The Last Fifteen Minutes
The Last Fifteen Minutes is a short film and marionette musical about four neighbors deciding to have dinner together in the fifteen minutes before they are eaten by a giant kaiju.
The Last Fifteen Minutes was made using a live-action puppetry process and is a love letter to analog craft. The marionettes used in this film begin as hand-carved wood, and the sets are scratch-built miniature models.
This is a display of slow and skilled making by a scrappy team who loves doing it. This film embraces the marks of human-made work – tiny gouges in wood, thumbprints in clay, and miniature stitches.
The Last Fifteen Minutes is currently in post-production, with a festival run scheduled for 2027.
Credit & Recognition
Student
Faculty
Mentors
Contributors
- Director: Shing Yin Khor
- Composer and Co-Writer: Jay Ackley
- Producers: Monica Miklas and Erika Schmidt
- Cast: Matthew Mercer, Jay Ackley, Tony Sancho, Tricia Fukuhara, Martha Marion, Erika Ishii
- Puppeteers: Cristina Bercovitz, Hannah Watanabe-Rocco, Shing Yin Khor
- Assistant Director: Erika Schmidt
- Director of Photography: Ricky Chavez
- Documentary DP: Jules Hotz
- 1st AC: Alejandro Echevarria
- Production Designer: Shing Yin Khor
- Costume Designer: Monica Miklas
- Editor and VFX: Lana Wolverton
- Post Supervisor and DIT: Olive Greenspan
- Sound Edit and Mix: Jonathan Snipes
- Sound Edit: Tatum Anderson
- Music Producer and Engineer: Matt Willhelm
- Musicians: Jay Ackley, Matt Willhelm, Jen Overstreet
- Recording Engineers: John Shieh, Jonathan “Jay” Brannen, Heidi Hoffman
- Vocals Recorded at Bang Zoom! Studios
- Puppet Build and Fabrication: Shing Yin Khor, Molly Painter, Monica Miklas, Leslie Levings, Rachel Mark
- Art Dept: Molly Painter, DongWon Song
- Production Assistant: Ender Waters
- Crafty and Catering: Sarah Gailey
- Shooting Location: Three Eyed Rat Woodshop
Recognition
Kickstarter’s Project We Love
2025 SVA Alumni Scholarship Award
“Best of 2026” SVA Alumni After School Special Film Festival.
