Bay for Blood, 18min., USA
Directed by Harry Waldman
James and Rob are hiding out in isolation to fix their mutual issues. As time progresses, the two reveal facts regarding their disturbing past relationship. An acquaintance of James', Jessica, finds herself in an uncomfortable position as she contemplates the best way to handle the situation.

https://www.instagram.com/hwaldman18/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
-I had a pretty toxic relationship with a friend in high school. He pretended to be my friend, but seemed to enjoy watching me suffer more than anything. His behavior around me was very fickle, sometimes being really kind to me, and at other times, being the complete opposite. I felt that I needed to get this story off of my chest, which has been very cathartic.
James is actually very loosely based on myself at my worst moments. Of course, I don't condone anything he does throughout the film and have never hurt anyone the way he hurts Rob and Jessica, but I empathize (even though I also fear and despise him) with the character in that he feels that he is always being let down by those around him. In general, I believe that creating complex characters often requires giving them flaws that can make them unlikeable at times, and I always do my best to try to walk in the shoes of the anti-hero or villain in order to portray them in a more genuine manner.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you
to make this film?
-From writing the script to finishing shooting, it took about half of a year. The script took a couple months, auditions took around a month, we held 3 rehearsals and gathering the rest of the team took some time. The shoot was 4 days and lasted over the span of about 1 month or so. But post-production took a handful of months, and when I was getting ready to submit the film to festivals, COVID happened. So, the whole process did end up getting dragged out a while, but it was an incredible journey and I am very happy with how the final product turned out.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
-Uncomfortable tension. From others' critiques on my film, "intense" seems to be the word that is most often used to describe my films. In general, I love to build tension and put my audience on edge while watching my narratives, a feeling that I have come to really appreciate from watching other films in recent years.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
-The biggest challenge for me was dealing with the shot list and lighting setups. The shot list is what I have always struggled with the most, particularly with understanding how to minimize setups by ordering the shot list properly. As for lighting, this apartment was a bit cramped, especially the bedroom, which a large percentage of the film takes place in. Because of this, my Gaffer, Dru, had to set up most of the lights in the bedroom on the ceiling. Lighting setups took longer than I initially expected, but Dru did a fantastic job overall, and I was very happy with how the lighting looked in this film, especially in the bedroom.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
-I really liked the reactions overall. It can always be nerve wracking hearing others' opinions on your films, but I thought that the analysis was pretty spot on. I was really pleased with how many of the individuals in the video recognized my actors' strong performances, and the word "intense" was used quite a bit, which is often the case with my films. I especially appreciated one person's comments regarding the fact that the relationship between James and Rob was pretty complex, which added some depth to the film. Their relationship sometimes confuses people, so I am relieved that it came through properly in this specific instance.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
-I have loved movies since I was just a few years old, but I was always someone who was a bit too "practical" when it came to my career, despite the fact that my dad has been a successful artist since I was young. I assumed that you were supposed to graduate college and then work at a job that you weren't passionate about in order to pay the bills. The thought really depressed me, so I tried not to think about it too often and focused on my hobbies, which included watching movies, playing video games, sports, listening to music and hanging out with friends.
I studied business in college, which did teach me how to be a good leader as a film director/producer, but the content didn't interest me too much. I just assumed that I would get some business marketing job out of college that I wouldn't really be passionate about. I started to have these fantasies about finding myself working a marketing gig on a film production during my junior year of college, and while this dream excited me, it also depressed me because it didn't seem realistic considering my situation.
During the second semester of my senior year of college, a few weeks after watching "The Social Network", which is one of my favorite films of all time, and which I believe had an influence on what I am writing below, I had a dream that I was going to a top tier film school, taking various filmmaking courses, collaborating with other students to work on film projects, etc. Near the end of the dream, I met a psychic who told me that one of my closest friends (Inspired by Mark Zuckerberg stabbing Eduardo Saverin in the back) would steal my film idea, but despite this awful fact, I would become a successful filmmaker. While I believe that I get along well with most people, I can be a vengeful person if I feel that I was wronged. What really shocked me about this dream was that I was so excited about the prospect of me being a successful filmmaker, that it completely overshadowed my distress over having my film idea stolen by my best friend.
