Official Trailer
The Story
Our hero, Ricki Constant, exists aboard Revolt Required, a sailboat off a shore where reality subtly warps. His days are sequences of bizarre ritual: questionable meals, precise tending of a dog skull, endless haul of a lung-like contraption across barren, askew land. This rigid routine fractures when he sees Shiny Sister—a chrome figure shimmering, whose motion resonates within him—and intercepts unseen pronouncements, fragments of cryptic commands piercing the routine drone. Purpose and hallucination blur as Ricki traverses landscapes defying logic. Surrendering to illogic, he finds fleeting hope in the luminous chaos defining his reality.
'The Space Between Attack and Decay' is an original and independent short film written by R.A. Fravel and directed by his wife, acclaimed Hollywood still photographer Jessica Kourkounis. The film represents Kourkounis’ debut in the director’s chair after a lengthy career as an editorial photojournalist and motion picture still photographer. The project, which also marks Fravel’s first script, filmed entirely in the Philadelphia area.
The couple assembled a team of seasoned production professionals to mount the project, which includes director of photography Nick Huynh (AppleTV+’s 'Servant,' HBO’s 'Veep'), production designer Matt Saunders (Philly based theatre scenic designer who earned his M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama), costume designer Paige Fetchen (theatre veteran and educator) and producers Christa Altamuro and Catherine Wolf McGrath (production veterans of Philly’s film/TV scene with credits that include M. Night Shyamalan’s 'Servant',' Split' and 'Glass'). The music and sound design are by acclaimed Philly musician Emily Robb marking her film debut on this production. The short is edited by Alyssa Donovan
The Cast
BORIS McGIVER (Ricki Constant), a mainstay among the industry’s cadre of respected character actors, is well known for playing newspaper editor-in-chief Tom Hammerschmidt in Netflix’s award-winning series, 'House of Cards' (2013); Hersh in the CBS drama, 'Person of Interest' (2011); Alexander Coffroth, the bumbling Congressman in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar®- winning 'Lincoln' (2012); 'TURN: Washington's Spies' (2014); 'Taxi ' (2004); and a trio of acclaimed, award-winning HBO projects — 'John Adams' (2008), 'Boardwalk Empire' (for which he shared in a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Ensemble Cast/Drama Series in 2015) and, as Lt. Marimow in 'The Wire.'
He was most recently seen in a trio of disparate and original television series — as Monsignor Korecki in CBS’ supernatural thriller, 'Evil,' as the manipulative D.A. Maskins in ABC’s acclaimed legal drama, 'For Life' and as the eerie Uncle George in M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller, 'Servant,' which streamed on AppleTV+ from 2019-23. Other TV credits include '30 Rock,' 'The Blacklist,' Starz’s 'Flesh and Bone,' 'Blue Bloods,' 'The Good Wife,' 'Law & Order,' 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' and 'Third Watch.' He also co- starred in the 2013 telefilm, 'Killing Kennedy.'
On the big screen, McGiver made his feature film debut (while a student at SUNY Albany) in Hector Babenco’s 1987 Oscar®-nominated adaptation of William Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, 'Ironweed.' Other movie credits include 'Little Odessa,' Tim Robbins’ 'Cradle Will Rock,' the Venice Film Festival favorite, 'Jesus’ Son,' the comedy 'Connie and Carla,' Shawn Levy’s 'The Pink Panther,' 'Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus' with Nicole Kidman, Ang Lee’s 'Taking Woodstock,' the indie drama 'Josephine' and the crime thriller 'Point Blank.'
He also starred in the short film 'Mother,' which unspooled at over a dozen global film festivals (IndieFEST, Melbourne, Sydney, Portsmouth, WorldFest Houston), and for which McGiver won Best Actor at the Wild Rose Independent Film Festival, Iowa’s longest running international film festival (named for the state flower).
