Crushed by her life in "cubicle city", Waters barely survives work on coffee and pills. Her new, lighthearted cube neighbor only seems to make matters worse.
CUBEd: a film by Lisa Virtue
The Story
Caught in a world of work without meaning or relief, cubicle dweller Waters medicates her way through the monotonous world of office routine. When an energetic new hire offers unsought advice over the cubicle wall, Waters is first irritated then intrigued. Provoked by her outspoken colleague, Waters is forced to assess her purpose and her goals, and decide if she has the courage to buck the system. As she comes to greater awareness, her dull but dependable world begins to fall apart, and her suspicions about what’s really happening lead her to investigate a disturbing mystery.
The technical details
CUBEd. RT 11 mins. Filmed on Kodak Super 35mm 16:9. Panavision. Technicolor. Dolby E Surround. Mastered on HDCam Dolby E.
The reaction: “That’s exactly my story!”
At just 11 minutes running time, CUBEd manages to spark deep personal response from its viewers. After-screening comments—most often from women—affirm that the film’s central question resonates deeply: whether one should surrender to societal expectations or find the courage to set out on a new, more personal path. This fundamental tension between risk and routine reflects the unsettling situation faced by many women, and lobby conversations at several film festivals to date have proved that CUBEd connects with its audiences at a visceral level.
The filmmaker
An actor since the age of ten and editor since 1993, Lisa Virtue turned fulltime to directing in 2005 to explore the subtleties of human existence as it is lived in isolation, in relationships, in work, in community and in the increasingly complex world of international society. Warmly received at short-film festivals in 2007, Lisa was selected by Warner Brothers as one of the ‘short-listed’ directors they hope to work with in 2008. Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Lisa grew up in a widely traveled diplomatic family, seeing her home community through the lens of foreign experience. The much admired Canadian director studied psychology at Ottawa’s Carleton University before earning an Honours Diploma from Algonquin College’s TV Broadcasting program. She has studied with veteran filmmakers Deepa Mehta (Water, Bollywood/Hollywood), Gary Burns (Radiant City, Cool Money) and Kevin Tierney (Bon Cop–Bad Cop, Twist).
The festivals
Cinema Slam 2008
Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah
Women's International Film Festival 2008
Miami, Florida
Run For Your Shorts Festival 2008
Ottawa, Canada
Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival 2007
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Top-five Finalist!
The Vine Short Film Festival 2007
Santa Monica, California
Los Angeles International Short Film Festival 2007
Los Angeles, California
The credits
RIGHT PATH PICTURES presents a film by LISA VIRTUE, starring JULIE LEGAL, ALIX SIDERIS, JEFF LAWSON, PAULA MACPHERSON & DON MONET. Music by DAVID BURNS of BARTMART AUDIO. Director of Photography MICHAEL TIEN. Directed by LISA VIRTUE. Written by LISA VIRTUE and RICHARD KAULBARS.
For more information visit http://rightpathpictures.com