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While working in a Portland State University costume room in 2022, film student Lucy Rick stumbled across a vintage suede jacket with a mysterious business card with a love note written on it tucked inside the pocket. Inspired by this love note, Rick and their friends began to imagine a backstory which launched their 28-minute long senior thesis, Business Card. The genre-bending romantic fantasy will premiere at the Hollywood Theatre on June 29.
“Making Business Card has been a total dream come true,” Rick said via email. “It’s been a long, tough and laborious process, but so unbelievably rewarding and fulfilling.”
The Portland-based film follows three friends’ discovery of an abandoned love letter, which leads them to dream up a father’s secret life and betrayals to his family. Inspired by the many films Rick watched as PSU, such as Rashomon (1950), the film presents the same story in multiple ways.
Rick’s production team included 31 PSU students among 63 total cast and crew. Production was made possible by the PSU Elizabeth and John Trudeau Scholarship, and additional crowdfunding which raised over $6,000. As Business Card is a bonafide local indie film, Rick (who grew up in Los Angeles) scouted many classic Portland locations, including the Heathman Hotel, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Tom McCall Waterfront Park and Rick’s dorm room. They call Business Card their love letter to Portland.
“This project has been a labor of love for so many young independent filmmakers in Portland,” Rick said. “Throughout the process, everyone, even the random Portlanders I’ve told on MAX, at The Alibi, or any other random spot in the city, has encouraged me and motivated me to keep at it.”
SEE IT: Business Card at Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. 6:30 pm Sunday, June 29. $7.
