A Personal Pandemic Explores Impact of COVID Quarantine on Marriage

PHOENIX - EntSun -- Can a failing marriage survive the COVID stay-at-home quarantine? Or will a chance encounter during the pandemic reignite a woman's enthusiasm for life? These questions are the basis for A Personal Pandemic, a film written, directed and acted by Valley residents. It premieres at the Phoenix Film Festival, April 6, 2024.

A Personal Pandemic was created by Jeff Breuer, Phoenix resident and film professor at Grand Canyon University (GCU), during the COVID quarantine. Based on a short film Breuer made prior to the pandemic, he saw an interesting opportunity to combine individuals' exploration of brokenness through a different lens by asking, "What are the effects of a mandatory quarantine during a global pandemic and how does it impact people in challenging and uncomfortable situations?"

"I often tell people my brand as a writer is "better after broken," said Breuer. "Potentially more than any other film I've written, A Personal Pandemic explores this brokenness at a deeper level reflecting on not only our personal and intimate relationships but connection with the world around us."

Breuer wrote and shot A Personal Pandemic during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of his motivators was to help many of his friends and colleagues in the film industry who were struggling to find work during the crisis. For many participants, this was their first feature, including several recent GCU graduates who worked on the production.

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The film was produced entirely in Arizona using local talent. It was shot on location in North Phoenix and Prescott. The Director of Photography, Nathan Meade, used to work for Mesa School District and now works as a camera operator in Hollywood on movies and TV shows.

The cast in A Personal Pandemic includes North Valley Arts Academies theatre teacher, Joe Flowers, president of the Independent Filmmakers of Phoenix (IFP), Rebekah Varghese and Phoenix-based actors Briana Lys and Jedediah Jones. The 103-minute film also includes a cameo by local influencer and television broadcaster, Kristen Keogh.

"This is a movie without conventional heroes and villains, instead the film is designed to help audiences reflect on the characters' brokenness as humans, without casting judgment," Breuer added. "I hope audience members use this movie as a springboard to accept learning, evolving and changing as a part of moving forward in life."

This is not Breuer's first Phoenix Film Festival appearance. In 2011, his team created a short film called HOA Police: Suburban Enforcerswhich won Best of Show at the Beat the Clock Challenge. Made during a series of 48-hour film challenges through IFP, Breuer and his team won a regional competition that provided an opportunity to screen at the film festival where they earned top prize accolades.

According to Breuer, A Personal Pandemic is a small feature film with a big heart, shot on a shoestring budget that was made with a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

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"Everyone in front of and behind the camera gave a lot of themselves to make this movie happen," he said. "It is a testament to the passion, energy and resolve of the local film community in Phoenix."

"Looking back, COVID deepened our cultural divide, causing us to be more tribal and making us very vocal, and sometimes violent, against those we disagreed with," concluded Breuer. "I think now more than ever it's time to explore our own brokenness and how we can learn to move forward in spite of our failures and the failures of others around us."

A Personal Pandemic will be shown three times during the Phoenix Film Festival at Harkins Scottsdale 101including Saturday, April 6 at 3:55 p.m., Wednesday, April 10 at 4:45 p.m. and Saturday, April 13 at 9:30 a.m. Tickets are available online at https://www.phoenixfilmfestival.com/tickets. Tickets start at $15 each.

The Phoenix Film Festival was started in 2000 by three local filmmakers as a way to get their films exposure in their hometown. Twenty-four years and thousands of movies later, the Phoenix Film Foundation has grown from a three-day exhibition to an 11-daycelebration of film with over 250 films, filmmaking seminars, partiesand student workshops for more than 20,000 attendees all at the Harkins Scottsdale 101.