Pennsylvania “Penny” Pearce, a constantly-procrastinating student photographer, put off her thesis for so long that she only has one night to complete her entire project—or she won’t graduate in the morning! Standing in her way is none other than the filmmaker writing her story, whose attempts to raise the stakes for his characters jeopardize Penny’s project.


We Must Create Magnificence was Hank McNeil's undergraduate thesis film, completed through the University of Notre Dame's Department of Film, Television, and Theatre in the 2023 - 2024 school year. 

Coming Soon!

Notre Dame Department of Film, Television, and Theatre Thesis with Honors • The Broad Avenue Fund Filmmaker's Award for Fiction

Cast

Molly O'Toole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pennsylvania "Penny" Pearce

Victoria Rooney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carter Harris

Ryan Elkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rodger

Bryce Langford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Al

Carol Latronica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carol Kucich

Andy Ottone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scrabble Announcer

Jim Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Himself

Hank McNeil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Himself

Featuring Heine Borel and the Finite Subcovers

Crew

Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hank McNeil

Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Donaruma

Cinematography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bryce Langford

Sound Recordist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sebastián Conway

Production Assistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexx Johnson

Driver to Mr. McNeil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Elkins

Equipment Rental by. . . . . . Ryan Broussard, David Gonzales

Screenplay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hank McNeil

Script Supervisor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria Rooney

Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hank McNeil

Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mountain Goats