Shorts festival allows new filmmakers to shine

Co-founded by filmmakers David Barba, James Pellerito, and Jennifer Pellerito,the NYC Shorts Festival, 2007, served as a showcase for a wide range of shorts. They stretched from the business-themed drama Vartan LLP to the unconventional documentary The Tribe -- which cleverly combines Judaism and the history of the Barbie Doll -- all the way to the beautifully animated Isabelle au bois (Sleeping Betty).

“We all attended Columbia for our MFAs in Film and had a variety of experiences with our short films on the festival circuit. We based NYC Shorts on those experiences, both good and bad," says Barba about the foundation of the festival.

He continued,“We found that not only are there not enough New York venues for short films but also that short films are treated like second-class citizens when shown at a festival alongside feature films.”
While it’s still young, the festival has already headlined its share of successful shorts.

In 2005, At The Quinte Hotel went on to become an official selection at Sundance, and
Dating Ray Fenwick was optioned by the BBC as a basis for a sitcom.

Then, 2006 brought the success of Happiness, The Fighting Cholitas, and Windowbreaker which were all accepted by Sundance and, more significantly:
The Danish Poet won the Oscar for Best Short Film, Animated.

The festival held a repeat screening of Poet this year during a day dedicated specifically to films for children.

With a slogan that reads simply “By filmmakers, for filmmakers” the NYC Shorts festival has provided a venue where up-and-coming filmmakers can receive crucial feedback.

“Shorts are a great way to not only experiment and take risks but also to mold your vision as a filmmaker and put it out to the world. In this sense, short films are essential training grounds for future filmmakers,” says Barba.

The process of making a short has certainly been beneficial to Rob Meyer. His NYU Grad school thesis film Aquarium won the Best Student Award at the festival. Meyer, who was influenced by the films of Wes Anderson and Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me, among others, while making Aquarium, has found the festival experience to be a rewarding one.

Meyer says, “My film is a real mix of melancholy and humor, so in some screenings the film gets big laughs and at others the audience is much more subdued. And it's always great when people approach or email me with their reactions and thoughts -- it's often surprising which people really connect with the film.”

While working with experienced character actors Jay O. Sanders (Half Nelson) and Joel Swetow (Rent) on his short Vartan LLP, Myles Price was able to develop his cinematic voice and complete his MFA degree in Directing and Producing at the School of Cinema and Television at USC. LLP was awarded one of the five audience-choice prizes and has also played many other festivals including the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival which was co-founded by Robert DeNiro in 2002.

“As a filmmaker,” Price explained, “I have grown a lot this past year, creating a film can be a very painful process, but all the pain goes away when somebody approaches you after a festival screening and sincerely tells you how much they enjoyed your film. It really makes it all worth it.