Category: FILM REVIEWS

From Shorts to Features – Part Two

August 1, 2009 | By | Add a Comment
From Shorts to Features – Part Two

Brian Hecker’s period at the AFI yielded the short Family Attraction (1998), which reportedly became one of the AFI’s most popular shorts – unsurprising that it would be the first of six films in Vanguard’s DVD 2003 collection, Celebrating AFI. Hecker eventually wrote and directed his first feature, Bart Got a Room (Anchor Bay/Starz) ten years later, wherein he mined his uncomfortable teen years for a refreshing take on guy-getting-girl-for-prom plot…

Read More

From Shorts to Features – Part One

July 31, 2009 | By | Add a Comment
From Shorts to Features – Part One

For some writer/directors, making a short film is indeed a stepping stone towards a career in the feature film realm, although sometimes a short’s success doesn’t guarantee an immediate film deal. When Sean Ellis’s Cashback was nominated for an Oscar in 2005, the director managed to develop the short into a feature film, using most of the existing footage for his upgraded narrative. Cashback, the feature (Canada: Altlantis/Remstar, U.S.A.: Magnolia), was later followed by The Broken (2008) and though both films are very flawed…

Read More