by John Wildman,
AFI FEST Daily News

Four Shorts Programs offer a uniquely strong lineup at AFI FEST 2006 presented by Audi. Among them:

• Michael Dreher's affecting snapshot of compromised morals surrounding a black-market baby (FAIR TRADE, Shorts Program Two)
• Borja Cobeaga's comedy about a father and son who discover a troubling secret (ONE TOO MANY, Program Three)
• Peter Craig's absurdist look at office politics and diabolical bosses (NEVEL IS THE DEVIL, Program One)
• Toby Wilkins' witty take on a classic urban legend (KIDNEY THIEVES, Program Three)

Borja Cobeaga, director, ONE TOO MANY, Shorts Program Three, AFI FEST 2006 presented by Audi.

While distribution and self-marketing opportunities have improved, short films are largely a labor of love.

So why did these four filmmakers take the challenge?

ONE TOO MANY's Cobeaga was looking for a project to spell him from his daily job in television.

"Television is not personal," Cobeaga explained. "You're part of a big team. You've got a very specific audience and you need to be very fast."

"Making a short film is the opposite process. Getting money is very slow. You have more time to do a personal story. And you are your own audience."

FAIR TRADE's Dreher found his inspiration on a trip to the Straits of Gibraltar.

"The whole life in Tangiers is directed towards Spain because it seems so near, (but) on the other hand everyone knows that it's impossible to get there, because it's so far away," Dreher explained. "I immediately knew that I wanted to make a film about this close-but-too-far-away [idea].

"The second thing was that I wanted to make a film that matters both politically and emotionally. And suddenly the idea of a child trade showed up. And that was it."

For KIDNEY THIEVES' Wilkins it was a case of inspiration meeting opportunity.

"I first read Ben Acker's script for KIDNEY THIEVES in the summer of 2005, as my film STARING AT THE SUN was doing the festival circuit," said Wilkins. "I knew then it would make a great short film, and though I didn't have the time and resources to make it happen at that point the script never left my desk.

"Then, in October 2005 STARING AT THE SUN won the best short award at ScreamFest. Part of that award was 8,000 feet of 16mm film donated by Fuji. I hadn't shot anything on 16mm in years and started looking for a project that would work well with a more edgy, grainy look, and KIDNEY THIEVES seemed like the perfect choice."

Meanwhile, NEVEL IS THE DEVIL's Craig found his film within a larger project he still hopes to make.

Peter Craig, director, NEVEL IS THE DEVIL, Shorts Program One, AFI FEST 2006.

"NEVEL IS THE DEVIL is an excerpt from a feature that I wrote titled GREEN," Craig explained. "I had just finished the script and, after going to several festivals with other shorts, I thought there would be no better format to promote the feature script than to make a short from it.

"It's nice using the short to exemplify the humor that's in the feature."

There are obvious differences and challenges between making a short film versus a feature film. Length of production time and money spent to make the movie in the first place head the list of course.

Ingenuity won the day with Dreher's decision to let a Moroccan Coast Guard boat substitute for a Spanish one after difficulties with Spain's politics.

And Wilkins' production designer created his rundown Tijuana bathroom set in a warehouse after their search for locations turned up restrooms all too bland and all too clean.

Craig and Cobeaga found their chief hurdles in the execution - Craig in finding actors to hold the audience's attention in a relatively static location and Cobeaga in making a comedy that didn't rely on overt jokes.

However, Craig found a freedom in the short format. "What's great about writing a short film is that you don't really have to follow the conventions of a three act story," Craig explained.

"Short format filmmaking is a very experimental medium, you can almost do anything you want and get away with it. I think a key is writing a good short film is always leave the audience wanting more."

"If you're working with a project that lasts under 15 minutes, it's not necessarily important to tidy everything up in a nice package."

But what about the technical aspect of making the short film?

The filmmakers differed on whether they were more concerned with this aspect of directing versus the content and the performances.

For Dreher, the technical aspect was never an issue.

"With my background as a director of music videos I know where to place the camera and how to cut and what lenses make sense," Dreher explained. "I was far more in directing the actors than in any other. And this is where emotions come from: the actors."

Michael Dreher, director, FAIR TRADE, Shorts Program Two, AFI FEST 2006

Cobeaga's focus was also the story and the actors.

"I'm not very interested in technical aspects of filmmaking," Cobeaga explained. "I know that it's a stupid thought because cinema is a technical subject. But the reason I make short films is storytelling. A fun story, a sad one, a terrifying one. I like seeing actors pretending and a camera recording it."

Meanwhile, Craig had an entirely different opinion on the subject.

"The technical aspect to filmmaking is always important," Craig said. "Not making a film that's technically sound will cloud the audience's ability to digest the narrative.

"Obviously being funny was extremely important, but after having failed technically on other projects in the past, I always try to focus on putting together a technically viable project. I think the difficulty of making a good film is juggling both the technical and creative aspects of storytelling."

Wilkins agreed, "I think because of my background in visual effects I am always focused on making a technically good film. I micro-manage, over-storyboard and involve myself in every single aspect of the process from start to finish."

"My favorite directors seem to consistently be those that work the same way."

While Dreher and Cobeaga have their sights on making features next (including Cobeaga's plans for a feature-length prequel to FAIR TRADE), for Wilkins and Craig, the rewards of making a great short film are enough.

Wilkins elaborated, "It's a really exciting time for short film right now. The market for high quality, entertaining short content is out there in a way that it hasn't been for perhaps 50 years."

"I have made a something like nine or 10 short films, since completing KIDNEY THIEVES. I was commissioned by Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures to make three short films to promote THE GRUDGE 2."

"I have always seen short film as a creative outlet, never simply a stepping stone to something bigger. There are stories that lend themselves to feature films or novels, and there are short stories that can be told better in 10 minutes than 90."

Wilkins added, "But I'm certainly ready and eager to make a feature film, and there's really nothing preventing me from doing a feature at this point."

Craig agreed, "My goal is to make features, but I don't ever see myself abandoning the short format. There are a lot of demands and expectations in the world of features that you don't have in short filmmaking."

"My picture-perfect future would be to squeeze in a short or two in between multi-bazillion dollar features."