Sundance's blog

A simple teenage girl is forced into preparing for a prom she doesn't want to go to. That's the setup of Boutonniere, a short film by director Coley Sohn that is funny, stylish, and uncovers a world in which an overbearing mother (who in the real world would not come across as funny) can generate laughs while presenting an almost deranged, not-so-traditional familial relationship. It's uncomfortable yet funny, dark, and quite satirical.

Boutonniere was originally penned as part of an application to a prestigious women's program that Coley was hoping to get into. "I didn't get into that program," says Sohn, “but a good friend encouraged me to make the movie anyway. The next thing I knew, a bunch of incredibly talented people were on board and the rest is history. "

With a background in writing and acting, this was the first time Sohn is directing, but that role seemed natural after a unique writing session she had. "I think I wrote the short in one sitting," says Sohn. "It just kind of poured out." What followed was an impressively quick month for Sohn to cast it, crew up, and find the house to shoot it in. What resulted is a two-day shoot that went off kind of perfectly.

Ryan Sage, who had filled the role of producer during production, also came in to help edit. “There was a good month of back and forth where he'd email me versions and I'd respond with notes. That system seemed to work very well for us. You don't even have to get out of your pajamas!" Sohn recalls. "I know this film would not be what it is without my producer, Ryan Sage. As an experienced director himself, working with a first-timer, he knew when to guide me and when to step aside." 

Sundance is the first festival for the film, with inevitably more to come. “It's like going to an amusement park and riding the biggest, fastest rollercoaster first,” Sohn quips. As for the future, she has recently completed a feature script of Boutonniere. With that idea in mind, she has a very clear goal at the Festival: “It'd be great to make some contacts and garner interest as we try to figure out how to get the feature made. We'd probably have to flip a whole neighborhood of houses to pay for that one.”

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