Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck are at work on their first feature film.

The graduates of CSU Monterey Bay’s Teledramatic Arts and Technology program began production this week in King City, an agricultural community in south Monterey County.

Their film, Forty Years From Yesterday, tells the story of a widower named Bruce, who is struggling to deal with the death of his wife.

Machoian (Class of 2007), who grew up in King City, said in a statement that he wrote the script from the imagined perspective of what it would be like to lose a member of his own family.

“This film will allow us to explore very personal subject matter, which nevertheless speaks to universal experiences,” Machoian was quoted as saying in the Monterey Herald.

“As we grow older, the thought of losing one of our parents or even our own partner becomes more pertinent.

“This film, through our exploration of how we might deal with such a tragedy ourselves, will bring the audience to reflect on the losses they have faced in the past and those they will have to face in the future,” Machoian told the Herald.

More information on the film is available here.

Charlie and the Rabbit, a short film by Machoian and Ojeda-Beck (Class of 2009), premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Also in 2010, Filmmaker magazine, a quarterly publication and website devoted to independent film, named the pair to its annual list of “25 New Faces.” The list is the magazine's “bet on the individuals who will be shaping the independent film world of the future.” When they met as students in the Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department, they had different styles but found a third when working together. The films they have made together display classic art house film style, according to the magazine.

Read more about Machoian and Ojeda-Beck:

TAT alums make ‘New Faces’ list Grads’ film to screen at Sundance

Photo: Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck screen their short, *Charlie and the Rabbit, on campus. At right is TAT department chair Enid Blader.*