Pencils Down
2025 | USA | 13:33 | Dark Comedy
When a woman discovers her co-worker dead at the office, she must find an immediate replacement or risk losing her own job.
C R E D I T S
Directed by: Karen Maine Written & Produced by: Suzanne Lenz Rachel McPhee Elizabeth Wright-Williams Starring: Suzanne Lenz as “Susan” Rachel McPhee as “Bethany” Elizabeth Wright-Williams as “Brooke” Desi Domo as “Judy” Director of Photography: Katherine Castro Editor: Casey Brooks Production Designer: Joyce Lai Music by: Michael Abiuso & Chris Bordeaux Costume Designer: Fan Zhang Assistant Director: Thea Brooks 1st Assistant Camera: Mackenzie Myers 2nd Assistant Camera & DIT: Emmett Ferrer Steadicam Operator: Joel San Juan Gaffer: James Michael Douglas Key Grip: Benjamin Wanko Sound Mixer: Ander Agudo Script Supervisor: Caroline Berthonneau Graphic Design & Animation: Whitney Theis Hair & Makeup: Olive Ryan Sound Designer & Editor: Marcus DiLauro Colorist: Sean Dunckley
D I R E C T O R S T A T E M E N T
PENCILS DOWN is about the everyday woman working in a corporate America, where the bottom line is profit for the top few while everyone else toils below as faceless expendables. The film satirizes how companies try to disguise this disconnect with “fun” fringe benefits like free tampons, Girl-Boss mentality, and wellness rooms with battery-operated flameless candles (real ones would be a fire hazard!). And even if we’re fully aware of this reality, we rarely have any choice but to fall in line.
I strived to capture these sentiments visually with stark lighting and crisp, geometric shadows, juxtaposed with the frilly pinks and whites of modern coworking spaces (ala the now-defunct The Wing). I used long lenses, lingering shots, and isolating framing to highlight the anonymity felt when working at a large company. And the score heightens all of this with its playful melodies and sinister instrumentation.
The themes of our short couldn’t be more timely, and will remain relevant for some time. The divide between the top few and the bottom masses is growing wider by the day with no sign of slowing. While the film’s core message may seem somewhat stark, the overall tone is funny, absurd, and ironic -- sugarcoating reality just enough to make it easier to swallow because... do we really have another option?
— Karen Maine
D I R E C T O R B I O G R A P H Y
Karen Maine is an award-winning and acclaimed filmmaker. Most recently, she directed episodes of the hit Netflix series NOBODY WANTS THIS starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. Before that, she directed the pilot and first season of Rose Matafeo’s STARSTRUCK (HBOMax/BBC3) and also directed the 20th Century feature film ROSALINE starring Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Minnie Driver, and Bradley Whitford. Her debut feature film YES, GOD, YES, which she wrote and directed, premiered at SXSW and was named one of The New Yorker’s Best Movies of 2020. YES, GOD, YES the short film premiered as a Vimeo Staff Pick and went viral, receiving 3 million views. Karen co-wrote OBVIOUS CHILD, which premiered at Sundance and was distributed by A24.
COMING SOON…