WRITTEN & Directed by Matthew Horvat
PRODUCED by Peter Widdrington
Based on a true story, a young man successfully orchestrates a double-ended rental scam until the weight of his own ego compromises everything.
ABOUT THE FILM
CHARLIE premiered at the Academy Award Qualifying LA Shorts Fest and also screened at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and the NY Shorts International Festival.
ABOUT THE FILMmaker
Matthew Horvat is a writer/director based in Toronto. His previous efforts as a creative producer include the short documentary 'Embers of Varanasi' which won the jury award at Nova Film Festival. While in film school, two of his projects as director were featured in the Kingston Canadian Film Festival. 'Charlie' is his directorial debut.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH Matthew
Welcome to our Short of the Week series and sharing your film Charlie with us! So Charlie was your directorial debut, yes? Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to filmmaking?
Thank you! Yes! Definitely my first 'real' short film out of film school to play at festivals. Writing has always been a hobby of mine, and that led me to try to visualize my stories through film. I've been working in the Toronto film industry for about 8 years now, doing various roles. I'll also produce my friends' short films from time to time and have some post production work experience as well. I never intended to be a jack of all trades, but working as a freelancer gives you opportunities to get a taste of everything (if you want).
Charlie is based on a true story... Can you tell us about the genesis of the film and how the project came about?
It was a news story that came out probably 18 months before we shot the film. It wasn't an unusual story, these and similar types of scams are often perpetuated in Toronto and other major cities. But I dug deep into who this grifter was, and a picture started to form of a young man desperately trying to perpetuate an image of success by any means necessary. It became less about the action and more about the character, and the lengths he was willing to go to keep his unearned sham of a lifestyle going at the expense of others.
What were some of your influences on the project? We get some hints of American Psycho - was that a conscious or unconscious homage?
More unconscious to be honest! It turned out great that way because I do love the absurdity and almost surreal quality of American Psycho. Charlie definitely has some similarities with Patrick Bateman. Charlie isn't violent though, he's more of an 'all bark and no bite' type of character, but our lead James definitely leaned into that motif. At the end of the day though, Charlie is more of a grifter than a killer. Inspiration wise, The Social Network, The Big Short, were definately referenced when we were discussing lighting and camera. Story wise, I borrowed a lot from The Wolf of Wall Street and Nightcrawler to achieve that sociopathic 'rags to riches' motif.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Charlie and how did you overcome them?
I hate to be that guy, but it all went pretty smoothly! My producer and I are professional production coordinators and managers, so we used our experience managing larger budgets to keep things smooth with this passion project. The biggest hurdle was after the film got produced in late 2019, was when Covid hit afterwards. I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about how Covid affected filmmakers, but our premiere at LA Shorts Fest was online, and as much as film festivals did their best to keep things going, film festivals just aren't the same not in person. Luckily we were able to host it at a couple in-person festivals later in its run, so at least we had a couple live screenings for it.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. You premiered at the Academy qualifying LA Shorts - any other festival highlights?
A lot of them were online, but we played at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and the NY Shorts International Festival, both of which were in person. These were the only two I and a few of the crew were able to attend, but we were thrilled nonetheless to screen our film in front of a live audience finally.
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?
Consistency. There are plenty of jobs in film, but the creative ones, directing, cinematography, editing, acting, all come with lack of consistency at the start. These top jobs are competitive, and it usually takes a while to break into them, but it's one of those things where you need to understand it takes a while to land consistent creative gigs. I'm still working on that personally, it's easy to lose track of it when you're busy with your day job and get lazy with honing your creative work. It's always a balance of keeping your livelihood while also remembering why you wanted to work in film to begin with, and nurture that side of you.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
Okay. It's super grimey, and I would recommend looking at the content warnings before anyone watches it, but a hidden gem film is Ms. 45. I've never seen a film pack such a punch with such a limited budget, set in New York of yesteryear that simply can't be captured anymore organically.