Award of Merit – “Seth” (USA)

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Title: Seth
Runtime: 12 min
Country: USA
Director: Zach Lasry
Placement: Award of Merit
Competition: December, 2015

Synopsis: Manic man-child Seth lives in his own demented world where time is of the essence, his only friends are his stuffed animals, and the words of Michael Jordan inspire him to take all the shots he can, which for Seth means impressing his father. An incredibly bizarre series of trials and errors ensue, eventually leaving Seth feeling defeated before he makes one last attempt to win his father’s love and approval.

DIRECTOR Q&A

OR: What was the inspiration for your film?

ZL: The inspiration for Seth came from 2 things. 1, I was watching a lot of movies where I felt there was a lack of energy, a lack of life. So I knew I wanted to write something where from the first moment, the film was alive. I wanted every beat to be filled with intense desire and feeling.

The second part that inspire the film was my day to day life. At the time of the writing, I was living in a tiny apartment on the lower east side in NYC. I was spending close to 24 hours a day in that tiny room, completing goals that I deemed to be very important. The day after day, isolation culminated in a small existential crisis where I started to question the validity of these “necessary” goals I was accomplishing. Why was I spending so much time in this tiny room by myself, learning guitar, learning how to speak french, watching movies etc… And not connecting with the people that I love, the people that make my life actually worth living.

OR: When did you conceive the idea for your film and how long did it take before it was realized?

ZL: I wrote Seth in 2012, shelved it for about 2 years, and then filmed it in late 2014. About 2 and a half years after it was written.

OR: What was the most challenging aspect of working in a short film format?

ZL: The most challenging aspect of the movie wasn’t the fact that it was a short film. It was that it was my first legitimate production. In High School and College I made movies where I did everything. I was the DP, Director, Producer, Actor, Editor etc.. There wasn’t much collaboration. In Seth, I had to learn how to let go of control. I was working with people who were extremely talented, and had to learn to trust and communicate with them. That was the most important lesson I learned on Seth.

OR: What was the most challenging aspect of your production?

ZL: I would have to echo my previous answer.

OR: Do you have any advice for first-time filmmakers?

ZL: My advice would be to not hold anything back. When I felt that something should have been done differently, I should have spoken up! When I wasn’t confident in how something was working, I should have always spoken up… I spoke up many times, but NOT every time… There was nothing worse then going into the editing room and seeing something that isn’t working that I KNOW I could have changed if I just trusted my instincts. As the filmmaker, I am the only one who knows the true vision. While I do have collaborators that I have to trust, if something doesn’t feel right, for my next film I have to have more confidence in my vision. My collaborators are going to offer many ideas, and have very strong opinions on how things should be, but I need to be stronger next time and not let anyone elses strength every overpower mine… So my advice would be, do your homework, make sure you are confident and excited about every aspect of the movie (Production Design, Cinematography, Writing, Acting, Costumes etc…) and then stay strong and don’t let that vision be compromised. Let other ideas and collaborators strengthen it, but don’t be overpowered into thinking you’re weak. Let your collaborators inspire you, and surprise you, but don’t ever let them intimidate you… If something doesn’t work out the way you wanted, it’s no one’s fault but your own…