“Letting Go of Jack” Awarded Best Drama at HRIFF

Letting Go of Jack, written and directed by Andrew Koltuniuk ‘20, was awarded Best Drama Feature at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, which will host the film’s world premiere at Regal Cinemas LA Live on Sunday, March 9th at 5pm.

The roadtrip drama is a collaboration by a group of JPCatholic alumni through their production studio The Guild. It follows a young man (Larson Kapitan) on a roadtrip to overcome his grief, who gets tested by hitchhikers (Meghan Antonia, Matthew Smaldone) and breakdowns along the way.

The Guild was founded in 2022 by Koltuniuk along with Rachael (Workman) McLaughlin ‘20, Joseph Kusic ‘21, Charles Blum ‘21, and Connor McLaughlin. The team collectively brings experience from over 300 commercial and narrative projects, including three feature films. Letting Go of Jack is their first feature together as a company, and in just a few months during 2023 they raised $90k from investors to shoot the project.

Throughout pre-production, the team received ongoing mentorship from JPCatholic faculty, including Shun Lee Fong, and Prof. Nathan Scoggins who holds an executive producer credit on the film. Production took place in fall 2023, primarily near Joshua Tree National Park, and a majority of the crew were JPCatholic alumni and students.

“Shooting Letting Go of Jack with my team was an amazing experience, so being recognized by HRIFF for that hard work was more than I hoped for. It would not have been possible without the people I had by my side every step of the filmmaking process,” said Koltuniuk.

Up next for The Guild is a thriller called LIVE, currently in pre-production. Written by Rachael (Workman) McLaughlin and Gabe O’Malley ‘21, LIVE is the story of a young streamer whose desperation to be recognized turns deadly when a charming serial killer makes him both a sensation and his next victim. The film will be helmed by Rachael in her directorial debut.

To purchase tickets for the premiere of Letting Go of Jack, click here.