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$30 marks an
auspicious directorial debut for Gregory Cooke. Trained and rooted in the
theatre, Cooke assembled a team of film artists to create a unique and
emotional experience rarely achieved in the restrictive format of short
filmmaking. Working from a skillfully crafted screenplay by Christopher
Landon (Another Day in Paradise), the pair teamed up with
accomplished fellow producer Line Postmyr who put together the nuts and
bolts of the experienced crew who brought Cooke’s vision to life.  In
a departure from Landon’s previous scripts (award winning short film Only Child
and Larry Clark’s Another Day in Paradise) $30
is a truthful relationship-driven story that belies Landon's youthful 24
years. Sara Gilbert as ‘Emily’ brings an honest freshness to her work
in a role that is unlike anything she’s done before. As 16 year old ‘Scott,’
Erik MacArthur is touching and tender as he is forced by his father into a
very adult situation. Beautifully photographed by Dermott Downs, who
manages to evoke just the right mood without letting you know he’s doing
it, the camerawork is complemented by Peter Rafelson’s subtle
contemporary score. While the film deals with some serious issues, it's
always important to Cooke to bring the humor of the situations out. “I
think it’s essential to find even the most dire of times, funny,”
Cooke says. “After all, isn’t that when we laugh the most? As long as
whatever is happening, isn’t happening to us of course!” It seems that
Cooke may well be the next British theatre director to make his mark in
American film.
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