Ruby's work is ground breaking, but her reach exceeds her grasp in the realm of advanced math. Her ideas, if proven, would change things, but unless she can prove her solution, then she doesn’t have anything. When her T.A., Aiza, finds a page of her paper and uses the math as a jumping-off point, Ruby sees an opportunity to get the paper finished while providing a helping hand to Aiza. Ruby and Aiza find themselves in a symbiotic relationship that is quickly becoming a game of who can end up on top.

Director Biographies

John Klein is a happily married father of three, cinematographer, director, producer, screenwriter, lover of dogs, Instagram addict, and all-around joyful dude. He has shot projects of all shapes, sizes, and budgets all over the world, from sweeping documentaries to micro-budget thrillers. And through his former production company Glass City Films, he successfully raised over $35k in funds through Kickstarter twice: once for his second feature film as director, the acclaimed post-apocalyptic horror film Chrysalis, which premiered to worldwide distribution in 2014, and again in 2016 for the ambitious short film Limerence. His award-winning short film Static Space, which he co-directed with writer Kate Black-Spence, screened at over 40 festivals, and his current feature film Never Not Yours (co-written and co-directed with Steve Kniss) is making the rounds at festivals around the country. He currently teaches digital media and film production at Elmhurst University.

Steve Kniss is an award-winning independent filmmaker and Assistant Professor at Western Carolina University. He holds a BA in Digital Media from Eastern Mennonite University and an MFA in Cinema Directing from DePaul University's School of Cinematic Arts. He toured nationally with his award-winning short film, Rear View, and is currently touring with his co-directed feature film debut (alongside his long-time collaborator John Klein), Never Not Yours, winner of Best Feature Film at Iowa Independent Film Festival and the Indie Spirit Award at the prestigious Naples International Film Festival. He has worked as a 1st AD on several film projects of varying length and scale that have screened around the world. When not working on films or teaching, he can likely be found cheering on his beloved. White Sox, Bears, or Bulls, in spite of their often-losing ways.

Director Statement

As professors and filmmakers, we’re doubly accustomed to the feeling of imposter syndrome. The work we’re making, the films we’re showing, the analyses we’re presenting to our students… what if, one day, that simply isn’t good enough? What if we’re just spinning our wheels? And what if someone comes along younger, more raw in their creativity and more passionate and exciting in their output to supplant us? How can we measure our success without comparing ourselves to more successful people around us?

Thus, we gravitated to writer and cinematographer Ben Kurstin’s moody script for The Solution. We felt, if not a kinship with Professor Ruby Finnegan (Diana Simonzadeh), certainly an understanding of her insecurities, as Aiza Tahan (Jocelyn Zamudio) her young prodigy of a student slowly inches her way into control of Ruby’s long-gestating paper, with potentially fatal results. This was a chance for us to stretch our cinematic legs; after our award-winning character dramedy Never Not Yours, we wanted to spice things up. Filming in black-and-white and a little dash of red, with unorthodox lenses and prisms, gave us the chance to showcase Ruby’s increasingly fractured mental state. Using a tighter aspect ratio gave the story a claustrophobic feel with very dense, structured compositions. A little bit of Hitchcock, a little bit of Yorgos, and all of it fun, playing in a whole new sandbox while still getting to focus on multi-layered performances (which Diana and Jocelyn both gave us in spades). In an ever-changing world where the old guard repeatedly butts heads with the new order, trying to maintain some semblance of relevance, maybe that black-and-white, old-school flavor is our way of moving in a different direction. A version of the struggle between Ruby and Aiza is playing out right in front of us, and we’re just trying to keep up and adapt. All of that said, sometimes it’s just fun to film a person going completely off the rails.

Link to official press kit.