Amid widespread protests against police violence across the United States, political leaders took to TV Sunday morning to call for reforms and grapple with the outbreaks of violence that have dominated news coverage of the demonstrations. 22 more words
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced the city will continue its 8:00 p.m. curfew on Sunday night. “When times demand it, strong steps are required to bring peace back to our city, which is why I enacted, as heavy a decision as it was, a city-wide curfew,” Garcetti said. 8 more words
via Los Angeles Continues Curfew for Second Night as Cleanup Efforts Begin — Variety
Undermine Beneath Canada’s Ghost Towns was the winner of BEST DOC CHARACTER at the March 2020 Documentary Film Festival in Toronto.
Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?
Frank Schlichting: It was made to promote what I was doing to get on TV
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?
Some of it was from videos I had made on YouTube so several years.
3. How would you describe your short film in two words!?
Crazy steep!
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Computers and bureaucracy
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I thought it was awesome that I could show people thousands of miles away what it was like underground in an abandoned mine.
6. How did…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Festival Reviews 