Get short

Young Chang

The way snowboarding has boosted the skiing industry, short films have

reinvigorated the film business in general, directors say.

It’s where all the excitement is happening nowadays, said Alex Melli,

director of short programming for the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Little-known, on the brink filmmakers are doing it. So are veterans with

feature film credits to their names.

“People tend to take more chances with them -- they might be a little

edgier, maybe even more controversial,” Melli said. “The hippest

filmmaking on the edge right now is being done in shorts.”

More than 100 of them will be screened throughout the festival, which

ends Thursday. Selections include Academy Award nominees, such as this

year’s winner for best documentary short subject “Big Mama;” pieces from

the Long Beach International Film Festival; films from

Microcinema/Blackchair Productions in Seattle; titles from

DancesWithFilms in Los Angeles and about ten other segments.

The stories range from a 10-minute comedic exploration of the life of

“Star Wars: Episode I” character Jar Jar Binks to a serious 52-minute

look at the identity of Asian men in the West (“Who is Albert Woo?”).

Scott Forrest, last year’s director of shorts programming, said

bringing in films from other festivals can broaden people’s minds.

“Everybody just seems to kind of stay in Orange County,” he said of

local and surrounding residents. “It’s very safe, they don’t really think

outside the box. What a great opportunity to bust open that orange

curtain.”

The founder and producer of SMASH CUTS!, an MTV-style show on

independent filmmaking that has contributed shorts to this year’s lineup,

Forrest said that the variety can draw people to Orange County as well as

introduce new filmmakers.

“We feel it’s a great way to give exposure to people who would get it

nowhere else,” Melli agreed. “And many of these shorts . . . they’re done

by veterans. They kind of do these as filler projects or to test ideas.”

As do the actors.

Giovanni Ribisi, who starred in “The Boiler Room” and the hit sitcom

“Friends,” appears in one of the festival’s shorts, titled “Pussydog.”

“This gives actors an experimental venue,” Melli said. “It’s a

double-edged sword. It can be more difficult because you have to be more

concise, yet it can be easier ‘cause it can be a simplified process. It

forces the filmmaker to stick to the basics.”

Newport Beach jailer Dave Sperling, who created the festival entry

“Crime Scene Cleaners,” said the medium can require less resources, and

therefore less money.

“And for newcomers [looking] to break in, it’s easier for executives

to sit down and watch it because they’re more likely to squeeze it into

their schedule,” he said.

Mitch Levine, maker of the short “Shadows,” said he chose the medium

simply because it was the most appropriate “canvas” on which to present

the film -- a Holocaust survival story.

“I think that the story is very complete,” he said. “People talk about

the film being like a 24-minute feature film, like experiencing a feature

length.”

Melli isn’t surprised at the power short films can have.

“The key thing is, it always comes back to: you can skimp on the

production value,” he said, “But the story and acting is what really

drives a good film.”

FYI

All films will be shown at Edwards Island 7 Cinemas, 999 Newport

Center Drive, Newport Beach. $5 each. (888) 464-2468 or at o7

https://www.tickets.com.f7

What: Comedy Shorts, including “Cookies for Harry,” “Defending The

Super$ave” and “The Dane”

When: 11:30 a.m. today What: Academy Award Nominees, including “Big Mama,” “Seraglio” and

“Rejected”

When: 4:30 p.m. today

What: SMASH CUTS! Super Sci-fi Shorts, including “Intransit,” “The

Duel on Planet Z” and “Big Day Off”

When: 9:30 p.m. today

What: DancesWithFilms, including “The Dancing Cow,” “Delusions in

Modern Primitivism” and “Hate”

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

What: USC Showcase, including “Values,” “The Dishpan Man” and “Game

Day”

When: 4:30 p.m. Sunday

What: The Polyester Prince Road Show, including “Hotel Central,” “The

Making of Mulletman” and “Love Needs to be Reinvented”

When: 9:30 p.m. Sunday

What: Life Is Shorts, including “The Gentle Cycle,” “The Last Time We

Went Fishing” and “Solid Waste”

When: 11:30 a.m. Monday What: Check Your Shorts, including “The $5 Movie,” “3AM Eternal” and

“Pussydog”

When: 4:30 p.m Monday

What: Our Real World, including “Who is Albert Woo?” “Shadows” and

“American Holocaust”

When: 2 p.m. Tuesday

What: The Best of “Independent Exposure,” including “Deadly Squirrel,”

“Magic Trick” and “Flip Film”

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

What: IndieSpace.com, including “Stubble Trouble,” “Jar Jar Binks: The

F! Hollywood Story” and “Crazy Like the Taz”

When: 11:30 a.m. Wednesday

What: Long Beach International Film Festival, including “405,” “Mutual

Love Life” and “George Lucas in Love”

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday