Short film

Standby
2025 · 25 min
A quiet, intimate backstage slice of life that builds gentle tension toward a single make-or-break moment.
- Directed by
- Robert Gomes
- Starring
- Reed Birney, Pat Nesbit, Kelly Bishop
- Overview
- Jerry, a quiet and dispirited middle-aged gay actor, works as a standby for the hit off-Broadway show, "The Con Artiste!" Facing financial woes, loneliness, and questioning his art, he spends the day in rehearsal with a flirty young actor, the stage manager, and his bored fellow-understudies. At curtain time, when the lead actor calls in sick, Jerry is thrust into the star's dressing room and a whirlwind of last minute preparations. The curtain rises and, on cue, he walks onstage into the blazing lights to face not only an expectant audience, but also the possibility of a personal and artistic triumph - or failure.
- How it feels
- Measured and needs your attention.
- About
- Identity, isolation, art, ambition
- Content
- Mild sexual content and language. No violence or gore.
- Note
- Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown
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In the USNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
- Directed by
- Robert Gomes
- Starring
- Reed Birney, Pat Nesbit, Kelly Bishop






