PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2024 REVIEW! As a film nerd, foley artists have always fascinated me. Writer-director Emily Everhard’s short film Special Delivery is a surprising rom-com that mixes foley work with porn. We follow foley artist Sandy (Kate Owens), who uses anything and everything, including squishing food, such as macaroni and cheese, to accentuate the sounds of the dirty movie up on the big screen in her work environment. She gets a call from her boss, Chris (Jess Potak), to wrap things up quickly and to pull sounds from the library for the video. Sandy takes her job seriously and refuses, in part because she’s wrapped up in the middle of creating her masterpiece. She also notes that it’s a film, not a video.
“…Tad is too stiff at first. Sandy helps him with his motivation…”
Chris then tells Sandy that he’s sending in talent to lend his voice, which Sandy disagrees with but is hung up on before there can be an argument. The talent is the male adult star of the movie, Tad (Rob Kellogg). After entering, Tad grabs some food but is immediately reprimanded because it turns out he was about to eat what she was going to use for the sound of anal beads. They get to the line reading portion of the sound work, and Tad is too stiff (pun intended) at first. Sandy helps him with his motivation and gets him to act naturally. Sandy develops a crush, and the rest plays out like a romantic comedy in the oddest of settings.
I really enjoyed the originality of Special Delivery. Owens and Kellogg show charm and share real chemistry. You root for these two sweet oddballs together even thoough they seem like the unlikeliest of couples at first. But, much like other classic rom-coms of the silver screen, the fun throughout Everhard’s film is in watching how these two are actually a made match.
Special Delivery screened at the 2024 Palm Springs Shortfest.
"…the fun throughout Everhard's film is in watching how these two are actually a made match."
