I first became aware of Roberta Munroe in 2006. She was featured in a filmmaking magazine where she talked about her experience as a Sundance shorts programmer. What struck me first about this article was that she was a woman of color. I know we are supposed to be all Obama post-racial, but this was 2006. In my mind (and I suspect a lot of other folks) the Sundance Film Festival is synonymous with quality, prestige and primarily white content. So I was shocked to discover that one of the shorts programmers actually looked like me. Well not exactly like me, but still. Little did I know that three years later I would be sitting in her garden talking about film, Malcolm Gladwell, hiking, and the price of being a smart black girl.
In those three years, Roberta has released two short films: Dani and Alice and Happy Birthday, left her position at Sundance, and published a book, How Not to Make A Short Film. Nowadays she runs a film consulting firm Roberta Munroe, LLC and travels around the world hipping filmmakers to a better way of building the movie mouse trap.
Our chat started with me asking her what kinds of films make it into Sundance? She couldn’t help but laugh. She had heard that question at least a thousand times over the last five years and she says she gives the same answer all the time – good ones. According to Roberta, less than two percent of the all films submitted to Sundance get in. If she watched 100 shorts on a particular day, ten were good. Of the ten - six were flawed in some way that made them completely unprogrammable. Of the remaining four (which are really good) two hit the bulls eye and the other two will be eliminated for length. That is how slim the margins are.
Apparently there seems to be some myth about getting into the Sundance Film Festival and it involves a lot of cloak and dagger and knowing someone’s uncle. Roberta says none of that is true. “Sundance is in the business of finding new and amazing talent and none of the programmers are going to take the risk of not watching a submission and then find it playing at another top tier festival without an explanation why they missed it,” she explains. According to Roberta film festivals want to program excellent work so please let go of the conspiracy theory.
So if Sundance is so awesome why did she leave? Roberta still does work with Sundance on special projects, but at some point she wanted to branch out on her own and explore other opportunities. One of those opportunities was writing a book geared to filmmakers who produce short films. A handbook of sorts. By the time she left the festival they were receiving over 5,000 shorts a year so she had first hand knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work in the world of shorts. She wanted to help up-and-coming filmmakers to produce their best work by sharing the knowledge that came from watching over 15,000 hours of video and film.
How Not to Make A Short Film is a wonderful handbook for anyone interested in making an excellent short film. Roberta takes you from story concept, emergencies on the set (i.e. crack heads banging on the adjoining wall to your set) and the necessity of budgeting for a solid post production experience. The tone of the book is straightforward and honest. You won’t find elaborate formulas or long drawn out diatribes on film critique – just clear advice and examples of how to make the best film possible. For those who don't fancy yourselves readers, you can check out the series of videos that Roberta put together to illustrate her point - hilariously - regarding the mistakes that filmmakers make.
As a consultant Roberta is approached by clients for all kinds of reasons. Some need a simple script consult. Some want her advice on some elements of their projects before they head into production. Others want to strategize around promoting their film or securing a producer. But she says one of the more challenging situations is when a client has already completed their film and they are trying to figure out why they are being rejected by film festivals left and right. Roberta says, “The reality is they know why they are not getting into festivals. I think they ask other people hoping they will give them a different answer.” By the time a filmmaker with a completed project gets to her, they have told themselves a series of lies about why they are not seeing movement with their project and they are paying her to tell them the hard truth. Roberta believes filmmakers, all artists for the matter, need to really get real with themselves. “You know when you are compromising on your vision, or when you have bitten off more than you can chew on your project,” she counsels. Basically, you can’t cut together a 45 minute “short” that suffers from poor editing or a horrible actor and think that any festival is going to touch you with a ten foot programming pole – no matter how “genius” the story. Save yourself the time and aggravation and just go back to the drawing board.
The best advice she thinks she can offer filmmakers is to listen to feedback and understand that every experience is a necessary link in their film making career. She looks at her own career and knows that this is true. When she went into production on her first short film Dani and Alice she made sure she surrounded herself with really smart and capable people. She says there was so much she didn’t know about the process and in some ways it was trial by (blazing hot) fire. She praises her producer Effie Brown (Real Women Have Curves, Stranger Inside) who helped her to make hard decisions and not lose her mind. Dani and Alice premiered at the London LGBT Film Festival to rave reviews.
Roberta also encourages filmmakers not to look at someone else’s career and think they have been sprinkled with some magical fairy dust to get where they are. She recently read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Outliers: A Story of Success (I, too, love this book!) and she says it is an excellent read to fully understand how success comes. A series of, what appear to be, unrelated events link together in your life. You follow your passion. You do your homework. You work really hard. And when the opportunities arise you will be ready. She knows that is the formula that has helped her land some of the most plum assignments in her career.
What’s next for Roberta Marie Munroe? She has been tapped to sit on a special U.N. panel with an emphasis on programming shorts with HIV/AIDS content. Hopefully the initiative will lead to the production of socially conscious features. She is also preparing to write a YA novel with a gay theme and of course, making more films of her own.
If you live in the Los Angeles area you have the opportunity to access the genius of the shorts guru. Roberta will be holding her Best Short Film Workshop Ever on Saturday, August 22, 2009. The full day intensive workshop starts at 9:30a.m. and it will cover everything needed to pull together that killer short film that will get into every film festival known to mankind and launch your filmmaking career into the stratosphere – all for $59.00!
Five Tips for Filmmakers - According to Roberta Munroe
1. Don’t use all your own money to finance your film. Ask friends, family, or investors to get in on the act.
2. Create a budget that allows for a solid post production experience. You can skimp on a lot of things, but don’t skimp on post.
3. Don’t spend a lot of money that you don’t have. Shorts rarely make back the money that it took to produce them so be comfortable not seeing your investment back.
4. $5,000 -$20,000 is the maximum that should be spent on a short film. It is a short after all!
5. Read. Watch movies. Listen. Don’t think you know it all. Read some more.
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