We are moving stories

“I think the pressure of First Dates is a pretty universal experience. No matter who you are, we all kind of revert back to awkward high school kids when we’re trying to impress a new crush.

And I’m always personally interested in how much luck is involved in our daily life. If timing had been a little off, that happily married couple could have just as easily been two ships passing in the night...”

“In Jamie, I wanted to explore the vulnerability we feel when we expose ourselves to others. For several years, I had been developing stories about relationships and romantic encounters between men. I was drawn to the idea of two strangers conversing, opening up to each other. Jamie is the result.”

“Both Anthony and I have pieces of our personal experiences scattered throughout the story — for example, we are both in interracial relationships. Universally, I know we both are affected by the current political climate, which is not absent in our show. I believe the themes threaded in the series resonate differently with different people. I recall one of the young actresses’ mothers, Julie Lemon, came up to me after seeing the trailer, and was like, “Oh my gosh. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen people that look like our family on screen. Thank you.””

““I have a friend just like that” is probably the most common, closely followed by requests for a sequel. It’s wonderful to hear that people were so invested in the characters and their story that they want more of it. I don’t know if I’ll ever make a sequel but it definitely got me thinking about where Will and Mia’s story would go next.”

“This is a story based on a real person. His name is actually Edward. He actually still cannot eat chocolate for both emotional and physical reason. He’s a warm­hearted person just like my character in the story. As a friend of the real Edward, I’m secretly hoping one day he will be able to break free from his own restriction. Nothing hurts more than dental drills and losing connection with people, but it hurts even more if we shut ourselves away from the possibility of being connected once again.”

“What happens after the happily ever after?”

“Giveaway is a simple story, but a relatable one. I think many people can relate to a circumstance where they’ve had to fight through the urge to give into a strong emotion. And of course, at its core, this is a love story without a happy ending for Garrett. In that way, the short is really about being honest with yourself and realizing that you have to let go.”

“As people, we have all experienced romantic and sexual love in some form. Be it reciprocal, unrequited, broken or everlasting - we have each encountered it in some way. In my life, nothing has yanked at the deepest part of me like sexual connection and loss. This film explores the forbidden, unrequited, and also mutual love of two cousins. Their relationship is doomed from the start, but unavoidable for either of them. I think we’ve all felt that way about something or someone at some point.”

“As an artist who put so much of myself into Happenstance, I know this answer could sound bias, but I want to state that I’m an enormous lover of film and romance so my standards are high. Happenstance is not only a fresh take on the romantic genre, but it allows the audience to recall the excitement of a first crush and reveals that magical moments can happen in our ordinary lives without grand romantic gestures.”

“We all struggle to show who we really are to people, especially people we want to be romantically involved with. I’ve always been fascinated with how we use sexual experiences to communicate instead of words, and I think this film can be an interesting time for audiences to reflect on how and when they’ve done or do this in their own lives.”

“As a Latina, I grew up with the concept of “machismo” and the toxic nature that holds over our culture. We don’t usually raise boys to express their feelings in a healthy manner, and often those feelings manifest in rage or depression. On the flip side, the language used for wives is to grin and bear it. We marry our spouses through sickness and health, but cruelty deserves to be the caveat to the agreement.”

“I made this film because I was really intrigued by the idea of our curated realities. We live in a space and time where we seemingly control the reality we choose to see. Everything from what we see, what we hear, and how we experience it. This film is an embodiment of this culture. The characters in the film are living this artificial sense of reality, choosing to see and hear only what they want. However when we are brought back to reality and have to face the shortcomings of this mentality, can we in fact accept the truth?”

“Three Centimetres started with some “girl conversations” when I was growing up in Lebanon. During these intimate conversations, I was very shy and silent most of the time, as I didn’t really know what to say. However, the conversations stuck with me and inspired me to write this script!”

“People keep approaching me after it screens to tell me their break up stories. And I love listening to them! It usually starts with how they have been through something similar and they fill in all details with what they have been through. The story specifics are always different from the original idea of the film showing me I accomplished what i set out to do. I also get complaints about the ending – how they want to know more and I love that too because the point is not what happened before or after. The point is what’s happening in this moment. It’s to take the leap now so you don’t have to wonder the “woulda” and “shoulda” later.”

“The story of ‘The Painted Lady’ is part reflection of my own journey to self-acceptance, part expression of our obsession with beauty. We all have an idea of how other people see and judge us. We want to please, be desired and loved. But what happens when life gives us lemons?”

“The short was born out of a breakup that our writer Kaitlyn experienced, but the subject matter (how hard it can be to find a partner or sustainable relationship) is something that pretty much everyone in the world can relate to.”

“ I had gone through a couple serious breakups as an adult that obviously had a pretty big impact on my life, and I knew I wanted to try to tell a story that would get inside the mind and thoughts of a guy who was basically going through a quarter life crisis and wondering where it all went wrong in his life. My goal was to use my personal experiences to make something that was hopefully touching and weirdly funny at the same time.”

“When I began to write and sketch for this animated film, I wanted to express the withdrawal-like symptoms of having a broken heart. It’s basically about the looping sensation of not being able to stop obsessing about someone. Milk gone sour was my metaphors of choice.”

“This film comes from a deeply personal place. It is about moving on from a friendship breakup – why growing apart is so painful, our emotional response to getting let down, and the journey back to healing ourselves.”

“The film portrays an experience of having the most tender parts of yourself triggered, yet finding the way to move through those hard emotions and into new connections. It’s an intimate portrayal that balances an extremely trying and specific aspect of trans experiences, the sweetness of finding a crush in the city, surveillance of the trans body in the public eye, and awkward & fun queer flirtation. Our foremost goal was to tell a story of love, and our lead character’s transition is a big part of this, ultimately normalizing and giving insight into his experience.”

“The personal themes for me are the fact that as a polyamorous person, I still find it impossible to be openly polyamorous in front of my family and work colleagues. I think that most people know what it feels like to be misunderstood and want their relationships to be accepted by the people around them no matter what form they take.”

“Claire: words lead you into a world that the visuals create. This is a story most of us have felt before. Heartbreak is a dark place made of paths of the past. Once you find the exit out of this maze, you end up a better person. This film is a powerful allegory to show how important love is to each and every one of us.”

“I was interested to explore the romantic lives of people who choose the porn industry as a career path and the influence the nature of their work has on their private lives. However, the decision to do this exploration in a visual manner through the film medium came from a personal realization that a lot of the films that tackle this industry carry a negative message within them. I wanted to make a film that would be humane and honor a Person with all their choices, flaws, dreams, hopes. That first, and then what they do for a living.”