NEW INDIE HORROR SHORT FILM ‘LAPSE’ WRAPS PRODUCTION
Lapse is a new short horror film that follows Terry, an overachieving and overwhelmed competitive swimmer who experiences her first blackout while training alone at the pool. When a dead body is found in the pool the next day, Terry can’t help but wonder what happened during her lapse in time.
This innovative new project is helmed by Katie Colwell, an award-winning filmmaker, and former champion competitive swimmer from Oakland University (Rochester, MI). Colwell’s passion for the horror genre, history as a Division I swimmer, and experience in narrative filmmaking all sparked the idea for Lapse:
“I grew up as a female athlete in a sport that never got the attention it deserved. I noticed that there were so many sports movies out there but barely any of them centered around swimming, much less female swimmers. Once I got into film, it was an immediate goal for me to put women’s swimming on the map.”
Diving into genres that are female-centered is nothing new to producer Soukaina Alaoui El Hassani. Coming off of her documentary filmed in Morocco about outcast single mothers, Alaoui El Hassani was all in once she heard the innovative idea sparked by Colwell. With Alaoui El Hassani’s background in taking just a seed of an idea and turning it into an award-winning film as a producer as well as being production coordinator for internationally renowned Vice Media, she is now working her magic for Lapse.
The NYC-based team of Colwell, Alaoui El Hassani, and Rutuja Sawant (camera specialist/gaffer), traveled to Rochester, MI to film in Colwell’s home pool. There, they underwent three days of intense filming covering four locations and four scenes. It was a fast paced production where everyone needed to be on their A-game. And they were. A necessary piece of that puzzle was Sawant, whose technical experience in camera and lights is what made Colwell’s vision come to fruition. Looked at highly by the Lapse production, Sawant’s efficiency and creative thinking is what “made the production successful,” according to both Alaoui El Hassani and Colwell.
With few films about swimming and even fewer about female swimmers, Lapse strives to break the mold of the artistic horror film, something that long-time horror veterans are already appreciating. Couper Samuelson, president of feature films at Blumhouse, made a generous contribution which renders him an Executive Producer on Lapse. Samuelson has produced some of the decade’s most successful horror films, including The Invisible Man (2020), The First Purge (2018), Hush (2016), and Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), as well as multi-award winning psychological drama Whiplash (2014).
Lapse is now in its post-production phase and will be released in 2023. Stay updated on the project by following Lapse on Instagram and Facebook.
Check out the teaser for the film below:
