My sci-fi short The Glitch was The Little Engine That Could.
It was released fifteen years ago – good grief! We debuted at the DragonCon Film Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2008. We went on to play at a dozen festivals around the world. To chronicle that journey, I released a 'bells and whistles' DVD with 55 minutes of 'making of' features in 2009. Amazon Prime picked us up for streaming video in 2013.
The short is still alive on YouTube and has occasionally appeared in curated collections, including a short-lived outlet that interviewed yours truly in 2021. That outlet fizzled, but the interview was quite good, so I thought I'd stick a flag in that here, for hysterical porpoises:
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION?
Quite often, I'd be working late at night. I'd get up to use the bathroom and then I'd stop to see the door closed, with a light shining under the door. Logic would dictate I'd simply forgotten to turn out the light the last time I was in there. But, just for a second, there was a nagging worry that if I knocked I'd hear a noise on the other side of that thin wood door. Or, worse still, I’d hear my voice calling back, annoyed. And if I put my hand on the handle and quickly pushed open the door, I'd see myself sitting there inside, or standing at the mirror.
That scene found its way pretty much intact into The Glitch. There was a rapid domino effect, extrapolating from that idea to the writing and production of my 13-minute short film. I won't give any more away about what happens to poor Harry Owen when he wakes in front of his TV at 3 a.m. But I will say that, after making the film, my own mental glitch still occasionally finds me late at night, afraid and uncertain, staring at that glowing strip of light under my bathroom door.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE MAKING THE FILM?
The Glitch came together quite quickly. Inspiration struck in March 2007. We were shooting by August, concluded pickups in September, and, after six months of postproduction, we made our festival debut one year after cameras rolled. We had our share of heartaches, with little miracles and happy accidents along the way. By far the toughest challenge was our night shoot. We shot mostly ‘run and gun,’ grabbing discreet locations, including Harry’s loft that belonged to a kindhearted but unsuspecting friend, whose life we turned upside-down for two weekends (sorry, Brent). But the whole third act was a night exterior.
For Harry’s action movie finale, running through his darkened neighborhood streets, I was not prepared to gamble everything getting arrested by inquisitive LAPD, so I worked with FilmLA to obtain a permit. As always happens, they posted signs and knocked on doors. The day before our night shoot, one building owner called me, irate – a misunderstanding with another friend who’d allowed me after-hours access to their business premises – and it took some gentle persuasion, flowers, and proof of insurance to sweet-talk my way into their good graces.
It was a long night. We had a casting call of extras, special effects, a trailer for my leading man Scott Charles, and nifty lighting effects that cinematographer Tom Gleason engineered almost single-handedly when most of his crew departed after eating our craft services. It was a pretty remote location, an industrial estate near what must have been a farm, and as we captured our last shot from a rooftop, looking down on Scott as the sun was peeking over the horizon I turned to Tom and said, ‘Was that a rooster?’ Tom looked at me, glassy-eyed, and said, ‘Yup.’ Never take for granted the words: ‘Exterior City Street – Night.’
HOW WAS THE FILM RECEIVED?
At our first film festival in Atlanta, The Glitch was the opening film and ‘Best Science Fiction Short’ nominee. We were a finalist at BAFTA/LA Short Film Festival, Short Film of the Day at Film School Rejects, and a Saturday Shorts selection at Ain’t It Cool News. Most of our life has been online, including three years at Amazon Prime, and about 25,000 views on various other platforms.
DO YOU HAVE OTHER PROJECTS?
Since The Glitch, I wrote and co-produced a horror-thriller short 4EVR. That played at Nightmares Film Festival, Panic Fest, and earned director Sergio Pinheiro 'Best Birector,' 'Best Short' and 'Best of the Fest' at Hollywood Horrorfest. It's now streaming on Amazon Prime. I have other projects in development and my screenplay The Dodo Man was a finalist at Ron Howard and Brian Glazer's incubator program Imagine Impact.
ANY ADVICE FOR ASPIRING FILMMAKERS?
Get your hands dirty. When an idea bites, grab onto it with both hands. Do not let it go. Beg, borrow, ask favors. Take risks. Respect your collaborators, pay what you can, but choose your battles carefully. Make it happen, in any way possible. Coming from an honest place of passion, you will make friends and build resources. Filmmaking is his hard work. Keep the faith.
WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
I still have a website (and store) at Glitchsite.
And The Glitch still has a presence in the Zuckerverse at Glitchbook.
Or, click to play at GlitchTube!