Suddenly, I woke up, jumped out of my bed, grabbed my backpack and jacket and ran to the front door of my apartment, getting ready to go to one of my "film classes". Then, I realized that it was around noon on a Saturday; that I had just been at a bar the previous night with friends; and that I wasn't a film student at a prestigious film school, but a marketing student at a business school; and I would graduate college and find some job that I hated; and that would be the rest of my life...this was the single most depressing moment of my entire life.
I stared at my bedroom wall for about 20 minutes and then a lightbulb popped on inside my head. I told myself, "So you finally figured out your passion as you're graduating college. That's unfortunate, but you're still only 21 years old. You have plenty of time". So, from that moment on, I immediately came up with a plan for my filmmaking career. I would graduate college with my business marketing degree, and find a decent paying job in business after college during the day while pursuing my filmmaking career during the evenings and weekends. This plan launched the beginning of my exciting filmmaking career, from watching youtube videos on filmmaking and working as a Production Assistant on film sets while working in Insurance to pay the bills to being able to direct and produce my own films as my main passion, while working in post-production for a living.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
-"Memento" is the film that I have probably seen the most times in my life (I have honestly lost count how many times I have watched it). I first watched it at a friend's house in 7th grade. It was actually his parents' recommendation, and I was kind of a rebellious kid, so I was a bit skeptical. Though, I was quickly proven wrong, and while I was confused with what exactly happened in the final act, I was also very intrigued and immediately wanted to watch it again.
I forgot about the film for some time, and about two years later, I stumbled into it at a Blockbuster. I became so obsessed with the movie that I watched it 5 nights in a row, learning something new every time as Christopher Nolan dropped so many Easter eggs throughout the film. In general, I really prefer to watch new films and I often get tired of repetition, but "Memento" is one of the few films that I can revisit over and over without ever becoming even slightly bored with it. Because of the ingenious plot structuring, intelligent script, incredibly complex characters and insane twist ending, "Memento" is the first film that I became obsessed with and is still my favorite film to this day.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other
festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
-For your festival, I don't have any notes. This is the second time I have collaborated with you, and I am honestly so impressed with the level of communication and detail provided. Your festival is very generous, considering the written interview, online interview, double screening of the film, in depth analysis video, etc. With other festivals, I have had more mixed results, but overall, I have still had a very good experience on the festival circuit.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your
experiences been working on the festival platform site?
-It has mostly been positive. I have been to some festivals over the past few years. I have had more of a mixed experience with the online festivals, though I have been a part of a few online fests that I really enjoyed. And there are quite a few scam festivals out there looking to exploit newer filmmakers, but I have learned how to detect which ones those are, and have been able to avoid them recently. Filmfreeway does a good job dealing with the scam fests and is really helpful in general, which has made the experience a very positive one for me overall.

10. What is your favorite meal?
-My favorite meal has to be a 14-16 oz ribeye steak (medium), mashed potatoes with a lot of butter and salt, french onion soup, chocolate mousse cake with vanilla ice cream on the side, a glass of Coke and another glass of water. In order to eat all of this, I would likely need to skip lunch and go on a long run beforehand. There are few things (filmmaking being one of these few things) that I enjoy more than eating a quality meal at a nice restaurant for dinner.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
-Once the festival runs are complete, I am hoping to get online distribution for "Bay For Blood" and two of my other short films, "Enter the Room" and "In the Backseat". I am currently editing my debut feature film, "The Corridor Crossing". Post-production has been taking a while, but I am happy with how the product looks, and it should only improve as time goes on. The initial cut was almost 130 minutes, and I now have the film at 90 minutes. I am also cleaning up my script for my next feature film, "Incautious", which I am hoping to put into production in September. I am also storyboarding a short animated film, "Slivered" with my dad, who is a professional artist. I have always been a huge fan of animated films and am trying to start to consistently make animation in addition to live action filmmaking.