Little Neck Filmmaker Brings Her Work Home

While most of her peers spent their senior years of college toiling away in the classroom, learning theories and taking exams, Little Neck native Elana Mugdan was putting her studies in film and theater into practice.

Now, at age 22, Mugdan will be premiering her full-length feature film, - which she wrote, directed and edited - for the first time in northeast Queens this Friday.

Director’s Cut is loosely based on Mugdan’s own experiences with filmmaking, with the central character, Cassie Thompson, a basic simulacrum of Mugdan herself. Cassie is attempting to make a movie that includes, among other things, teleportation and an army of space dragons, but for a college-age kid with no budget, she quickly finds herself in over her head.

Mugdan said that though the film is technically a comedy, an independent filmmaker could quickly identify the very real hardships of moviemaking from the otherwise absurdist plot line.

“I basically took every bad film experience I’ve ever had and rolled it into one project,” she said.

Little Neck and Douglaston residents will have no trouble identifying with the movie either, as the bulk of it was shot right in their own neighborhoods. The Community Church of Douglaston, Memorial Field, the now-closed Diego’s Douglaston Market and the Mugdan’s own home, are all featured prominently in the film.

Mugdan opted to film around town because, at least in theory, it was less expensive than venturing to other parts of the city.

Her definition of cheap, however, morphed drastically in the time since she began making the film, as Mugdan discovered that producing a full-length film is tricky on a minuscule budget. She initially thought $10,000 would cover the entire cost of filming, a notion she now calls “delusional.”

But after penning the 90 page script in just three days, she managed to convince her parents that she was serious about turning it into a film. Serious enough, even, that they agreed to foot the bill. 

"I was 'Look, I saved you $30,000 by graduating school a year early,'" she said. "'Why don't you give me that money and I'll give you a film?'" 

Unfortunately, the initial $10,000 was gone after the first day of filming. Including expenses like travel and post-production, Mugdan estimates that the film has cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000. 

The difficulties that befell Mugdan’s filmmaking experience weren’t unlike those that plagued her lead character in Director’s Cut. But unlke Cassie Thompson, Mugdan isn’t one to throw in the towel. In the last year, Director's Cut has been submitted to a number of film festivals around the world, and has garnered Mugdan

Despite the challenges, Mugdan said she is certain that her calling lies in filmmaking.

"This is what I want to do for the rest of my life," she said. "What's stopping me now?”

Director's Cut will premiere in Queens at the Community Church of Douglaston on Friday at 7:45 p.m. Admission is $10. Tickets are available for at the door, or by calling (718) 224-7256.