CHRISTY LEE (Shiny Sister/choreographer) is a Dancer/Choreographer and massage therapist based in Philadelphia. The role marks her professional acting debut. Christy holds a B.F.A. in Dance from Temple University, under Master Teacher Helmut Gottschild, who, himself, was a student of the legendary choreographer Mary Wigman.
Christy’s professional practice spans over three decades. She was a company member of Karen Bamonte Dance Works as well as Group Motion, which was founded by Gottschild and Manfred Fishbeck in 1968. From 1997-2008, she was a Company Member and Choreographer with the Bessie Award winning Headlong Dance Theater. She is also a Founding Member and Choreographer with Moxie Dance Collective.
Her work has been seen throughout the United States and Japan. In New York, her choreography has been on display at the Duke on 42nd St, Dance Theater Workshop and the Flea Theater. From 2010-2012, Christy choreographed for the Yale School of Drama, including Sarah Ruhl’s ‘Orlando,’ directed by Jen Wineman; Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ featuring Lupita Nyong’o and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz; and Michael McQuilken’s devised music/theater work ‘Jib.’ She Choreographed ‘Angel’s Bone’ by Composer Du Yun and Librettist Royce Vavre, which was directed by McQuilken in the Prototype Opera Festival.
Currently, Christy is a massage therapist for the Philadelphia Eagles along with her own practice in Fishtown.
CHRISTIAN DORSEY (Figure of Authority/F.O.A.) has had small roles in several Philadelphia-based film productions, including stunt double for Samuel L. Jackson in M. Night Shyamalan’s 'Glass.'
Additional credits include Robert Luketic’s 'Paranoid,' the Colin Farrell crime thriller, 'Dead Man Down,' David O. Russell’s Oscar-winning 'Silver Linings Playbook,' Michael Bay’s 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,' Andy Tennant’s action-comedy, 'The Bounty Hunter,' F. Gary Gray’s prison drama, 'Law Abiding Citizen,' Shyamalan’s 'The Happening,' the true-life sports drama, 'Invincible,' Justin Lin’s 'Anapolis' and Jon Turletaub’s 'National Treasure.' In addition to small roles in the aforementioned titles, Dorsey has also served as a lighting double for such stars as Jamie Foxx, Tyree Gibson, Terrence Howard, Michael B. Jordan and Samuel L. Jackson.
The Crew
Director/Executive Producer
JESSICA KOURKOUNIS is an accomplished photojournalist and multimedia producer. Her images have appeared in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Washington Post and The Boston Globe among countless others.
After an assignment for the NYT to photograph Oscar-nominated filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, Kourkounis began the second chapter of her career as a set photographer on his 2019 hit thriller 'Glass' starring James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Sarah Paulson. She continued her association with the Philly-based filmmaker on AppleTV series 'Servant' which bowed its fourth and final season in 2023. Kourkounis has since captured images on sets such as 'Concrete Cowboys' starring Idris Elba and 'The Son' starring Anthony Hopkins and Hugh Jackman as well as Apple TV's period series 'Lady In The Lake' with Natalie Portman, Ridley Scott's 'Dope Thief' starring Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Mauro, 'Your Friends and Neighbors' featuring Jon Hamm, Sony's 'Madame Web' starring Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson. She continued to work with Dakota on her feature Daddio" also starring Sean Penn.
'The Space Between Attack and Decay' marks her directorial debut.
Kourkounis graduated from The School of Hard Knocks and is married to the screenwriter R.A.Fravel.
Writer
R.A.Fravel
Warhol, Haring, Hall & Oates, R.A.Fravel:
Diamonds, all—culled, coaxed from deep veins,
the cultural coal mines of Pennsylvania.
From there:
enrolled at University to study oscillation—
cyclical cicada cycles and such.
From there:
things, like laundry, unfolded.
He sketched songs on receipts,
misfiled dreams into manila folders,
worked under assumed titles.
In the end—and perhaps from the beginning—
he and Jessica raised a remarkable person named Lucy.
Along the way, he met Rocket, a cat who stayed.
FAQ:
Yes. He spends all day listening to DnB, Jungle, & Grime.