Taobh Le Taobh played to rave reviews at the February 2020 DOCUMENTARY Short Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Kev L. Smith: My next door neighbor, is the artist you see in this film & I really wanted to show what inspired him to create his artworks.

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

1 year

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

Two worlds

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

Finding the time to get it finished

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

It was cool to see how people interpreted the ideas we worked on in the film.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video:

6. How did you…

OMA & OPA was the winner of BEST DOC CHARACTERS at the February 2020 DOCUMENTARY Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Steve Buckwalter: Oma and Opa are the grandparents of one of my coworkers, and we had used their house as a location for a different film that we had made the previous Christmas. The first time that I met them, Oma gave me a gigantic hug and a sloppy kiss on my cheek. Then I walked over to Opa, with one hand in my pocket as I often do, and extended my hand to shake his, and he said, “Don’t you know it’s rude to have your hand in your pocket when you greet someone?” He wasn’t joking! Anyway, it was a memorable experience, and they both made an impression. Then, a few months later, we were making a decision about purchasing a…

SCHOOL CROSSING was the winner of BEST FILM at the February 2020 Documentary Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Karla Caraballo-Torres & Lorin Eleni Gill: We were inspired to make this film because my family (Karla) is originally from Venezuela and I had been hearing many stories from family members experiencing the crisis firsthand. We started researching for a story that went beyond the headlines and showed the true human impact of this economic and politic crisis. When we came across this case of children crossing the border to go to school, we thought it was a perfect example of how the crisis was effecting people’s everyday lives in a unique way that hadn’t received much coverage.

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

We started doing research in early December…

SHOOTER was the winner of BEST MUSIC at the January 2020 LA Feedback Film Festival.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Jan Johnson: I was concerned about the rise in gang violence in Chicago (my hometown) and specifically the rise in girl gang violence. According to the DOJ “one in 4 new gang recruits are girls!” I thought by making this film it could begin dialogue with young people (especially girls) around the country.

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

It took a year from script to screen.

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

Very disturbing

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

My biggest obstacle I faced was time and money!

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talk about your film in the…

FOOD CART played to rave reviews at the Thriller Festival in March 2020.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Lucas Longacre: After working in verite documentary for over a decade, I was hungry to play in the scripted narrative genre. I missed working with actors, storyboarding, and collaborating with a Director of Photography more talented than me. So much of documentary filmmaking is capturing the moment and then constructing and deconstructing in post. I wanted to be more deliberate and precise through the entire process.

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

About 7 months. Principle photography took 10, 1/2 days of mostly night shoots. Editing was around 4 months. Sound mixing and color was a month. We took extra time in editing because we had three versions of the film: a 26 minute, 18.30…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Jason Harley: Pandora’s Adversaries is set in the not-too-distant future. It’s about an irrational, rabidly anti-feminist cult committed to the eradication of women. Pandora’s Adversaries believe that the prominence of women within the establishment and professional classes is the root of all evil, and that women constitute a threat to societal male domination. The story’s heroine and main protagonist is Lena, a journalism grad student committed to exposing and taking down the cult and its maniacal leader, Harvey.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Pandora’s Adversaries is primarily a suspense thriller with horror and sci-fi overtones.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Pandora’s Adversaries presents timely themes, with the paranoid, pathological beliefs of cult leader Harvey who is convinced that women and feminism represent a dangerous movement that needs to be wiped out. The story provides a…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Hoyt Richards: Away With My Heart is about a washed up, womanizing, alcoholic country singer is forced to reevaluate his life when he discovers not only is he dying of cancer, but he also has a twenty-year old daughter that he never knew he had.

AWMH is about second chances and how as long as we’re still breathing, there is still an opportunity to change, grow and mend fences.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Family, Drama, Country Music

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

“Away With My Heart” is a very moving country music drama that has familiar tropes but develops the characters well enough to rise above the clichés and effectively pulls at the heartstrings. With shades of “Crazy Heart,” “A Star is Born,” and this year’s “Wild Rose,” “Away With My Heart” could definitely…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

WH Clark: A scientist in Antarctica trying to save the penguin population from extinction ends up having to save the whole planet from Noah’s Flood 2.0 when a giant solar superstorm hits and melts the polar ice cap.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Thriller, Sci-Fi, action/adventure

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Hollywood is way behind the curve in informing the public about the many threats to the environment. Some major environmental organizations have complained about this in position papers. I guess Hollywood just doesn’t know how to get the idea across without seeming condescending or preachy. “OMG. Another environmental disaster flick? No effing way.” HELSTAF highlights two major environmental issues that people don’t know much about: the danger of Freon to the ozone layer (China is still manufacturing Freon-11) and the threat of a solar…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

A Study in Scarlett is a re-imagining of the classic Sherlock Holmes, with inspiration also taken from American history circa late 1860s-70s. The enigmatic genius Scarlett Holmes is a bi-racial woman. She meets her loyal friend and partner Joanna Holmes, a struggling doctor, to solve a murder and save an innocent man from hanging. Throughout the series historical situations and events are explored through adaptations of Doyle’s classic tales. To solve each episode’s puzzle, and the interlocking season-long mystery, the legendary sleuths must navigate issues of race and inequality, and the complicated nature of justice.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Mystery, Historical fiction

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

It is the right moment in America for a television series like A Study in Scarlett. Through the eyes of these diverse characters we explore a time…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Shane W. Smith: Matchsticks 2.0 is a Black Mirror spec script about a family caught up in a government push to genetically normalise its citizens, using biometric user data gathered from a popular game to target imperfect subjects.

But at its heart, this is a story about the dangers of allowing advanced technology to drive social change, and the dehumanising ways in which people with disability and other vulnerable people are too often treated in public discourse.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

In true Black Mirror style, Matchsticks 2.0 is first and foremost a dystopian sci-fi story. Its secondary genre is family drama.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Honestly, it probably shouldn’t. At least not until we strip the Black Mirror aspects out of it.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?