Jason Sondhi

When we talk about filmmakers taking the leap from shorts to features we tend to talk too much about the VFX whiz-kids with their sci-fi teaser films (which Hollywood still has quite the appetite for btw), but we don’t talk enough about what is still the far more common, but still frustratingly fraught path —  the traditional indie route. Today’s film Hellion is a wonderful example of a filmmaker leveraging what is great about indie, and the festival system which helps support it. 

I would be derelict in my duty if I didn’t sell the entertainment value of the film a bit first before pontificating however. I love Hellion and have since I first saw it at Sundance 2012. At 6min, it is a just about perfect short in terms of writing and plotting, with impressive performances. Made very simply, and very cheaply (this video starts with a fun story about how Candler raises money), Hellion starts with a bang, has several memorable moments, and perfectly balances its disparate tones of aggression, drama and comedy, memorably wrong-footing the audience along the way with a twist that in no way feels cheap or cliché. 

The festival success of the film really helped establish Candler within indie film, and supported by the close-knit filmmaking community of Austin (she teaches at the University of Texas, and illustrious names like David Lowery and Toby Halbooks worked on Hellion) she came back to Sundance the next year with Black Metal. Candler always has had an eye on features, and an explicit part of her short film strategy is to use the films as a testing ground and a calling card for feature versions of the films. She is surely hard at work on a Black Metal feature now, but Hellion the feature came first, debuting at Sundance 2014. It was her 3rd Sundance in a row, and just two years after the debut of the short. 

Sundance 2014 was a banner year for indie short-to-feature adaptations, with Hellion, Whiplash, Obvious Child, Fishing Without Nets, and Little Accidents all being adaptations of shorts, and this is a trend I see continuing. As much as we lionize directors, film is a such a collaborative medium, and at this level producers are often the stars. As someone who will be attending my 5th Sundance, it is hard to overstate the value of what Candler was able to do in getting herself programmed there 3 years in a row. The level of networking and exposure this can create is a major boon in securing important collaborators.

And that is still the major value of festivals in a nutshell. Online has become an important complement to festival runs, and for certain types of filmmakers it is a better alternative. From a pure talent discovery perspective it is often far more useful, but there is great value to having the backing of venerable institution like Sundance in advancing your career, and the human connections you foster, especially the serendipitous ones, still makes the possibility of getting your short into a major festival supremely attractive. Fortunately you don’t have to choose.