A TRUE FAMILY PLOT >>>

The high from Hollywood's last-minute holiday batch of Oscar contenders and decades-old franchise rehashes has somewhat fizzled and been replaced by the January doldrums. (Season of the Witch, anyone?) But the lull hasn't stopped local filmmakers like Rick Walters from busily completing projects in time for the festival circuit.

Walters' short, entitled Scamp, barely made the Seattle International Film Festival's Jan. 3 deadline. Seattle composer Jeff Tolbert worked quickly on a score, as did sound designer Jon Goff of Adhesive Records. Walters and director of photography Chris Taylor (who together are Adventus Films) hand-delivered their work to the SIFF office right on the due date. Walters jokingly recalls the moment as "not very ceremonious ... we handed it in and kind of waited for something."

Unfortunately Walters and Taylor will have to wait until April to hear if their efforts make this year's running.

Scamp spins a seriocomic yarn about a father-son team living on Tacoma's streets who get by on their Artful Dodger-esque schemes. Shooting with a high-definition Canon EOS 7D, the crew captured several neighborhood landmarks, including Foss Waterway Bridge and the downtown UWT campus. Walters stars as the conniving patriarch, barely recognizable under a massive ghetto beard, while his real son, Race, plays opposite him, making this a true family adventure.

"This(film) was like an opportunity for us to do something together," says Walters. "It was a really cathartic experience."

While writing the script, Walters drew from memories of his time as a homeless teen in Portland twentysomething years ago. Now 35 and in the military, he enters the new year with a new work that both entertains and redefines what wealth, happiness and family all mean.

For updates and a look at the trailer, check out Scamp on Facebook or at the official Adventus Films website