The film industry has changed a lot since I made this film back in 2005. Shot on 8mm film stock and processed, I don't think anyone can make a film like this anymore. Does anyone have 8mm stock left? And if they do, who now processes it?
This was the film that changed my life. Yes, I'm going to be that dramatic about it because it really did. There are about 10-12 moments in your lifetime where something happens and it's never going to be the same again. This film was definitely that.
After producing more than a few big budget short films, and working in the mainstream film industry for 4 years, I wasn't a happy person. It seemed like my future was set and I was going to have a successful life - or at least that's what it looked like on the surface. But inside I was craving my independent expression and have always wanted to make my own movies.
So I went back to the basics of film-making. In a span of a week in early 2005 I attended my grandfather's funeral and a seminar at the Kodak headquarters. Kodak, in hindsight, was scared out of their wits about the fast approaching digital technology so they were bringing in everyone for a ritzy lunch and presentation to tell them how great they were and how so much better they were then digi****, they really couldn't say the full word!
Back then most people still made films in actual film stock. But when Hollywood even started to make their movies in Digital (I remember when Collateral came out and half the film was shot in high definition digital and everyone was SHOCKED! that they did this), you knew it was only time for everyone else to do it as well. This was also the same year that YouTube came out, a site that literally changed the world and our consumption habits.
At the seminar, Kodak was stating that they were going to phase out 8mm film stock and their competitor Fuji was doing the same. This was the film stock that gave birth to film. This is the initial invention and where it all began, and now it was all going to go away and the next generation would have zero idea this type of film-making even existed.
It was then that I decided to make a movie on 8mm before it all disappeared. Birth of film? Death of my grandfather? Perhaps I can make an arty short film on the stages of life. And that's what I did.
As of this writing the film has only garnered 25,000 hits on YouTube since it went up in 2010. Some will say that's not too bad, but I was hoping for more. Who knows, it might have a bit of a rebirth (sequel anyone)!
- Matthew Toffolo
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