Film students dream of the day when one of their creations will be recognized by the art community and displayed on the big screen for the public to enjoy. For one student-producer, reaching this milestone is more than a farfetched goal: it's a possibility that's right around the corner.
Ethan Stein '15, a student in the Film, Television and Interactive media program and the producer of the short film "Wordsmith" is one of the 12 finalists of the second annual 2013 Boston Student Film Fest. The competition gives undergraduate and graduate films students the chance to win prizes and gain valuable critiques from industry professionals.
In 2011 Mikey Gefland, Mark Rapaport and Rob Robbins, three college students who are Stein's good friends from high school, formed the production company Rob Robbins Reels. They post humorous videos to their website on a biweekly basis. "I always encouraged them to pursue their talents." Stein said.
Stein spent a large portion of his summer in his native city of New York working on "WordSmith," a short film which the company plans to release as part of a feature-length film in April. The feature film is about two friends whose rejected short movie leads to an "unthinkable series of events that culminates in the two characters getting arrested for robbing a convenience store," Stein said.
Stein is an American Studies major, with minors in Film and Computer Science. He never thought "WordSmith" would be successful as a short in its own right. "For our film we thought it would be a good idea to actually make the short film that doesn't make it into any festivals. As the feature film production got postponed, we started spending more and more time on the short."
Although the short was a bust under the film premise, the BSFF, "appreciated our odd brand of humor and accepted it," Stein said.
"WordSmith" stars a character named Quincent Smith (Rapaport), a down-on-his-luck guy who is determined to leave his legacy with any hair-brained scheme he can come up with, his latest attempt involving trying to get a word in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Even as a young kid, Stein had a passion for film. With all of New York City at his fingertips, he would often prefer to indulge in the world of movies. "I was the kind of kid you could mention the name of a movie to and I would know everything about it. I spent years of my life in front of the big screen and the small screen," said Stein.
Most of the filming was done in a city apartment, as well as a park on the upper-east side of Manhattan. Coordinating the various actors and locations sometimes proved to be a challenging balancing act. "It was just new for us." Stein said. "It was an actual film. We had to get spaces and permits. We hired professional actors and interviewed professional actors ... It's only a 13-minute film but the amount of time and sleep lost over this film was immense."
A large portion of the funds were raised through their "extremely successful" Kickstarter campaign, a crowd-funding website that helps new start-up companies and projects raise money toward a certain monetary goal based on voluntary donations.
After months of filming and planning, Stein explained how it felt to wrap up the project. "Seeing the first day of filming and the finished product was the light at the end of the tunnel," Stein said.
Now that the film is a Boston Finalist, Stein and his team will have the opportunity to win two prizes that will push them toward further recognition and fame.
Between March 18 and March 30, all the contestant's videos will be up on the festival website for viewers to visit and rate, and one video will receive the "Best of the Fest-Audience Pick."
Additionally, a panel of celebrity judges including film producer Kevin Tostado, film critic Tom Meek, NewEnglandFilm.com's Michele Meek, Arlington International Film Festival Director Alberto Guzman, film critic and blogger Garen Daley and Rhode Island International film director George Marshall will also be providing feedback and will declare the "Best of the Fest-Jury Pick." The winners of these prizes will be screened at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge on Thursday, April 11, with a celebratory reception to follow. They will also have the opportunity to enter their film in a film competition with shorts from across new England.
Stein is currently making plans to screen both the short and the feature film at Brandeis, and is hoping to enter the film into more competitions. "People don't realize how much time and effort that goes into slaving over the script and coming up with ideas and making corrections and say it in a way that other people besides you will get and think is funny," Stein said.
For Stein, film is a natural form of expression he is glad to have in his life. "I fell in love with the idea of inspiring and entertaining people with a 90 to 150 minute work of art and haven't looked back since," he said.