‘Surprise!’ Newhouse Alumni Release 2nd Independent Feature Film

For their next film, Newhouse alumni Rosie Grace and Nate Hapke focused on a surprise. 

Graduates of the television, radio and film (TRF) program in 2014, Grace and Hapke couldn’t wait to get to their next project after debuting their first feature, “Two Dash One One,” in 2022.   

“We’re not people who wait for the next opportunity,” said Hapke, an Emmy Award-winning director and filmmaker. “We make our own opportunities.”  

That ambition resulted in their second feature, “Surprise!,” which was acquired by Freestyle Digital Media and released on Aug. 13, 2024. The film tells the story of a surprise birthday party-that’s actually an engagement party-that gets repeatedly and hilariously derailed by the attendees. Hapke directed, produced, wrote and acted in the film; Grace wrote and produced. 

“Surprise!” is the second feature film released by their independent production company small/TALL Productions, and they’re currently in production on their third feature film, “We’re Bad at This.”

A TRF 235 course at Newhouse brought Hapke and Grace together, and a Newhouse LA study away semester—Hapke attended in 2012 and Grace in 2013—was instrumental in helping set them up for success in their filmmaking careers, Grace said. The foundational lessons—whether it was production scheduling techniques courtesy of Newhouse LA director Robin Howard, screenwriting or how the film industry functions—stick with Grace to this day.

Those skills came in handy during “Surprise!,” which takes on a more lighthearted tone than “Two Dash One One.” In searching for a story for “Surprise!”, Hapke and Grace looked towards their personal lives for inspiration. The duo, who were dating at the time of filming (and are now married), said they felt the pressure of engagement and marriage from the people around them. They channeled those dynamics into their screenplay.  

“The whole movie is about communication, which means we have miscommunication, which leads to so much humor and drama for the story,” Grace said. 

With a story in place, the script and cast for “Surprise!” came about organically. Much like “Two Dash One One,” the production team was overflowing with Syracuse University and Newhouse School alumni, including their frequent collaborator and TRF program alumnus Nicholas Ferreiro ’15, the film’s editor and director of photography.

“Nick and I have been working together since I was a sophomore [at Syracuse] and he was a freshman,” Hapke said. “It’s amazing to think back to when we were first in that Newhouse classroom [for an extracurricular,] and all these people have a shared interest and desire, but we don’t necessarily have the skill set. So let’s learn the skill set together, and here we are 13 years later. ” 

And more than a decade later, Hapke still enjoys the hurdles that sometimes come with independent filmmaking.

“I love the challenge of pushing the boulder up the hill because I would rather do [that] and fail, then not do because I was scared of failing,” he said. 

Those challenges included the “Surprise!” production shutting down for a few months due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests; Hapke and Grace faced similar struggles with their film “Two Dash One One,” which was written and shot during the pandemic. 

The key to navigating the challenge was “really making sure everybody’s bought in and communicating what the stakes are,” Hapke said. Once the team was on the same page about best practices and pre-production, they moved forward with “Surprise!”

 Hapke said he hopes that the drive that he and Grace have as independent filmmakers inspire Newhouse students to create their own opportunities.

“Making a short film is a lot of work, but you don’t make it in a day,” he said. “You start today. You pick your shooting date and you break it up into a million pieces and you figure out ‘what can I do today to start that ball rolling up the hill?’” 

Added Grace, “Make something, have the experience of creating, and get to walk away knowing you did it.” 

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“Surprise!” is available for viewing on AT&T U-Verse, DirecTV, Dish Network and Sling TV, Vubiquity, Hoopla, Amazon, Apple TV,  Microsoft (Xbox), Google Play, and YouTube Movies. The DVD is now available via Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com, Walmart.com, and barnesandnoble.com.