AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:
BEST FILM: WORK IN PROGRESS
BEST DOC PERFORMANCES: ENTRANCE NO EXIT
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: WORK IN PROGRESS
BEST MUSIC: PATRIK

Theme of night: Quirks of the Human Condition

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:

The 25th event in Toronto in 2019.
7 more festival events in 2019.

See you at the festivals.

– Matthew Toffolo

Thank you SO much for this, what an amazing thing you guys are doing!! The actors all did so well, I had so much fun watching them bring it all to life.

– Anna Bielkheden (WALK OF SHAME)

Walk of Shame is a raw drama series about three female roommates in LA struggling to navigate the road to success and personal identity, smack in the middle of a booming social media era and a pending quarter life crisis. Over the course of ten episodes, we follow the complicated lives and relationships of a 26-year old personal trainer from Oklahoma with a raging Tomboy vs. Barbie complex (ASH), a 29-year old second generation immigrant MUA from Sherman Oaks with the goal of becoming a star beauty influencer (SKY), and a 25-year old aspiring actress from Denmark with an expiring student visa, desperate to make it at any cost (CLARA).

CAST LIST:

A newly arrived International student finally gets to see her high school crush in New York, but the gap between their understandings to their relationship finally forces her to choose between falling in love, or to admit the harm that would draw them apart.

CAST LIST:

Drunk Man: Charles Gordon
Yu-Chen: Wildred Lee
Narrator: Gene Abella
A-Mei: Tiffany Elefano
Lisa: Elizabeth Morriss

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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Matthew Toffolo, Rachel Elder

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editors: Kimberly Villarruel, Ryan Haines, John Johnson

Festival Directors: Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: Ryan Haines, Temitope Akinterinwa, Efren Zapata, Zack Arch

A young woman in Ireland, grapples with the love she has for her father after bringing charges of abuse against him, rocking a country when his sentence is suspended.

CAST LIST:

Colleen: Christina Leonard
Brendan: Geoff Mays
Narration: Sean Ballantyne
Eamon: Aaron Maxwell
Imogen: Carina Cojeen
Robert: Aaron Williams

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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Matthew Toffolo, Rachel Elder

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editors: Kimberly Villarruel, Ryan Haines, John Johnson

Festival Directors: Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: Ryan Haines, Temitope Akinterinwa, Efren Zapata, Zack Arch

Screenwriter Debra Knox (Orson Welles Ashes)

I’m interested in networking with other women writers/film makers and determined to make my creative dreams come true.

I was pleasantly surprised when I started winning awards for my screenplay and thought Hmmm….they get this!” It’s nice to have some love!

Watch the Screenplay Reading: 

Charlie and Susan, a couple of Hollywood wannabes, take a journey down Sunset Boulevard in a black Lincoln with Orson Welles ashes in the trunk and discover what it means to not give up on themselves and their dreams. (copyright 2017)

CAST LIST:

Bette – 2 – Andrea Irwin
NARRATION – Laura Afelskie
Charlie – 20 – Sean Ballantyne
Susan – 18 – Norma Dunphy

CRUSH was the winner of BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at the August 2019 LGBT Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Heather Harris: I am very fascinated by the human mind and psychological thrillers. In all of my films I usually have some aspect of mental health involved in the story, so I wanted to make a film about psychosis and someone struggling with suicidal thoughts, a struggle I know too well myself. I also identify with the LGBTQ community thus wanted to portray a queer relationship in some aspect in this film as well.

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

From idea to finish this film took about one and a half to two years to make.

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

mind fuck

4…

DIVINE CONSULTANTS – THE BEGINNING was the winner of BEST VISUAL DESIGN at the July 2019 Animation FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Juha Flilin: I wanted to create meaningful and diverse content for the youth. Divine Consultants is not only an adventure with comedy elements, but a growth story in a corrupt and divided world. Our young hero, Joy, must defy her own moral insights to expose the mystery. She loses everything, but rises from the ashes and faces the wrath of the gods. We still bring a positive message: Joy can beat the corrupt system!

‘Divine Consultants – The Beginning’ is actually written as a Web Series. The format and style are not of a typical animated short film because I want to make sure the young audience will find it.

The main character, Joy, lives in a divided world…

THE ARTIST played to rave reviews at the August 2019 Documentary Short Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Mark Garcia: I first met Mauro while running a camera on his first film he directed titled, The Recall. One day just Mauro and I went to grab some night shots and during the hour long drive to the location Mauro started telling me about his history as a concept artist and all the work he had created. I was SHOCKED to hear all the incredible works he had created for Major Motion Pictures and couldn’t believe one man had created all these pieces from his imagination. I knew from that conversation I wanted to interview him and create a piece to share with the world. It is the first time I was completely happy to be stuck in awful LA traffic so I could…

STAR WARS: THE TOYS AWAKEN played to rave reviews at the August 2019 FAN FICTION Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Raymond Montemayor: My daughter, Maliya, inspired me to make Star Wars: The Toys Awaken. This is the third film in a series of fan films called Star Wars Toy Stories, the first of which I produced in 2015. After that first film, Star Wars: A Toy Story, Maliya, who was six at the time, said that she wanted to be in my next film. I had no plans to make another fan film, but after Maliya made her wishes known, I couldn’t pass up the chance to make a Star Wars fan film with her.

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

It took three years to complete this film from…