Seattle Shorts Film Festival may feature short films, but big things are in the works for the sixth year. This year the festival will be three days, Friday November 11th to Sunday the 13th, with new program elements. Seattle Shorts once again received over 1,000 films from Pacific Northwest, national, and international filmmakers. Seattle audiences should be ready to watch a wide variety of films this year, from music videos to shorts to even a full feature film.
Interview with Daniel Hoyos
Matthew Toffolo: What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?
Daniel Hoyos: The Seattle Shorts Film Festival succeeds at giving filmmakers a one of a kind experience where they can interact with Hollywood stars, and indie filmmakers at the same event while watching each other’s work on the big screen.
MT: What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2016)?
DH: We’re very excited to announce Fatima Ptacek the voice of Dora the Explorer will be joining us for a special screening of Before I Disappear Friday November 11th 7:00pm at the SIFF Film Center. Also this year we’re throwing a dance party at the Seattle Center pavilion, and we’re excited to host two awesome panels focusing on learning more about how to navigate film festivals, and young actors in the business.
MT: What are the qualifications for the selected films?
DH: Each year we get about 13,000 submissions roughly so, selecting the best shorts is not always such an easy task. The Seattle Shorts Film Festival accepts films from 5 minutes to 30 minute in length in the following categories Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Music Video, and College Student.
MT: Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?
DH: As a filmmaker myself I do believe that some films don’t get a fare shake at the film festival, but also in defense of programmers it can be very difficult to program shorts just based on quality alone. When selecting films we also have to take into account the length, which is very essential because, of our limited time slots.
MT: What motivates you and your team to do this festival?
DH: The Seattle Shorts staff has always takes great pride in being able to help independent filmmakers reach a wider audience, and provide a unique venue to showcase their short films. Being able to see filmmakers, actors, and producers go on to bigger and more exciting heights is the most rewarding experience working at Seattle Shorts Film Festival.
MT: How has the festival changed since its inception?
DH: Since 2009 the founding year of the Seattle Shorts Film Festival, we’ve grown in size from a single day event to a full two-day festival at the SIFF Film Center. The festival has also grown to include panels, discussions, and more parties for filmmakers during the weekend long event.
MT: Where do you see the festival by 2020?
DH: We’re very excited to announce the Seattle Shorts Film Festival, will be moving to the Uptown Theater in Queen Anne for 2017 which, is a bigger theater owned by SIFF by moving to a larger venue this will allow us to grow our audience even more.
MT: What film have you seen the most times in your life?
DH: That’s a tough question, but I will probably say “Back to the Future” which is a fantastic film that has stood the test of time because, of the rich characters and the way Robert Zemeckis was able to make the film very relatable.
MT: In one sentence, what makes a great film?
DH: The acting is always the first thing that draws me into any type of film.
MT: How is the film scene in your city?
DH: The film scene is Seattle has grown quite a bit over the last 5 years; in fact we have double the number of film festivals that I sometime lose count of just how many we have in the area. The main part of the Seattle Shorts mission is always to help grow the Seattle film community.
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Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 10-20 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto on the last Thursday of every single month. Go to www.wildsound.ca for more information and to submit your work to the festival.
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