Love Your Shorts 2018

Exclusive to MeierMovies, February 7, 2018

I’m gonna get short this weekend, but I’m not complaining. In fact, I think I’m gonna love it.

No, I’m not Matt Damon in Downsizing. I’m still Cameron, and I’ll be attending the Love Your Shorts Film Festival in Sanford, Florida. (See OrlandoWeekly.com for my article on the eighth annual event.)

Actually, I won’t just be attending – I’ll be participating in two panel discussions on Thursday. The first, at 9 a.m., will focus on what makes a movie scary, while the second, at 10 a.m., will address why Florida is a good place to make scary movies. Both panels (which will include six industry professionals with experience in filmmaking, teaching and writing) will take place at the Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce, on the corner of Sanford Avenue and East First Street. That’s just three blocks from the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, where the main part of the festival will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As with all such festivals, the movie quality is always hit-or-miss, but if history proves a guide, each film block will contain one or two little gems.

If you plan to attend the Thursday panels, prepare to be bombarded with useful information and tons of resources to help you make a scary movie. To whet your appetite (and to prevent you from having to furiously take notes during the panels), let me provide some of that information here:

Orlando Film Commission, division of Orlando Economic Partnership
This is an organization that supports and provides resources to local filmmakers. If you have basic questions about the business of filmmaking, this is a good place to turn.

Florida Office of Film and Entertainment
Ditto for this organization.

Women in Film and Television Florida
And ditto again, except, of course, with an emphasis on female filmmakers and topics and themes that are particularly important to women.

The Enzian Theater
Central Florida’s leading art-house cinema and producer of the Florida Film Festival. (The theater’s monthly FilmSlam is a great place to get your student, low-budget or no-budget film shown.)

Central Florida Film Network
This is a group of local filmmakers and film enthusiasts who usually meet once a month, typically at the Enzian Theater’s Eden Bar or other locations in Winter Park or Maitland. 

Films to watch (and watch again)
You’ll certainly learn a lot about creating scary, smart and tension-filled films by watching the following classic (though slightly underappreciated) movies:
Dead of Night
The Stranger
Les Diaboliques

And don’t forget these short films that have played at local festivals recently:
88:88 by Joey Ciccoline, from the 2013 Florida Film Festival
The Flesh of My Lovers by Joshua Guiliano, from the 2017 Love Your Shorts Film Festival
Into the Dark by Lukas Hassel, from the 2015 Love Your Shorts Film Festival

And for a list of some famous scary (and just plain campy) films that have filmed in Florida over the years, check out this Orlando Weekly article from a few years ago.

Visit LoveYourShorts.com for more information on the festival.

 

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