Silent Echo

Local brothers release film at Picture Show Theatre

Photographs via Silent Echo

Brothers Cory, Dana, and Kyle Malkin dedicated their two week winter vacation to film their upcoming movie, Silent Echo. Throughout the movie, a Special Forces team hunting down a stolen nuclear device stumbles upon documents containing invasion plans. As they embark on a mission to stop the invasion, a team member struggles to come to terms with the ghost of a fallen comrade.

Growing up, the Malkin brothers spent their summer vacations filming short “Indiana Jones” spinoffs and action sequences on their mother’s old video camera. The Malkins interest in filming grew as they created their first trilogy of short films entitled “Expeditionary Force 343.” Three months before the release of their final “Expeditionary Force 343”, Cory Malkin pursued the thought of starting a new action film with a fascinating story about “lost Soviet suitcase nukes.” After 15 drafts, Cory and his cast, including Pinnacle alumni Cody DeLisa and Steven Stoddard, finally established the backbone of their film, “Silent Echo”.

“My role in “Silent Echo” started out rather small. I was just coming off of directing and producing our film trilogy “Expeditionary Force 343”, but once I saw the depth of the characters and really understood the story, I jumped in, head over heels,” K. Malkin said.

Throughout the movie, a Special Forces team hunting down a stolen nuclear device stumbles upon documents containing invasion plans. As they embark upon a mission to stop it, a team member struggles to come to terms with the ghosts of a fallen comrade. Cory Malkin directed, produced, wrote, edited, and acted in the film as a supporting role.  

“When I look back on that list of my positions, I finally realize how long it actually is. Nevertheless, there was so much work to be done that the three of us essentially adopted a full time job for the past several months on top of other activities including school and part-time jobs,” C. Malkin said.

Before writing the script, they knew it would take place largely in the Middle East, they scouted desert locations near ones previously used for “Expeditionary Force 343”. For interior locations, they contacted and received permission from several friends or co-workers of theirs to film in their warehouses and offices.

With only a two and a half week window of shooting, days were limited. The crew started their days at 5 AM in order to travel to desert locations. Once they began shooting for a day, it was a continuous process of moving from location to location and shooting scenes, taking breaks only for lunch. After nine months, tickets went on sale and were completely sold out within less than two days. Due to the success of “Silent Echo”, they were able to book a second show on August 16 for everyone who was turned away at the premiere.

“We were thrilled. Seeing and, especially for me, hearing your own movie, your painstakingly crafted art come to life is one of the most exciting and thrilling experiences to be experienced in this life. I don't think I stopped smiling for several hours afterward,” scorewriter K. Malkin said.

In October, the “Silent Echo” DVD can be purchased. It includes the film, bloopers, and a short extras film about creating suspense in a fight scene. Also, they can be pre-ordered here.



- Natalie Orr, Staff Writer