PRIEST TO PRIEST was the winner of BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at the July 2018 FAMILY Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Diana Losen: I received a grant as part of my graduate program at Northwestern and I wanted to use it to make this short film with the hopes of eventually making the feature length version.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

I first had the idea as an undergrad in college so counting that initial spark it took four years.

3. How would you describe your short film in two words!?

Holy humor

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Time and money. I had the grant but it was small and I was living in Los Angeles at the time and the actors and…

MASQUERADE was the winner of BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at the August 2018 LGBT FEEDBACK Film Festival.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Andrew Hawkins: I was inspired by the true story of the slave couple William and Ellen Craft who escaped in the same fashion. Ellen was light-skinned and posed as a sickly white male, while her husband posed as her slave servant. They miraculously made it to Boston and eventually had to flee to London while slave catchers came after them and threatened their safety in the North. So I wove their story in with a fictional story of a homosexual man living in a time when the word “homosexual” didn’t even exist. As a gay man from Virginia who struggled on a personal level to come out in the 2010s, I was fascinated with the history of gay people in early America. There are only a…

 WEEKEND WARRIOR played to rave reviews at the August 2018 DOCUMENTARY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Jonathan Harris: I like to make films about activities that people don’t normally get the chance to be involved in. Adventure and action sports have always enthralled me so I want to get a viewpoint from someone who puts in the time and effort to build the skills necessary to do these amazing stunts.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

It took about a year to complete although it could have been done much faster. I was just working on weekends and in my free time. It took about 3 trips to the course to film the stunts, plus 1 interview session.

3. How would you describe your short film in two…

FIREFLIES played at the August Under 5 Minute Short Film Festival in Toronto to rave reviews.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Aram Atkinson: I actually made this film for two specific reasons, firstly that I was just about to go freelance and wanted to kickstart with a narrative based passion project, and secondly for Rode Reel, the online film competition. I had just quit my full-time videographer job at the RNLI in the pursuit of moving forward with my goal to writing and directing narrative work, and I knew if I didn’t make Fireflies I would build up a fear of making any of my original work. Much to my surprise Fireflies has been exceptionally well received, winning Best Drama at Rode Reel, making the shortlist for Best film and picking up a load of other nominations here and there. I put it down mostly to…

BROTHERS was the winner of BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at the August Under 5 Minute Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Randy Kerr: While my background has been in landscape / travel still photography, I’ve been shifting more into nature documentary film work since it touches on my love of music and story as well. Any time I can embed myself in a story with people pursuing their passion, I’m always eager to capture the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of what they do. As I got to know Tim Burke (narrator, co-producer), I suspected a compelling story might come from spending time with him.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

Nine months, though we let it simmer at times for much of that.

3. How would you describe your short film in two…

KALTRINA played to rave reviews at the August 2018 Crime/Drama Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Evi Stamatiou: Two personal life-changing experiences from years ago. The first personal experience is that I worked as a nurse for three years in oncology and psychiatry, two areas that constantly challenge medical ethics. Moreover, I love nurses and they deserve more representation in drama. Consequently, I wanted to create a main character that is a nurse and bring the profession to the centre of attention. The second personal experience that motivated me to create this film, is that I had a car accident and my boyfriend, who was the driver, died. His parents donated his organs, including the heart. Accordingly, my focus turned to the ethics of organ transplantation, scientific developments on cell memory and organ trade. I owe the emotional and metaphysical grounding of the…

THE GHOULIES was the winner of BEST FILM at the August 2018 STUDENT & YOUNG FILMMAKERS FEEDBACK Film Festival.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Harrison Lane: What inspired me to make this film was the relationship i had with my own older brother, the film actually went through multiple different iterations, all of them centred around the relationship between two siblings and the neglect they once experienced being patched. At one point it was even a full fledged horror film with a polar opposite style and story. But decided i wanted to go into a more realistic and simple direction. I was motivated to make something entertaining that a lot of people could take something from and reflect with.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

It was for uni so we were assessed…