Ryan Riffle is not the jump up and scream with excitement kind of guy.
But he sure was beaming when he heard that his short film, “One Man Job” won him $10,000 from the AT&T Film Awards. He took the top spot in the “Best Short Film Shot on Mobile” category.
Riffle, the multi-media coordinator at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, is an old hand at making movies — he and his twin brother, Richard, who was not involved with this film — have made thousands of them.
What was challenging about this film, a four-minute piece that zeros in on the rescue of a woman who has been kidnapped, is that Riffle decided to do it all in one take.
“It took only four takes to get it and an hour to film it,” the 27-year-old says, a little stunned things had gone so smoothly.
He plans to buy some video equipment with part of his winnings. But the bulk will go to his wife, a librarian at Tanque Verde High School who doesn’t get paid in the summer. “I’ll put the money aside so she won’t have to work this summer.”
This is the third year that AT&T has presented the film awards. There were 664 entries from across the country, and 10 cash prize winners.
The competition “seeks imaginative, undiscovered short films from aspiring filmmakers,” said a release from the company.
