Art Center’s graduate Film department will be well represented in the program of this year’s LA Shorts Fest, which runs from September 5-12 at Laemmle Noho 7 theaters. Current student, Ellen Houlihan and recent grad, Carlo Olivares Paganoni, learned this week that each of their MFA thesis projects — “Joan’s Day Out” and “Cardboard Camera” respectively — has been accepted into the prestigious festival, which also serves to qualify all its selections for Oscar and BAFTA contention. In other words, LA Shorts provides a uniquely powerful showcase for exposing up-and-coming filmmakers to industry power players.
Houlihan and Paganoni’s films represent the broad spectrum of work produced by Art Center Film students. “Joan’s Day Out,” which screens Monday, September 9, follows a grandmother (played by Sally Kellerman) who becomes a fugitive from her assisted living facility. While “Cardboard Camera,” which unspools on Sunday, September 8, features a 10-year-old boy who makes his cinematic dreams come true with few resources beyond his imagination and ingenuity. What follows are the filmmakers’ reflections on the ideas and inspiration animating their films and the challenges involved in bringing them to the screen.
“Joan’s Day Out” by Ellen Houlihan
A few years ago, I was driving to my job in talent management in Beverly Hills when I noticed an elderly man casually weaving in and out of busy morning traffic in his mobility scooter. Commuters were honking their horns, fearing for this man’s safety and their own tardiness to work. Instead of being horrified or scared, it made me laugh. Loudly.
It immediately transported me to the time in my life when my recently widowed grandmother lived in an assisted living facility in my New Jersey hometown and would proclaim “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” from the top of her lungs whenever we’d visit and take her out to lunch.
“He finally did it. She finally did it.” I thought.
I was working on my film school applications at the time; and knew this would make a compelling film. Fast-forward to my acceptance at Art Center College of Design, and I started putting the film together almost immediately. But there were so many questions. Did we want to make a lighthearted family comedy or were we making a political statement about how we dismiss the wisdom of our elders in American society? I sought to entertain both notions.
Recalling a conversation I had with my close industry friend Nicole Dunn, who had wanted to introduce me to Sally Kellerman for years because of our Houlihan connection–Sally famously earned an Oscar nomination for her role as “Hot Lips” Houlihan in Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H–I just knew she had to be our Joan! From there, I enlisted the help of a few more trusted industry friends to help me produce the film, along with my classmates at Art Center and my photographer uncle Edmond O’Neill (the son of the real Joan), to help me bring my vision to life.
It is completely gratifying and humbling to now see the fruits of our work being rewarded at major film festivals. It’s such an honor to have our U.S. premiere at the LA Shorts Fest, one of the best in the film festival community. I just hope I don’t get stuck in traffic behind an elderly person riding their mobility scooter en route to the premiere!
“Cardboard Camera” by Carlo Olivares Paganoni
When we were making this film, we often assumed that at some point we would have to stop because we didn’t have enough funds. But we managed to finish and muster the resources to finish the editing and work in post production. So any amount of recognition we have is a plus. And being recognized by a festival as important as LA Shorts Fest, is a true honor for us.
When I was a kid growing up in Mexico, I watched a movie on television about a boy who would shoot black and white movies with a Super 8 camera. So I wanted to shoot a movie so badly but I didn’t have a camera. So I made this small paper camera and pretended that I was shooting a movie with my imagination. Since I couldn’t shoot anything, I started drawing the little frames of the movie like storyboards. This is the basis for the film. It also mixes the passion I have for filmmaking, as well as the idea to never give up and follow your dreams.
The short film stars: James Blakely, Alex Long, Sophia Viggiano, Ricky Martinez, Arcadio Cadena, Tania Gonzalez, Terasa Sciortino. A lot of people worked in this movie, including my mom who came with her friends from Mexico to cook and do catering for the four days of the shoot. Some of the Art Center students and alumni who collaborated in the film are: Justin Wells (Co-Producer, Graduate Film ), Bradford Burdick (Director of Photography, Graduate Film ’12), Amanda Lane (Production Designer, Advertising), Michelle Cho (Lead Animator & Character Designer, Graphic Design), Adam Leeman (1st Assistant Director, Graduate Film), Michael McDowell (2nd Unit Director, Graduate Film), Bret Zausmer (Associate Producer, Graduate Film) and Maria Meehan (Art Director, Advertising). And, we couldn’t have done it without all the help and support from everybody that donated on Kickstarter , as well as our mentors and teachers at Art Center who pushed us so hard to do the movie we couldn’t have imagined was possible to make.”
LA Shorts Fest annually attracts more than 7,000 moviegoers, filmmakers and entertainment professionals looking for new talent. The festival is accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
LA Shorts Fest is the only film festival with 7 award categories recognized by the Academy Awards. In past years, 44 participants have earned Academy Award nominations, with 13 filmmakers actually taking home the Oscar.
Those who have been honored at the festival include directors, Paul Haggis, Bryan Singer, Jan de Bont, Shane Black, Jon Favreau and actors Gary Oldman, James Woods and Martin Landau. Many recognized actors and directors have screened films and attended the festival such as Scarlett Johansson, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Courteney Cox, Tim Burton, Jason Reitman, Terry Gilliam, Spike Jonze, Eva Mendes, Jessica Biel, Rachel Weisz, Hilary Swank, Josh Brolin, Kirsten Dunst, Rita Wilson and Vin Diesel.
