Written & DIRECTED BY Sam Dubin
Produced by Santiago Bukovsky, Lauren Guido, Maggie Shea & Sam Dubin
When a first generation American son learns of his Russian immigrant father’s financial catastrophe, he reluctantly agrees to one last tumultuous trip to their beloved family lake house before it’s sold.
What follows is the journey of a father and son on the road, bound towards selling a home they love. Trapped with one another they must confront their opposing views of America and ultimately their views of each other.
ABOUT THE FILM
The Stream premiered at the Fayetteville Film Festival and was release online by Omeleto. It was a Semi-Finalists at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, screened at the Cobb International Film Fest's Indie Night, and was featured by Film Shortage.
ABOUT THE FILMmaker
Sam Dubin is an actor, writer, and filmmaker from Atlanta, Georgia, and a proud graduate of The University of Michigan's BFA Acting Program. He also got a minor in creative writing! The Stream is his directorial debut, but he's been acting all his life in many different plays and films, some of which include Angels in America, Grapes of Wrath, and Proud to Present..., plus a handful of student films. He's also had the opportunity to study at the Atlantic Theatre Company and the Moscow Art Theatre! He is so, so excited to bring this film to you!!
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH SAM
Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?
Hi! Thank you for including The Stream in your series! We are honored to be featured by Kino! My name is Sam Dubin. I wrote, directed, and acted in The Stream. I'm from Atlanta, Georgia, but I recently relocated to New York City. I studied acting and creative writing at the University of Michigan, but I've been a film lover my whole life. The Stream is my directorial debut and it was born during the pandemic. Most of my experience comes from being in front of the camera, but everything I know about making films I've learned from watching them. I didn't go to film school or have any kind of formal training. I had always wanted to write and direct my own work, but it wasn't until I was inspired to write this story that I was ready to commit to the challenge of making my first short. I had an amazing crew on this project and this film would not exist without them!
The Stream is a very personal project for you. Can you tell us about the film's genesis?
The Stream was born from a deep curiosity about the relationship between my immigrant father and myself. Throughout most of my childhood, my family owned a lake house. Owning this house was one of the prouder moments of our family’s life. But a few years ago my father fell into a deep financial crisis and we had no choice but to part ways with it. After passing this house again for the first time in a few years, the feelings and memories of selling it came flooding back. And out of that was born The Stream. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote and eventually showed the script to a University of Michigan cinematographer friend. From there I brought on producers -- also Michigan alumni. Eventually, I had to show the script to my dad. I couldn't make the film without his blessing. At first, he was hesitant for this story to be told. Honestly, there was a moment when I thought I would have to scrap the film altogether. And I understand completely. It's nearly autobiographical and this moment in our family's life was a constant source of shame for my father. But I believed that this was an important story tell. My dad slept on it and the next morning he gave me his blessing. From there we crowdfunded the project, pulled together the rest of our team, and shot the film in four days. We've had a short festival run, premiered to sold-out crowds in NYC and Atlanta, and recently premiered online on the YouTube channel Omeleto. The most meaningful part of this whole project has been having people come up and tell me that the film reminded them of their father, or their old house, or a time in their lives when they struggled financially. Those comments will keep me going for a lifetime. And what was once a source of shame for my father has become something that he can stand to be proud of.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of The Stream and how did you overcome them?
We experienced obstacles every single day while making The Stream. During pre-production, production, post -- even now problems will still arise! I learned so much about directing and producing by throwing myself into the process of making a film and one thing I can say is that much of a director/producer's job is just constant problem solving. A problem arises you figure out a solution and before you know it there will be another issue. Our picture car broke down on us, we were rained out on certain days, we had to change locations, we worked late into the night, and we worked against the sun. Camera issues, cast issues, food issues, money issues. The list goes on and on! And no one will ever know! The biggest lesson I learned as a director is to rely on your team. I often thought I had to solve every problem. But there's a reason why you have a team. You owe it to them to focus on the story, the actors, and the film itself. So on a personal level, one of my biggest obstacles was learning that not every obstacle was my responsibility. Other than that I can say that time was our biggest enemy. I took a big bite with this project. The script was originally nearly thirty pages and there were two driving scenes (which I learned after the fact are much more complicated to film than you realize) and the film takes place in two time periods. It was a lot to squeeze into four days. We were constantly working against time and constantly having to reevaluate what were the most important shots to get. It was like editing the film while we were shooting it.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. Festival Circuit vs Online Release, the highs and lows of both.
I think the release portion was one of the most difficult parts of the process of making this film. We did do a small festival run. We premiered at the Fayetteville Film Festival. With film fests, there are just so many factors that are out of your control. The length of the film, the subject, the style -- what the festivals are programming and how your film fits in alongside it. We had a nice audience built up from our crowdfunding work so we put together sold-out screenings in Atlanta and New York City. Besides being an amazing experience to view the film with such large and enthusiastic crowds putting together those screenings on our own turned out to be a great look online. So I would recommend that to other filmmakers. Host your own screenings! Once our film fest run was over I applied to online platforms and we were lucky to be accepted by Omeleto -- and now Kino's Short of the Week! In my experience, with shorts, there's a lot to be gained by pushing an online release. Film fests are cool and there are so many positives to be gained by attending them, but you never know who's going to see your work online. And it's available to everyone, everywhere!
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
If you want to learn how to do crowdfunding well then check out "The Kickstarter Guy". Everything I learned about crowdfunding I learned from their program. Watch a ton of other shorts. Write every single day. Write another draft. Definitely listen to people when they say you should cut pages. Don't get married to anything cause you'll end up cutting it in the edit anyway. Always keep your cool on set. The director sets the temperature of the room. Don't be afraid to reach out to your friends for help. They want to help you. Whatever you're thinking about making definitely definitely make it. Don't think about doing it just do it. Cause you'll think about it forever.
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?
I think the biggest challenge most short filmmakers face is that they have to do it all themselves and for very cheap. There's no real market for short films so there's no return on investment when you make one. You do it for passion, experience, and for your own portfolio. So it's hard to secure money to make the thing. In my experience pre-production, financing, all the way to post and release was almost entirely my responsibility and the truth is that can get a bit exhausting. You have to be willing to put your entire heart and soul into the thing. And that can take a lot out of you. Short filmmakers can't afford the luxury of time and a big team. I'm really proud of what I made, but there's a lot you have to sacrifice to make it happen. I wish it could be different, but I think that's just the way it goes.
What are you working on next?
I'm working on a feature right now and a play as well! I'd love to make another short early next year before I commit to a feature. And I'd like to use the work I have to help me leverage making a feature. Part of the fascination in making The Stream was this idea of a home and what it can mean to humans so it's possible I may continue to explore that idea. I'm also clearly inspired by my own family and culture and I've been thinking about a short documentary about my Russian grandparents! I'm grateful to be full of ideas and I'm working on them everyday!
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
So many! But I'll just mention the films that were guiding lights for The Stream which I happen to love. Paris, Texas / Wim Wenders. Taste of Cherry / Abbas Kiarostami. Old Joy / Kelly Reichardt. Nomadland / Chloe Zhao. Salesman / Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin.