A coming-of-age comedy with fairy tale overtones, Darren Stein's Sparkler begins when recent college grads Brad, Trent and Joel (Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jamie Kennedy and Steve Petrarca) decide the best way to raise rent money is to win it in Vegas. They set out in Brad's BMW but don't get very far before a flat tire strands them in tiny Victorville and they meet up with trailer-park princess Melba (Park Overall). A psychic has told her she'll meet three kings, so she follows the guys to Vegas. That's when things get complicated and before the movie's over, someone comes out, and someone else realizes he doesn't have to live up to the myth he's created for himself. "These guys can't imagine that this woman from a trailer park has anything to give them, yet she ends up teaching them to avoid easy judgments and stand up for the choices they've made," says Stein.

Stein, 25, finished his first sync-sound short as a high school student at L.A.'s Harvard Prep. Shudder Speed, a 30-minute thriller he shot as an NYU undergrad, got him an agent at Triad. Sparkler's script had been circulating for several years when fledgling producer partners Jennifer Amerine and Kimberly Jacobs snapped it up for Conspiracy, the indie film venture they'd launched with a housekeeping deal at interactive giant Sunshine. The partners raised six-figure financing they say belies Sparkler's million-plus sensibility from a pair of private investors.

The 35mm Sparkler shot 24 days in and around L.A. and Las Vegas starting early last October with cinematographer Rodney Taylor (IMAX hit Alaska) making his feature debut. The Wild Colonials' Angela McClusky wrote and sings Sparkler's title theme and Sun 60's Dave Russo did the score; the soundtrack includes tunes from Joan Jett, Hayden, Blancmange and the Lords of Acid.

Cast: Park Overall, Grace Zabriskie, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jamie Kennedy, Steve Petrarca, Don Harvey, Veronica Cartwright, Sandy Martin. Crew: Producers, Jennifer Amerine, Kimberly Jacobs; Associate Producer, Cary Brothers; Coproducer/Casting, Joseph Middleton; Director, Darren Stein; Screenwriters, Stein, Catherine Eads; Director of Photography, Rodney Taylor; Editor, Ryan Gold; Production Designer, Chris DiLeo; Costume Designer, Dalhia Schuette; Composer, David Russo; Sound Designer, Dave Weathers. Contact: Jennifer Amerine, Sunshine Filmworks, 8455 Beverly Boulevard, #401, Los Angeles, CA 90048. Tel: (213) 951- 7111, Fax: (213) 951-1086.

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Life During Wartime - Evan Dunsky
Long Time Since - Jay Anania
Montana - Jennifer Leitzes
Portrait-in-Progress - Marion Cajori
Some Prefer Cake - Heidi Arnesen
Sparkler - Darren Stein
A Stranger in the Kingdom - Jay Craven
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