Merokean wins Audience Award at LIIFE

21-year-old Leiner's film jabs humorously at filmmaking process

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It took 14 takes for young director Jonathan Leiner to get his short film “One Take More” just right.

Leiner, 21, of Merrick, submitted his short, a musical parody of the filmmaking process — and the song “One Day More,” from the musical “Les Miserables” — in the Music Video category at the Long Island International Film Expo, held last week in Bellmore.

Laughing, Leiner said that when his film didn’t win, his girlfriend and grandparents, who accompanied him to the festival, said that they were ready to leave. Leiner, however, decided to stick around, and he’s glad he did, as his film won the last award of the night.

The genesis of the film, which depicts the harried, exhausted cast and crew on a film noir set going through the motions of repeated takes while singing, in one well-choreographed take, was Leiner’s own experience on sets where the whole crew was growing frustrated.

“I was on a set over the summer and we were just hanging out, and I just started to sing, ‘cause that’s what I do when I’m frustrated and tired,” Leiner said. “And it just went from there.”

Leiner worked with co-writer Daniel Wolff, of East Meadow, and musical arranger Noah Turner, also of Merrick. They spent about two months on the film.

“It is one take,” he said. “The whole thing took about five days of working with the actors. We had two days of rehearsal and blocking, and shot it in two days. It took us 14 takes.”

Leiner said that he had wanted to make films for as long as he could remember. He studies Film at Hofstra, where he started to “get serious about it.”

“I’ve always been messing around with the camera though,” he said.

In winning the Audience Award, Leiner beat out 168 other films at the festival, now in its 20th year, which took place at Bellmore Movies, on Petit Avenue.

You can watch Leiner’s film, “One Take More,” at http://bit.ly/2vWQQsx.