Jennifer KentsThe Babadook, Andy MuschiettisMama, and Taika WaititisWhat We Do In the Shadowshad similar journeys.
This weekend, another one of these films-based-on-shorts,Kin, will be released in theaters.
ForDavid F. Sandberg(Shazam!
Credit: Gunpowder & Sky; Alan Markfield/Lionsgate; Everett Collection
), the viral attention his short film Lights Out received madethe feature film versiona reality.
For others, it was an uphill journey to turn their shorts into movies.
Kin
Short film: Bag Man
Jonathan and Josh Baker, a.k.a.
Jonathan & Josh Baker/Lionsgate
They said it wasnt long before those questions began to be asked by Hollywood.
The goal with the feature film,Kin, was maintaining a specific tone, the Bakers explained.
A gritty real-world aesthetic that also plays with some bigger genre ideas.
Gunpowder & Sky
It is an absolute uphill battle that a short film director needs to be fully prepared for.
People arent just giving out movies to anybody with a short, despite it sometimes feeling that way.
They put the short film online in its entirety to correspond with its SXSW premiere.
RLJE Films
The turning point came when they connected with their financiers, Bron Studios.
Whats the scariest thing we can do in our apartment with no money at all?
Sandberg remembers asking himself.
RLJE Films
It just happened overnight, he says over the phone.
Lights Outlanded at Warner Bros. with producer James Wan, a professional relationship that would continue inTheConjuringuniverse.
Though, hes not quite sure how the rest of the script unfolded.
It came pretty easily to me because I think it was all this bottled up creativity, Sandberg adds.
I was like, Ill finally have my chance to actually make a movie.
If you shoot a gun at her, shell disappear during the muscle flashes.
I also came up with this idea of turning on the headlights of a car to save yourself.
The director says, I had never even been on a film set before.
The PAs had more experience than I did.
I didnt even know, when do you say action?
I didnt know how to have fun with it cause I was freaking out, he laughs.
I wrote the script to Ride as a feature, he says.
The short then served as a reference for every stage of the process, Ungar explains.
The film, now starringShafts Jessie T. Usher, will be released on Oct. 5.
