A short film really has to stand out from the pack to capture my attention. I’d like to say that I’m very good about seeing lots of shorts at fests, but honestly I’m not. There are always so many features vying for attention at festivals, and devoting a couple hours to sitting through a slew of shorts in the hopes that one or two might really be awesome tends to seem a daunting task in the middle of the insanely long work days the larger fests entail.

Which is why I’m very glad that Pierre Stefanos commented on my post last week about art versus commercial potential in indie filmmaking, and very kindly linked his name to the URL where I could find his short film, Bedfellows, on You Tube.

I’m writing about Bedfellows for a couple reasons. First, because it’s really an excellent piece of short film making: well-acted, well-executed, solid production value, and even very well edited (I was surprised to see Stefanos acted as his own editor, because I am not, as a general rule, in favor of that). The score is lovely and understated and lends itself well to the fairy-tale feel of this little story about finding love in a cynical world. It’s a “gay” film, I guess, in the sense that the characters are two gay guys, but its theme is so broadly universal that I’d hesitate to categorize it strictly as an LGBT film.

Part of why I don’t watch too many shorts these days is that so often, they just aren’t that good. Either the writing doesn’t lend itself to the limitations of short-form storytelling, or it looks like it was shot on someone’s early-aughts crappy camcorder, with little thought given to things like lighting and framing of shots, much less to how film necessitates telling a story not just with a script, but visually through the cinematography and editing. Bedfellows could maybe be derided by the cynical as being a little too “twee” (Gods, how I loathe that word), a little too gently optimistic. It’s certainly not what I would call “edgy,” but I liked it very much. Maybe you will, too.

The other reason I wanted to write about Bedfellows is that the director has done something I haven’t seen a whole lot of short filmmakers do: Found a way to make back at least some of what it cost to make it. Shorts are often made as calling cards, something that will get you to the point where you can kinda-sorta make a living off this whole filmmaking dream you have. Stefanos put Bedfellows out there as a rental on YouTube.

As of this writing, it’s had 502 views, counting my own. I paid $1.99 to rent it, because I was intrigued enough by what Stefanos had to actually say in his comment on my post to want to see what kind of film he’d made. (Important lesson here for other shorts directors: If you want a critic to notice your film, try saying something intelligent and articulate about the art or business of filmmaking when you post a link to your baby, rather than just sending an email saying “Please please please! Watch my short film!” It actually does make a difference, at least to me.)

Now I know you’re maybe asking yourself, “Why would I pay two bucks to see some guy’s short film, when I can see all kinds of stuff by directors whose names I know on Mubi/Netflix/for free.” And I hear you. But I also believe strongly in the vision of folks like Ted Hope for the creation of a strong, sustainable indie film community, and if I believe in that, I have to be willing to put my money where my mouth is, at least on occasion. I figure two bucks is less than what I shell out for a soy latte, and if that contribution helps a filmmaker whose work I like go on to make another film, well, awesome. That’s my ROI. You may disagree with me, and if so I’d love to hear from you in the comments. And if you have other ideas on how indie filmmakers can make money back on their films and keep making more, please, share away.

Meanwhile, here’s Pierre Stefanos’ Bedfellows, for your Monday morning viewing pleasure (WARNING: May not be completely SFW, especially if you work with homophobes or uptight types). You can watch the first two minutes for free, and then decide for yourself if he’s intrigued you enough to pay a couple bucks to watch the rest.

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