{"id":32931,"date":"2022-03-28T13:28:43","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T17:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=32931"},"modified":"2022-04-04T13:11:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T17:11:41","slug":"back-to-the-big-screen","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/back-to-the-big-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Big Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On April 15, COM\u2019s top student filmmakers will get to hear the laughs, gasps and applause of a live audience once again. For the first time since 2019, the college\u2019s annual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/about-com\/honors\/redstone-film-festival\/\">Redstone Film Festival<\/a> returns to the Tsai Performance Center with screenings of six films, all produced by undergraduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The festival, which is sponsored by the Sumner Redstone Foundation and has been held annually for more than 30 years, has helped to launch the film careers of many COM alums. Among the past winners are Josh Safdie (\u201907) and Benny Safdie (\u201908), codirectors and coscreenwriters of <em>Uncut Gems<\/em>; Nora Grossman (\u201905), producer of <em>The Imitation Game<\/em>; Jennifer Getzinger (\u201990), director of <em>Mad Men<\/em>; and Scott Rosenberg (\u201985), screenwriter of <em>High Fidelity<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Awards for short films will be given by a panel of experts in six categories: best film, cinematography, screenplay, editing, sound design and, for the first time, actor. A seventh award will be made by the vote of students and others in attendance in an audience-choice category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio is-style-background-yellow\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"responsive-video responsive-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Redstone Film Festival 2022 trailers\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gU_XsJnn8SQ?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Trailers for our six Redstone Film Festival finalists, created by COM students.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Three winners of the Fleder-Rosenberg award for best student short screenplays, sponsored by COM alumni Gary Fleder and Scott Rosenberg, will also be announced the same night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On April 22, the festival moves to Los Angeles, where the films will be judged by a different panel of experts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>COMtalk<\/em> spoke with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/paul-schneider\/\">Paul Schneider<\/a>, chair of the film and television department, about what to expect this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a test-block-editorial-q-and-a\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title-heading\">Q<span>&amp;<\/span>A<\/h2><h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title-subheading\">With Paul Schneider<\/h4><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">COMtalk:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">It\u2019s been three years since the last in-person festival. What are you most looking forward to?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Schneider:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">The experience of watching a film with an audience. You can\u2019t even remotely approximate that by sharing a link with someone. The reaction of an audience\u2014it\u2019s a wonderful thing. There\u2019s so much energy in the room.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">COMtalk:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">It\u2019s been a challenging two years for filmmaking, given the constraints imposed by the pandemic. What characterizes this period of student films for you?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Schneider:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">It\u2019s been extremely difficult for the students and they\u2019ve been amazingly resilient. At a certain point last year, they were working with actors who couldn\u2019t 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\u2014and it\u2019s not taught in books.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">COMtalk:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">What stood out from this year\u2019s festival entries?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Schneider:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">There\u2019s a tremendous variety in the subject matter and the way the stories are being told. We have six finalists and they couldn\u2019t be more different.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">COMtalk:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">You\u2019ve added an acting award this year\u2014what inspired that?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Schneider:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">We\u2019ve had a fair number of students from the [College of Fine Arts] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/theatre\/\">School of Theatre<\/a>. They have excellent actors in their program. We\u2019re going to have representatives of their faculty judging for the first time and hope to partner with them more.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">COMtalk:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">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?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Schneider:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">When I watch something on Netflix, I can get a lot out of it. But if you\u2019re a filmmaker, to see your film with an audience gives you a sense of what worked, what didn\u2019t work, what was funny, what wasn\u2019t funny. It\u2019s 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\u2019s a profound experience. Watching a drama on Netflix is great, but a genuine comedy is much better to watch with an audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-bucom-yellow-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<h4><strong>2022 Redstone Film Festival Finalists<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Blunt Force Trauma<\/em>: directed by Kaylee Chin (\u201923), written by Grace Rietta (\u201923), produced by Christian Nibal (CGS\u201920, COM\u201922)<\/li><li><em>Double Take<\/em>: directed by Eli Canter (\u201923), written by Canter and Geraldo Hinch (\u201923), produced by Cameron Cullen (\u201922) and Hinch<\/li><li><em>The Haunting at Marblehead Manor<\/em>: directed, written and produced by Juli Alonso (CGS\u201920, COM\u201922)<\/li><li><em>La Bella Vita<\/em>: written and directed by Max Hakim (\u201922), produced by Sean Doucette (\u201922)<\/li><li><em>Manic<\/em>: directed by Tim Choi (\u201922), written by Megan Antone (\u201921), produced by Alonso and Katie Sorrell (\u201922)<\/li><li><em>Roses and Red Noses<\/em>: written and directed by Zac Vujnov (\u201921), produced by Nicole Barradas (\u201921)<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-bucom-light-gray-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<h4><strong>2022 Fleder-Rosenberg Screenwriting Finalists<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>A Letter: <\/em>written by Kimberly Low<\/li><li><em>Baxter and the Bugman:<\/em> written by Nell Ovitt<\/li><li><em>Fire Pit:<\/em> written by Farah Sonde<\/li><li><em>Lock Jaw:<\/em> written by Nina Barresi<\/li><li><em>The Graveyard Shift: <\/em>written by Nesa Huda<\/li><li><em>Unborn:<\/em> written by Abby Andrulitis&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Where To:<\/em> written by Brian Thompson<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On April 15, COM\u2019s top student filmmakers will get to hear the laughs, gasps and applause of a live audience&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19704,"featured_media":32986,"template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[998,246,19],"bu-publication":[1472],"discipline-type":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/32931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19704"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/32931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33106,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/32931\/revisions\/33106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32931"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=32931"},{"taxonomy":"discipline-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline-type?post=32931"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=32931"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=32931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}