Shorttakes Film Festival aims to become a national venue for student filmmakers
A screenshot from the 2009 film “Elmo Must Die” by Noah Reich, which won the Best Live Action Award and Audience Award at the UCLA Shorttakes Film Festival organized by UCLA’s Campus Events Commission last year. The festival’s finale will take place this year on May 25.
By Samantha Suchland
March 30, 2010 5:58 a.m.
While Sundance and Cannes may attract larger media attention, UCLA has its own festival for those who are driven to carry a camera and tell their stories. The only requirements? Tell it in under 10 minutes, and be prepared to show a college ID.
Submissions began this week for the 16th Annual Shorttakes Student Film Festival, put on by UCLA’s Campus Event Commission. The festival brings in short films from graduate and undergraduate filmmakers all across the nation, and closes with a reception in late May.
“One of my professors recommended (Shorttakes) to me,” said Zak Stoltz, a fourth-year film student at Occidental College whose film, “In Frame,” won last year’s Best Animation award. “I had never submitted something to a festival before. Festivals in general were new to me.”
The films are judged by a coalition of UCLA faculty, members of CEC and industry professionals, and the festival ends with the Festival Finale on May 25.
The event’s director, Alex Hyman, a fourth-year psychobiology student, said the night will include screenings of the winning entries and a reception for those in attendance to meet up and discuss the films.
“We try and get everyone who participated and who was there watching to mingle,” Hyman said. “It’s a great forum for exchanging ideas and meeting some people who are interested in the same things you are.”
Third-year film student Noah Reich, a former Daily Bruin Video Reporter, won last year’s Best Live Action award and Audience Award for his film “Elmo Must Die” and has attended the festival since middle school. According to Reich, the festival hasn’t changed much since he attended for the first time in the 8th grade.
“I submitted a film my first year and the whole thing came kind of full circle,” Reich said. “It’s stayed pretty much the same way with the brownies and the lemonade. (It was) a little nostalgic.”
According to Hyman, the festival began as a way to help student filmmakers get their work seen. Today the festival gives these filmmakers a chance to be seen by industry professionals that have years of experience and connections. Last year’s judges included “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” producer Andrew J. Cohen, “The Simpsons” and “The Office” writer Daniel Chun and “SpongeBob SquarePants” writer Steven Banks.
“We have industry judges because that’s who you want to see your film,” Hyman said. “People like that watching and judging your film offer a lot better feedback.”
Hyman said Shorttakes was rebooted last year after a two-year hiatus, which meant much of the planning had to start from scratch. He added that the commission’s current goal is to make Shorttakes known nationwide as a prestigious film festival. Last year the festival received more than 70 submissions from schools as far away as Maryland and Alabama.
“We were really blown over by that,” Hyman said. “A lot of it is through word of mouth that we’re not aware about.”
This year, Shorttakes organizers expect even more submissions, estimating that extended promotion will bring in nearly double last year’s amount. But despite the increasing interest, Hyman said that the commission was still reaching out to UCLA student filmmakers first to give them the exposure they need.
For Reich, his experience with and success at last year’s festival is what encouraged him to pursue a career in film.
“I didn’t realize how monumental it would be for me in terms of pursuing a career creatively. To actually get recognition from your peers and a panel of judges,” Reich said. “It was such a boost and a push that ever since the premier of “˜Elmo Must Die’ it’s kept inspiring me to keep creating, to keep filming.”
