"Do Over" and "Test Day" screen at Short Indies

It's been a busy few weeks leading up to +SXSW, so I'll be updating this blog in several posts in a short time span (I hope) to cover everything that's been happening or is about to happen. Why several posts? Why not one post, seeing as this is, in fact, a blog meant for long, descriptive posts?

1) Each topic deserves it's own blog entry!

2) It makes my blog look super active!

3) I get to make a list where each item ends with an exclamation point!

So on with it as there is a lot of ground to cover...


Free booze makes for better Q and As

Short Indies @ North Door

On Wednesday, February 27th, Short Indies screened two of my short films - my latest film "Do Over" and my previous short "Test Day" - at the North Door in Austin.

This was my first time to participate with Short Indies. My brother, Daniel, introduced me to two of the organizers, J.J. Castillo and Olga Maystruck. They also screened two of Daniel's projects, including the gleefully creepy "El Pollo Sangriento."

Every two months Short Indies screen up to five short films with the filmmakers in attendance for a Q and A. (In the months in between they hold a BYOV night - Bring Your Own Video. Anybody can show any video that they've made, but after one minute the audience can decide whether to boo it off the screen.) What sets Short Indies apart from other short programs is they speak to the filmmakers after each film, rather than leaving the discussion at the end of the program. This way each filmmaker gets a moment in the spotlight while the movies are still fresh in an audience's mind.

Beer is also provided for free for the first thirty minutes, making for some potentially lively Q and A's.

Daniel's Q and A

Daniel and I were introduced together as two brothers both working in film. It was a successful introduction in that we did not murder each other on stage as I had predicted might happen earlier in the day. They showed "El Pollo Sangriento" first and talked with Daniel alone on stage afterward. He actually did alright up there. Cheesy at times, sure, but he had good banter with J.J. and took audience questions like a champ.

"Do Over" was screened next. J.J. talked to both me and my producer, Andrew Logan. I hadn't had much of a meal that night, so I was tipsier than I should have been after two beers. For having made a short film often referred to as "sweet," "cute," or "romantic," I dropped a lot more casual F-bombs than I think most people there that night were expecting. We told stories from the set, mostly about the difficulty of getting certain props to set on time, and the questions eventually veered toward how much of "Do Over" was culled from real life.

Nothing, I said, was directly lifted from our lives, but certainly the spirit of the neuroses in the film is taken from our lives, particularly from mine and co-writer Taylor Allen. This led to recounting how I spilled beer across the dinner table on the first date with my wife, and I how she nearly lost interest in me after I ate off the floor in front of her for the sake of keeping a comedy routine alive.

Then Andrew leaned in and whispered to me, "Tell the No-Doze story." In retrospect, as funny as that story is, I wish I had kept it to myself because I think it could make for a funny sequence in a movie. Though maybe re-telling it in public will hope me hone it into its best version. In any event, I told a truncated version of a story about how, while I was living in LA, this girl I had a sort-of-thing going with was in town for one night. I was working as a post PA at the time. My hours were insane, so insane I once fell asleep at the wheel and rear ended a City of Los Angeles maintenance vehicle. (That's a funny story, too, come to think of it.) Andrew lived next door at the time, and to stay up late writing he used to take No Doze.

So I borrowed some No Doze, met up with this girl, had some drinks and... well, maybe I should save the rest for another time... Or for a movie.

I also maybe cracked some jokes about stealing ideas from my more talented students. Fireable offense? Hopefully it doesn't make the final cut of Short Indies' Q and A video.

Andrew (r) and I talk to J.J. Castillo (l)

After Andrew and I discussed "Do Over" they played "Test Day." I had not watched that film with a crowd in years. I can't believe it's almost ten years old now. We made that in college, our senior year, I believe. While "Do Over" isn't perfect, watching these two films back to back showed me how much I had improved as a filmmaker in the time in between making each of them. I hope the gap between "Do Over" and the next one is much briefer.

Both films played well. The audience seemed really into "Do Over." Daniel hadn't seen it with an audience and he thought it was a different movie in a big room like that. I think this crowd was open to all the shorts that played that night. They just wanted to see some well made movies, have a few beers, and maybe talk to the filmmakers.

My favorite moment of the night, but far, was when a gentleman from the back asked me if I had a feature in the works. It threw me off for a second because I thought he meant did I have a feature version of either "Do Over" or "Test Day" in the works. Those movies are definitely stand-alone shorts, although the Anthony character in "Test Day" could be re-visited. When he clarified what meant, he said, "I'm just wondering if you have any plans to make a feature. I wanna see more from you. I like your voice."

For a moment, I didn't know how to respond. I was touched. I told him, "That means a lot to hear you say that. That's definitely a goal of mine. I just haven't found the right story to tell as a feature. But I hope you're not the only one that feels that way, otherwise, the first one's just for you, bud."