Back to the Big Screen

COMtalk: It’s been three years since the last in-person festival. What are you most looking forward to?

Schneider: The experience of watching a film with an audience. You can’t even remotely approximate that by sharing a link with someone. The reaction of an audience—it’s a wonderful thing. There’s so much energy in the room.

COMtalk: It’s been a challenging two years for filmmaking, given the constraints imposed by the pandemic. What characterizes this period of student films for you?

Schneider: It’s been extremely difficult for the students and they’ve been amazingly resilient. At a certain point last year, they were working with actors who couldn’t take their masks off even when the camera was rolling. Our students also have to find locations, such as apartments, convenience stores, whatever it might be, and during the worst of the COVID outbreak, a lot of people were very hesitant to loan out their space. It gave everybody an education in how to deal with one crisis after another. Filmmaking is often like that, and learning how to collaborate is hugely important in the industry—and it’s not taught in books.

COMtalk: What stood out from this year’s festival entries?

Schneider: There’s a tremendous variety in the subject matter and the way the stories are being told. We have six finalists and they couldn’t be more different. 

COMtalk: You’ve added an acting award this year—what inspired that?

Schneider: We’ve had a fair number of students from the [College of Fine Arts] School of Theatre. They have excellent actors in their program. We’re going to have representatives of their faculty judging for the first time and hope to partner with them more.

COMtalk: Most people only watched movies at home during the pandemic and some may have permanently stopped going to movie theaters. What makes the theater experience irreplaceable to you?

Schneider: When I watch something on Netflix, I can get a lot out of it. But if you’re a filmmaker, to see your film with an audience gives you a sense of what worked, what didn’t work, what was funny, what wasn’t funny. It’s a wake-up call when you get in front of an audience. I come from the theater. When I would direct a play, the most important thing was when we did previews and I got to sit in the audience. It’s a profound experience. Watching a drama on Netflix is great, but a genuine comedy is much better to watch with an audience.