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Title: Ruby
Runtime: 11 min
Country: USA
Director: Isaac Mead-Long
Placement: Honorable Mention
Synopsis: A Miami story bringing light to one man’s strange obsession with jewels.
OR: What was the inspiration for your film?
IM-L: The film came around from a short story I wrote in my creative writing course during undergrad at the University of Miami.
OR: When did you conceive the idea for your film and how long did it take before it was realized?
IM-L: Ruby came around from a creative writing course I took in undergrad at the University of Miami. Sort-of a full rounded story that shows the growth of a character through a full life time. It took about three months until we had a final script and another two months for pre-production and shot it on the third month. So around 6-8 months for it to be finished.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of working in a short film format?
IM-L: I think the hardest part about working in a short film format is trying to say something with your film. One of the hardest challenges I’ve faced so far as a filmmaker has been creating a story in the short film format that really engages the audience and says something. But for me, it just takes practice. Ruby was my first short film and was definitely an experiment, but it gave way to more projects, eventually landing me a huge short this past fall. So no matter how hard it is, you just need to do it.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of your production?
IM-L: The hardest part of the production was probably casting. Living and going to school in Miami does not give you a very large pool of actors to choose from. Obviously if I were in New York or LA it would be much easier, but we did what we had to do to cast the film. It also proved very difficult because we had to cast three different actors for the two main roles, to show each character at different stages of their lives. Besides that, the crew was incredible so the actual shooting went very well.
OR: Do you have any advice for first-time filmmakers?
IM-L: The biggest advice I can give is to take risks. Don’t be scared that there are thousands of people in the world trying to do the same thing you are doing. The most important thing is that you make something that you are proud of, something that you can feel accomplished about. Constantly hoping that your next film will take you to Cannes isn’t the way to go. For me, I continue to direct because it’s what I love doing, so if this isn’t what you love, it’s probably time to find a new occupation.