Judging shorts

I'm judging shorts this year at the VC film festival. I've been outspoken about how I dislike short films, so I seem like a terrible candidate, but in the end, it's not true. It's not that I dislike shorts, it's more about disliking bad shorts. I've seen my share of short programs that have 8 bad ones and 1 good one. I've also seen some which are 10 bad ones only. Then there's been some that are half and half. I'll admit from experience, it's difficult to tell a short in just a few minutes. Usually, it's a gag, or a quick "haha" type of project. That's how it is. You don't have time to develop a character, you don't have time to tell an entire life story, but what you can do is a quick vignette. 

I've made a super 8 short, Sumo: the Wrestlers which screened a few times in festivals here and there. It actually showed in the post LA riot 1991 to just a few people. I made another years later as part of the Obits program, which went to a bunch of film fests, which I hope never sees the light of day again. There were others as well. I think I had screen dreams back then, like many today. 

I do know people spend as much money as it takes of make a feature film on a short. They probably take as long as some do to make a feature, and for some, this is their life's achievement, all in a matter of a few minutes. So with that mind, I'll give all of these film a fair viewing. Who knows, this may give some lift to an important director tomorrow.

Somehow I found the room of snacks. It's not pretty, but that's where people recharge.