{ prima facie } the Temple Law newspaper

By James Barger

The members of the Harvard Law Review are vampires set upon converting Barack Obama to their evil ways. That is the premise of the original short film “Barackula The Musical” which is available for viewing on the Web, at www.Barackula.com.

Obama is portrayed in his law school days, when he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He has to sing and dance his way out of certain doom, in the 10-minute musical film, when he learns the Harvard Law Review staff is comprised of vampires. Themes of diplomacy, cooperation and compromise run through the unconventional plot.

One of Barackula’s producers, Gavin Leighton, said the film grew from a simple observation between two friends. “Mike [Lawson] said to Justin [Sherman], ‘You know you look like Obama. The elections are coming up. Maybe it’d be cool if you did a film about him.’” Sherman set to work on the script and Lawson ultimately became the director.

From the beginning, the story was set at Harvard Law School. But, initially the script was more traditional. No singing. No dancing. No vampires. Then, as the group of friends working on the film discussed the project during dinner one night, they started throwing out wilder ideas, like musical numbers and blood-sucking law students.

“It was an off-hand joke we made at one point,” Leighton said. “But, then we took it very seriously.”

Soon, they had a more outlandish script and people started signing up to work on the project.

They enlisted choreographer Victor Tang, who has worked with Madonna. Director of Photography Mark Mannschreck offered to use his high-end “RED ONE” camera, the same technology used on feature films like the recent science-fiction thriller “Jumper.” Project member Angela de Silva offered the use of her parents’ home as a set location.

After months of preparation, the entire film was shot in only two days, including a 20-hour day at the mansion location where most of the story unfolds, Leighton said.

“It was really a miracle project,” Leighton said. “We weren’t expecting something this grandiose.” Now, the film’s producers are seeking investors as they plan a feature length version of the story that could be released to theaters.

According to Leighton, who wrote and recorded the film’s music, “Barackula” has been viewed more than 60,000 times since the Presidents’ Day release, including 50,000 viewings on the film’s official website and 10,000 viewings of a YouTube posting.

The public first learned of the film prior to the Presidents’ Day release, when MTV, VH1, and MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” told viewers about it, according to Leighton, who has hopes of still more publicity.

“My dream is to perform one or both of the musical numbers [from the film] on Oprah, live,” said Leighton, who also hopes “Barackula” will lead to a new genre. “I haven’t seen a Hillary zombie movie yet.”