short film

But so I went to the premiere for this and watched Amize, watched Echoes from the Void.

And so during your little Q&A, and I believe you guys were actually saying in the Q&A after the film, you premiered the film, that a lot of this was originally just short films and you had decided to turn it into a feature.

So how did that come about and what got the process started on actually doing these short films and then transitioning to a feature?

Well, I think, Robert, correct me if I'm wrong, we were in the process of shooting or right before shooting Resurrection of Amy Barlow

It was right before we shot Resurrection, and I floated this idea past you.

and trying to tell the emotional story with lighting and not just... recreate a realistic scene, if that makes sense.

I like to, if a person is angry, why not throw a little bit of red in the background? And so Creepshow did a lot of that with the comic book panels and the extreme gelled lighting in those circumstances where the revelation became omnipresent to the characters, right? It was, you know, it's its own style and I've always loved it.

And if you, when you watch Monsters in a Box, you'll see that it goes all the way back to a number of short films in that as well.

Yeah.

So just over 60 features and then seven programs of short films this year.

Wow.

And a real spectrum, as always, I think, and I could be wrong, the goal is to really capture something for everyone with the emphasis on Atlantic filmmakers.

Our programs are like from two minutes to, you know, maybe 27 minutes, generally speaking.

Yes.

So they do kind of, and that's fine, so we can have a nice, well-rounded program of six or seven short films.

But then there's two that are playing, and they're both 52 minutes, and we're pairing those together because they were just outstanding.

So like, you know, we have like the award winner from Cannes, the award winner for like South by like, just like we have a lot of like really, really like buzzy titles in the shorts package.

We also have two Alberta spirit packages, like normally if you've ever been to a festival and specifically for this night on Monday, that's when we historically have the Alberta spirit, which is all of the like Alberta films, like short films.

And it is packed.

It's always sold out.

Okay, yeah, no, great question.

So very, very important for the festival.

So we are, you know, an Alberta festival that we not only want to like showcase, like as a regional festival, like we want to showcase like what's, really really interesting out there in the circuit but also we are a festival that's focused in like the talent here right so we have our alberta spotlight section that is uh constitute it has like both like documentaries and narrative films um Then we have about, I think we counted them the other day, but about like 26 short films that are Alberta and in all of the packages, not only in the Alberta spirit, but like kind of sprinkled throughout.

and uh yeah it's really really important because there's incredible stuff that is being made here and um not only we have like also like films that were shot here and maybe like or have a connection to alberta so like we're not even counting those because there's a couple thing a couple like films like um you know like our opening night film a long winter was shot here so it also in a way like has like a lot of like our crews that like worked on that film even though it's a US film by Andrew Haig so not only we have that but like just we also have films that are full you know Alberta crews and filmmakers etc like working on them and yeah it's very important to highlight that talent and to we've seen the effect that these like premieres have on certain films like we see them open here and then go through their festival circuit and have a trajectory that really starts a good buzz.

Yes, well, the movie came from my personal life.

And seven years ago when I did the short film, we hadn't really come out with like, we're all looking at everything, right? And it's disgusting.

And so it was groundbreaking in the moment I chose to be brave.

And so, but I will say I'm in a weird place now because after writing the film and like really healing this part of myself that was looking at all kinds of exes of current partners who may or may not be sitting next to me in this

And I was like, oh, it's a film.

And so I was like, I'll either start a fight with him.

Or I will shoot a short film.

I did both.

My guest today is Russian-born filmmaker Nikolai Sisayev and his short film Creators, which was an official selection at Holly Shorts this year.

Now, for 10 years, he spent working in the financial sector in London as a trader, and in 2014, he wrote and directed his first short film.

Now, after quitting finance in 2017, he produced two other shorts, a play with sold-out performances in London, and two online promo videos for a fashion accessories brand.

In the last year, he also explored other facets of filmmaking, which included acting, screenwriting, and stage design.

But he's here today to talk about his newest short film, Creators, which is about a struggling content creator desperate for viral fame, stages a heroic stunt to finally get the attention he's been chasing.

But for the rest of the story, let's welcome filmmaker Nikolai Sisioev and his short film, Creators, to the show.

Welcome, Nikolai.

Hi, Ward.

If you want to hit him up and watch some scary movies.

So Cesar I wanted to ask you Was there any relation to the Short film you showed us right after

Oh, no, I was just trying to fill in that little pocket for you.

For yourself? Well, I have this thing where I despise movies that are like an hour and 20 minutes.

It was bad.

Cross chop.

So it was a YouTube short film.

It was called Who's There? um what is the who are the creators of the