FIRST TIME FILM FESTIVAL

     It's in. Officially. Well, by "in," I mean "submitted." Which isn't actually "in." I'm currently "In Consideration" and waiting. Which is... tough.

    I'm Matt, by the way. I'm a writer, director, editor, and actor living in Hollywood, which sounds way more glamorous than it is. I recently finished my first short film and sent it off to festivals. While I wasn't very interested in the festival circuit, the purpose of having a film there, or the mechanics behind everything when I started this project, I became very interested when the Post process was over. I Googled as much as possible to find out about the process and experience of having (and getting) your first movie into festivals and the experience of going, but found surprisingly little.

    Oh, there's a TON of information out there! Most of it is very helpful and I certainly hope it's correct! But I didn't find a diary-style step by step personal experience blog from short film makers. (I'm 5'7" by the way, so technically I'm an "average" film maker.) 

    So here it is. My hope is to make this a continuously-updated guide to my experiences throughout the next year-plus of pushing my film in festivals. I hope it's helpful or at least entertaining.

    Keep in mind: this is a blog about my experiences getting a SHORT FILM into Festivals. This is a very different thing than getting a Feature in. For starters, shorts rarely have to worry about choosing a place to "World Premiere" - it doesn't seem to be an issue the way it is with features. There are also many shorts-specific festivals that may be chronicled here. 

    Incidentally, the first few posts will be about making the movie. Hopefully you've done this already and are just looking for information on submissions or what a Festival Tour is like, et cetera. But a common theme of Festival Programmer comments and suggestions always begin with the movie itself - "How do I get into your film festival?" is often answered by "Make a good film." Doesn't sound like the answer you want, I know. But it's important. (The next Post explains why.) 

HOW THIS WHOLE THING GOT STARTED

(Where I talk about myself a lot)

    I wrote a play in 2008 or 2009 called "NEVERMORE" - a murder mystery based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe. I directed and produced it in 2011 (that's a story unto itself) and it was successful enough to sell out almost the whole run, while putting me $15,000 in debt. GREAT learning experience, though! (Find my "Pay Off Matt's Credit Cards" GoFundMe page here!: ...just kidding.)

    In 2013 I decided to really push things and start directing in earnest. I'd been writing, directing, acting, and editing a web series called "Matt & Mike's Movie Mangle" (movie mangle.tv), but it wasn't nearly as successful as I'd hoped. I met a bunch of people at a birthday party who were all in the same theatre company, the Unknown Artists, and they were looking for someone to direct a new sci-fi comedy called "GEARHEAD AND THE REALBOT." 

    Around the same time, I was hanging out with my friends Jonny and Bobby. Bobby was explaining to us that he was homeschooled and one of us (probably me) said, "Wow, those reunions must be really depressing." We all thought that would be a great short comedic film. 

    Jonny has been a writer for a long time and had been trying to get into the Sundance Writer's Lab while also trying to get a new job as a producer, as he was having issues with his current job. On one of our hikes in Griffith Park, he told me about this article he'd read by someone who had also submitted a few projects to Sundance Writer's Lab and was rejected every time. Then he made a short film which got accepted into the festival and -whaddaya know!?- when he submitted the following year to the Lab, he was admitted! I don't remember if I suggested or if Jonny had the idea to make a full-on short film (and not just a goofy iPhone video), but it was an obvious next step: Jonny needed producing experience, I needed film directing experience, and maybe the film would get us both closer to our goals: Jonny's of getting into the Sundance Lab, and mine of meeting Ellie Kemper at a movie party and eloping.

    At the start of 2015, Jonny and I worked on a script for a short and did some research, seeking advice from some friends who had already had some short film successes. After "GEARHEAD" had closed and I had seen a production of "NEVERMORE" staged in Texas, I decided I wanted to direct the movie. I'd had a few years of experience directing my web shorts and had been teaching acting off and on for a while and wanted to jump to an actual film.

    That's how "HOMESCHOOL REUNION" started.