Chrystalyn Paulin has been creeping toward a film career for years. First it was a camera in her hands, then a video camera. First it was just “doing it for fun,” then it was for hire.
In September, after two semesters at the Savannah Technical College, she made the leap into film production with the CATMEDIA production of “Myemosyne,” billed as a southern gothic drama with a sci-fi flare.
The film is set on an isolated island off the coast of Georgia. According to its PR material, it “delves into the twisted world of a patriarchal cult that uses chemicals to alter and control the minds of its followers.” A perfect setting to boost Chrys’s career.
A Connecticut native who graduated from DeKalb County’s Lithonia High School, Chrys’s first assignment on the set was to manage the Electronic Press Kit. The kit is a collection of behind-the-scenes video clips of cast and crew. “Putting that together,“ Chrys says, “gave me a much broader insight about everything involved in the production.”
Next, she worked as an assistant in the camera department. Production lasted two weeks in Townsend, GA, followed by two days of wrap-up work in Atlanta.
She credits Savannah Technical College and instructor John Grace for giving her a solid classroom start that prepared her well for her first-hand experience
In November and December she worked on “Divorce Party.” Filmed in Savannah, the film tracks a newly dumped divorcee who hires his former wedding planner to throw a “divorce party” celebrating his new singledom.
On this production Chrys was in the art department as a set director. That’s the crew member responsible for creating the scene to reflect the plot and characters. “You have to make the scene look real,” Chrys says, including making a “neat mess” for one scene and making new pizza boxes look “greasy-used” in another.
This year is even more exciting for Chrys as she films her own music video followed by her first original short film. “I do have a casting director for my film, but I did the
Chrys’s daughter Justiss, age seven, thinks her mom is an amazing and interesting person. “I took her to the set one day an the cast and crew fell in love with her.” What does Justiss want to do when she grow up? “She’s saving for her own camera,” her mother reports. No one is surprised.