Shoot, Shovel & Shut Up
CURRENTLY ON THE FILM FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
WINNER: BEST SHORT FILM - Black Bear Film Festival 2025
WINNER: BEST NARRATIVE SHORT - Oneota Film Festival 2026
WINNER: INDIE SPIRIT AWARD - Idyllwild Festival of Cinema 2026
The Clifford family hopes to start a new life by selling their dilapidated, impoverished farm. But when the discovery of an endangered bird on the property threatens to collapse the sale, the son Andy must decide whether to make the bird’s presence known or to shoot, shovel, and shut up.
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Produced with MPI Original Films and selected through the MPI’s Short Film Lab 2021, this film touches on the impact of bad incentives in conservation law.
Starring Casey Simpson (Nickelodeon’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn), Ryan Kitley (NBC’s Chicago PD), and Becki Hayes (ABC’s Gideon’s Crossing), featuring Chris Richards (Pandemic Trilogy).
Read more at https://thempi.org/film/shoot-shovel-and-shut-up/
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Production Co: MPI Original Films, NODEHAUS
Written & Directed by: Tran Hoang Calvin
Executive Producer: Della Levine, Kristi Kendall, Gerry Ohrstrom, Nick Reid, Lana Link, Rob Pfaltzgraff
Associate Producer: Nicole Roewe
Produced by: Tran Hoang Calvin, Chris Edgar
Andy: Casey Simpson
Ray: Ryan Kitley
Mary: Becki Hayes
Businessman: Chris Richards
Director of Photography: Yuki Soga
1st Assistant Camera: Emily Kaminski
2nd Assistant Camera: Jaricxel Ramirez-Mata
Gaffer: Triston Centretto
Grip: Zsaknor Powe
Assistant Director: Jacob McElroy
Unit Production Manager: Jordan Han
Production Design: Zachary Thomas
Art Assistants: Isabella Werschky, Sarah Kutchinski
Armorer: Ring of Steel Action Theatre and Stunt Troupe
HMU: Candace Lefke, Ashley Anderson
Sound Recordist: Lauren Ritter
Production Assistants: Grace Brady, Max Holt, Leah Eichenberger, Adam Schrems, Polina Andrushchenko, Madison Bluemel
Set Photography: Matthew Denicola
Set Videography: Ayden Case
Editor: Tran Hoang Calvin
Assistant Editor: Polina Andrushchenko
Colorist: Taylor Schafer
Sound Mixer: Ben Eggehorn
Composer: Scott A. Stevens
Footage of Kirtland’s Warbler by Benjamin Clock, Courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Filmed on location in Silverwood, MI and Grandville, MI
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WINNER: BEST SHORT FILM - Black Bear Film Festival 2025
NOMINATED: BEST SHORT FILM - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
NOMINATED: BEST DIRECTOR - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
NOMINATED: BEST ACTOR (Ryan Kitley as Ray Clifford) - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
NOMINATED: BEST ACTRESS (Becki Hayes as Mary Clifford) - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
NOMINATED: JOHN MILIUS AWARD for BEST SCREENPLAY, SHORT - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
NOMINATED: JUAN RUIZ ANCHIA AWARD for BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, SHORT - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
NOMINATED: BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
WINNER: INDIE SPIRIT AWARD - Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema 2026
WINNER: BEST NARRATIVE SHORT - Oneota Film Festival 2026
