Garden State Film Festival 2020 – It's Me
Maria is a larger-than-life "mean girl" who believes she can do or say whatever she wants, whenever she wants, to whomever she wants. What she doesn't know is that, often in life, you might get what you give.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Editor Andrea Casaseca
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Today we have a very important and serious problem, which is bullying. We always think that this cannot happen to us or to those we love until it happens. With this short film, I wanted to give a new point of view of this horrible situation. We’re never enough consciousness about the damage we can provoke in another person.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch this film because this will make you think about who you are and the way you behave.
Have you ever been hurt? Have you ever hurt someone you love? And how do you feel? In Its Me I want to identify that what we do to someone can be returned to us, I mean, it’s a kind of karma. The way you treat someone could be the same way that someone is behaving to someone you love, so watch your behavior.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
This problem is worldwide. Many people have lost sight of “Do onto others…” in order to feel powerful at another person’s expense.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Well, this was very fast. At the beginning I knew the end of my short film, for me, it is always that the end is really the most important part of a story so I built something like a storyboard in my mind to lead all my characters to that end and then I develop the rest of the story to that end. I had a very clear idea of what my message was and this is what I show in my characters’ dialogue.
But then I realized that I had a problem. I didn’t have any money. No budget. No producers. So if time is money, I needed to tell this story in as short a time as possible.
I am thankful that I had two really good friends who helped me with the production and thanks to my university, I was able to use a classroom.
Around 60 people worked on this short film, for free, just because they loved the script idea and this is something I’ll never forget. We filmed this in 23 hours, two buildings locations and one car.
And if you watch the car scene, let me tell you, they aren’t acting together in the car. Every actor/actress is acting alone with me giving them the responses. That was crazy!
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We got a selection premiere in Austin Film Festival in 2019. For me, that was the best feedback ever. I don’t have a distribution company so I sent them the short film (as I did too many film festivals) on my own, with my name and that’s it. They liked it and it was selected! Me and my crew, in this competition, against more than six thousand films sent to this amazing film festival and we got a selection! Can you believe it? And it was because of the story, because of the actors and, of course, because of the crew. We created a STORY.
Also, after that huge selection, for me, the best feedback is from the audience. I love when the audience gets excited about the story and comes to you and say really good words about your work. Seriously, I’m in heaven if I can provoke an emotion with this story in at least one person.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It surprised me. As I said, there are many people (young people) who get excited about this story and then they come to me and say “Thank you.” People need to be conscious of this. This really matters to our generation”. I guess most of the people react in the same way as our main character María. Is it something natural in our behavior? We are or we were teenagers and in some way that is justified? Really? No way. Make life impossible and hating others is never justified. The problems we reflect to others are our main problems.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I am trying to get as much of an audience as possible. When I make a short film, they go to film festivals and then fall into oblivion. I would love to get to a young audience and hopefully make them think of themselves just for a moment if they are behaving like María.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
For me, film festivals and distributors are the best options. Festivals are where most people tend to see new films. Of course, all of the people you mentioned could be helpful!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Wow! I would like to see this short film on a platform where young audiences can access and watch it.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Do we always have to behave the same way they treat us? How about,” How do I behave?” or “How does my behavior affect others?” or “Is this me?”
Would you like to add anything else?
Don’t to forget how important education and self-awareness is.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m looking for finance for my next short film. It is about a teenager who is addicted to game rooms because, here in Spain, we have a serious problem with young addicted gamers.
Interview: April 2020
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
It's Me
Maria is a larger-than-life "mean girl" who believes she can do or say whatever she wants, whenever she wants, to whomever she wants. What she doesn't know is that, often in life, you might get what you give.
Length: 11:36
Director: Andrea Casaseca
Producer: Andrea Casaseca
Writer: Andrea Casaseca
About the writer, director and producer:
ANDREA CASASECA is an award-winning independent filmmaker. All her short films have won twenty-five awards and have been selected in almost two hundred film festivals all over the world including, but not limited to, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Edmonton Film Festival, Austin Film Festival and Raindance Film Festival. She has been pre-selected for the Goya Awards in Spain.
Today, Andrea is working as a freelance commercial/fiction director.
Key cast: Marta Belenguer (Mother), María Rivera (María), Miguel Rivera (Miguel)
Looking for: film festival directors, buyers, sales agents
Facebook: Era yo / It's me
Instagram: @bisonfilms
Hashtags used: #erayo #cortometrajeerayo #erayocorto #itsme #itsmeshort #itsmeshortfilm #shortitsme
Other: IMDb
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? 7º Firenze Film Corti Festival/Italy - September; Primavera Film Festival Barcelona/Spain - (due to Coronavirus I don't know yet); Festival Corti a Ponte/Italy - (due to Coronavirus I don't know yet); West Chester International Film Festival/USA - - (due to Coronavirus I don't know yet); Cortisonici International Film Festival/Italy - October