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…

The Ambiguous Couch Affair’s first scenes were read at the Writing Festival last month.

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Cecilia Michelangeli: The unreasonable way to react to an attempt robbery and to a meaningless shooting.

Randall and Evelyn run a struggling furniture store in a quiet community. The peace is disturbed when a nervous would-be armed robber, Parker Ray, enters the store demanding money.

How labile the difference between being the victim of a crime or its perpetrator can be?

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Black Comedy

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

Because the story is an interesting dynamic between irrational people who act out of fear with their gut instincts. And all of this seems to happen more and more often. The screenplay presents heavy situations with comedic exchanges and misunderstandings, trying to prove once again that violence is…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Christopher Willis: This script is about a unit of mostly gay soldiers in France during WWII. The mission of the unit is to deceive the Nazis using inflatable tanks and phony artillery barrages. Their compassion is realized through helping a gay war orphan realize his dream of attending art school in Paris.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

This is essentially a war movie.

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

There are few movies that depict the contribution of gay soldiers to the war in France. This story is based on real men and actual events.

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

Camouflaged truth.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Probably a toss up between Apocalypse Now and Jaws.

6. How long have you been working on…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Eliza Frakes: REMEMBRANCE DAY takes place in a near-future, radicalized America wherein Roe V. Wade has been overturned. It follows two female friends, Maggie and Bix, on their escape to seek out an illegal abortion from a doomsday prepper in Joshua Tree.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

I would classify REMEMBRANCE DAY as a dramedy or dark comedy, with elements of sci-fi.

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

I believe in this work because it is timely and poignant. I have tried to engage in a conversation about women’s rights and the direction we’re headed currently in this country through the lens of two very human characters, in the hope that their nuanced relationship provides a viewpoint into the deeper issues our nation faces.

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

War cry.

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Debra Knox: Orson Welles Ashes is a dark comedy about the misadventures of a couple of Hollywood wannabes who steal his ashes and try to sell them: his chauffeur and an aging actress/writer who’s trying to fulfill her dreams and buck the Hollywood system.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Dramedy

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

Because it speaks to the issues of being a woman over 40 who’s writing and striving to make her movies and stories be told and heard!

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

Poignant-Zaniness

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

5 years

7. How many stories have you written?

hundreds if not thousands.

8. What…

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Devin Lofti; Well obviously you know the premise but my screenplay is really about unrequited love, which everyone can relate to but in this case the sometimes more hidden hardships of the LGBTQ+ community when falling for someone who does not share the same sexual orientation. Also themes of moving on and letting go without bitterness.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Comedy, Romantic Comedy

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

It’s time for the gay sidekick supporting act to be the leading man.
And it’s also sweet and lots of fun 🙂

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

Hot sh*t. haha just kidding — um : Hopelessly happy.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Probably SCREAM (I also wrote a slasher before this, eek!)

6. How…

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:
BEST DRAMA FILM: REECE
BEST LATINO FILM: THE INITIATION
BEST STUDENT FILM: NATALIE
BEST PERFORMANCES: THE CLOSURE CENTER
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: FROM THE THUNDER
BEST SOUND & MUSIC: TIME DIFFERENCE

Theme of night: Feeling like an outsider.

NOTE: Festival took place during the COVID-19 virus lockdown so all screenings were held in private.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:

The beginning of a (temporary) new era.

See you at the festivals. Whenever that happens!

– Matthew Toffolo

DAFFODIL, 18min., Hong Kong, Drama

Directed by Nicola Fan

A trip through the psyche of an apathetic workaholic in the sudden wake of her estranged mother’s death.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

NATALIE, 13min., Australia, Drama

Directed by Tess Emmerson

It is 2004. Natalie and Natalie are best friends, utterly inseparable and stuck in the awkward moment between high school and the rest of their lives. They are different in every way, though practically the same person. ‘Natalie’ is a story about coming-of-age, coming out and coming to terms with who you are.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!