. He said the actors frequently nailed their scenes on the first take. He showed a teaser trailer at a cast party, then uploaded the video onto IMDB with all the actors’ names credited. He referred back to an old film industry saying, “90 percent of directing is casting.”

“The cast is the best in the planet, they’re super talented.”

Feaster said in fourth grade, he wanted to be a pirate. He said the movie that got him on the “whole cinema train” was ‘Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark.’

“It dawned on me, ‘wow’ that’s an actual job, like, tell stories and be appreciated for it.”

He used a flip phone camera and started shooting himself playing with toys. His brain kept churning ideas. He began watching bonus features and behind the scenes extras after digesting his favorite movies. As he got older, he started to study cinema as an art more closely. During his sophomore year, he got an iPad and loaded it with film editing apps and said, “Let’s make a movie.” After that, the ideas kept flowing and he was further cemented onto the path of a filmmaker.

“I want complete creative control.”

Feaster wants to break into the indie film scene and hit a lot of festivals after he graduates and finished a one year intensive program at the Vancouver Film School in Canada. He said that he’s had a lot of support with his cinematic endeavors, particularly from the now retired PHS music teacher, Stanley Harris. Harris has been ingrained in PHS and the surrounding community for many decades. Many PHS students and graduates cite Harris as a huge inspiration and encouraging mentor. Feaster said that Harris let him borrow equipment and helped him screen ‘Crow Haven’ in the school auditorium.

“He doesn’t just do that for me, he does that for everybody.”

Feaster also has a handyman dad who helps him craft the various props for his movies. He said that it’s been a lot of fun working with him. He plans to release one more film before leaving Alaska, ‘The Sphinx” and he’s already started working on it. He said this neo-noir film will have “a lot of suits and lots of neon.”

‘Codicia’ opens March 8, 2018 at 7 p.m. at the Glenn Massay Theater. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door. To learn more, call 907-354-2680 or email ethanf3aster@gmail.com.