"Spooky Action," produced by two Penn State faculty members, was honored at the International New York Film Festival. Credit: Ma & Pa Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The fifth feature film produced by a pair of Penn State faculty filmmakers was recognized by the International New York Film Festival. The entire cast and crew comprised Penn State students and alumni.
“Spooky Action,” produced by Rod Bingaman and Maura Shea, the husband and wife team behind Ma & Pa Pictures, was honored as Best Feature Under $250,000 by the festival.
Bingaman, an associate teaching professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, wrote and directed the film. Shea, an associate teaching professor and associate head of the Department of Film Production and Media Studies in the Bellisario College, produced and edited the film.
“We made this film with a fabulous cast and a crew made up entirely of Penn State students and alums,” Shea said. “We’re so happy for this recognition of the wonderful work of our collaborators.”
The film, “a story about love, destiny and quantum entanglement,” focuses on time travelers who kidnap a 1990s NASA scientist and loop him into the future to steal his anti-aging research. Meanwhile, his wife suffers a sexual identity crisis and becomes the prime suspect in his disappearance.
Principle photography for the 104-minute film started in 2019, was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and resumed in July 2021. All filming locations were in and around Centre County.