The Making Oscar-Qualified Short TEA with Director Blake Rice: Interview/Film Breakdown Discussion

Ladies and gentlemen, in an homage to everything 1990’s, TEA asks the audience to take a step back to simpler times; where the summer days were long, the cool kids were terrifying and saying “hi” to the girl of your dreams was beyond insurmountable.

This dramedy short film TEA takes us through the eyes of Nicholaus Steep (played by Michael Gandolfini), we watch the tenderness and bravery of a young man who is doing all he can just to connect with someone. When his bad luck turns worse, will the girl of his dreams (played by Olivia Nikkanen) will she be able to save his life?

This film will take all of us back to the time we asked someone out on a date, our first date most likely. Some of us are shy, insecure, nervous, but somehow the experience isn’t always fun or enjoyable.

For us guys, just getting someone to say yes feels like we just made it to the top of Mt. Everest.

TEA is a wonderful film. A short filmed in one location, gives us the look and feel of real film. The story is to the point adding in youth, the pursuit of young love, it’s endearing, and all of that disrupted by a hornet’s sting.

Who knew that an EPI-pen could not only save the day, but bring Nicholaus’ crush into his life.

In a world of worry, insecurity and a lack of confidence and courage, we need to heed the words of Olivia, “That wasn’t so hard was it?”

About the Guest

Writer/director Blake Winston Rice, an award-winning director who launched his professional directing and screenwriting career in 2018 with the film TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, which was acquired by DirectTV.

Follow up projects included PEOPLE LIKE YOU, where he received Best Director at the New York City International Film Festival in 2019. Soon after, he directed THE CREEPERS CURSE, and THE RECOVERY CALL, both licensed by Prime Video in 2020.

After numerous short films over the past few years, he brings us the endearing dramedy, TEA. The short premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as the only U.S. film. It has qualified for Best Short Film at the Nashville Film Festival, as well as Woodstock, Palm Springs and HollyShorts Film Festivals. It is now Oscar-qualified for the 2025 Academy Awards.

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